Written by: Cassidy Dankert
Since about 2014 fashion has been cycled through faster and faster, with more styles of jeans, tops, dresses, and even socks being produced every week than ever before. This shift towards fast fashion as it’s called has been caused by many different factors, from the outsourcing of labor lowering production costs, to increased access to the internet for marketing, to cultures becoming more industrialized. However the important part of fast fashion is its impact, namely that fast fashion is making retailers a high profit while lowering the marginal benefit of your clothing purchase.
As the term fast fashion implies clothing retailers have been able to steadily increase their supply of clothes styles over the past few years. This increase has occurred firstly because of production costs decreasing as companies outsource production to developing nations. Due to this increase in supply prices have fallen while the quantity or clothing supplied has risen. This means that companies have to sell you more clothes in order to make a bigger profit so that’s exactly what they’re doing.
According to NPR “more than $250 billion [is] spent in the U.S. alone” on clothing per year. However due to the rapid production of those clothes they are not always of the highest quality and are sometimes designed to fall apart after one or two spin cycles. So while your original marginal analysis of the purchase might have assumed that you could keep that shirt for years, the shirt might fall apart in a month, increasing the marginal cost of your new top. In addition this means that second-hand clothing retailers can’t sell these low quality garments, meaning more of your clothes go into a landfill where they can sit for hundreds or thousands of years.
Overall the fast fashion model might make shopping a weekly entertainment for some Americans, for others it is a business game of making high profits for poor quality, and for those who can’t afford brand new clothing it actually makes obtaining this basic necessity even harder. In addition NPR offers us different opportunities to refresh our wardrobes in a sustainable and much less wasteful way, by swapping clothes, or simply buying clothes made for long term wear.
Bibliography
The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.
"What Happens When Fashion Becomes Fast, Disposable And Cheap?" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.
Wicker, Alden. "The Earth Is Covered in the Waste of Your Old Clothes." Newsweek. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.
I do think that some clothing companies are being forced to sell clothes for lower prices, and that is making them unable to make quality clothes that sustain many wears. However, since not all companies are doing this, a consumer could just as easily choose to purchase a higher quality piece of clothing for a higher price. People who don't want to often shop for new clothes can buy those of better quality less often instead of low quality more often.
ReplyDeleteAlthough some retailers do produce more clothing at lower quality, I feel like many consumers (like me) choose not to shop there. Say you wanted to buy a new shirt, multiple brands may have similar types of clothing. But, one of them will be cheap at low quality and another at a higher price, but with better quality. If it were me, I would buy the higher priced good because it would last longer. If I were to buy the lower priced shirt and it turns out that it only lasted a month, I would have to go out and buy another shirt. This would end up costing more since I'm buying the good multiple times. But, the case would probably be different if price was the only aspect of buying clothing, which may be for some consumers.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's true that some clothing companies are forced to make lower quality clothes in order to make enough to profit, it doesn't have to affect the person who doesn't want to shop every week. While some people will continue to go to those stores to get on the latest trend, there will still be the option of going to stores that make high quality clothes for higher prices. Those clothes may not be the latest fashion trend, but can still work great, but for a longer period of time.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that fast fashion is becoming a problem. Cheaper clothes leads people to buy more which causes more waste. The production of these clothes waste many resources including water that could be used for people, not clothing. Designer brands are more expensive because of how little they produce clothes and the material they use rather than the cheap stuff fast fashion brands use that destroy our planet. It is better for people to buy more expensive clothing less often or to go thrift shopping, if it is unaffordable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this blog post. I believe that the fashion industry should find out more and more ways to make cloths cheerer. People that really can't afford them should still be able to buy them. The opportunity cost would be in affect when it comes to how they are made, or made out of. Selling people cloths that are cheap comes at a price that they aren't going to be the best quality, and they aren't going to last you for to long, but I think it's worth it so people can have cloths on their backs.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with this. Even from personal experience, I find myself making impulsive purchases on many clothing items because they're so cheap and then not wearing them a few times or a second even at all. We just love the idea of something being so cute, I think we fall in love with the price rather than the actual item. Another thing though that is happening, is more expensive clothes are name brand and kids love wearing name brand things to help them "fit in" more. It ranges from both ways. Currently I try to save my money instead of buying impulsive clothes decisions and will only settle on things more expensive, or will thrift shop.
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with this blog post -- the fashion industry is growing at a radical rate and striving to keep up with fashion trends that seem to change daily. Because of this, companies are focusing on making more and more clothes than they are quality, lasting clothes. However, by doing this, this often is driving prices down in some places, making other, generic brands cheaper and more available to buy. It’s possible to get a shirt for a couple dollars at a generic store rather than getting a brand name one for hundreds. This strange, competitive market has its benefits and drawbacks, in some cases increasing the negative effects on the environment, but also providing us with a cycle of resources and money. I think it would be interesting to see how cheaper clothes are made in this respect compared to studies just on brand names, and how the big-name companies and their competition has affected smaller businesses and their brands.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with this. Even from personal experience, I find myself making impulsive purchases on many clothing items because they're so cheap and then not wearing them a few times or a second even at all. We just love the idea of something being so cute, I think we fall in love with the price rather than the actual item. Another thing though that is happening, is more expensive clothes are name brand and kids love wearing name brand things to help them "fit in" more. It ranges from both ways. Currently I try to save my money instead of buying impulsive clothes decisions and will only settle on things more expensive, or will thrift shop.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that some companies have to make cheaper quality of clothing the sell so they can make a profit, it is up to the consumer whether or not they're going to buy the T-shirt. There are a lot of people who go to the store to buy higher quality clothing that will last longer.
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ReplyDeleteI also agree that some companies are selling clothes for lower prices and that is causing them to make lower quality clothes. This makes the company’s goal to sell more clothes rather than care about the quality of their clothing. Not all companies are doing this though so it depends on what the consumer does. They could buy more clothes for cheaper at a poor quality, or they can go somewhere else for more expensive clothes that will last longer.
I agree with you in terms of fast fashion because it is true, styles are changing rapidly. Personal experience has also proven that prices of clothing has drastically increased over the years.
ReplyDeleteAccording to www.businessoffashion.com, clothes and accessories are at a 60% increase. While the price is increasing, the quality is decreasing. While not beneficial to the consumer it is easy to understand how this benefits the producer. The lower quality means that shoppers have to buy new clothes more often to replace the old which means more profit being made on the product. Rapidly changing fashion also benefits the producer due to the fact that people are spending ridiculous amounts of money to stay up to date with the latest trends. If the shoppers are willing to continue spending increased amounts of money on products, it will continue to increase over the course of upcoming years.
Personally, I found this piece very interesting because I often find myself looking at how full my closet is and complaining I have nothing to wear. Although, in my own life I love hand-me downs. I am a very cheap person and enjoy the days when friends of mine give me the things they are tired of wearing (or not wearing). Also, having a sister that is the same size as me is very helpful because we can share different “super cute” tops. In that aspect, through different clothes friends have given me, they are often lower quality and sometimes still have the price tag on. It shocks me how drastically the fashion industry is growing and how different companies are being forced to make cheaper clothes that often end up getting thrown in landfills. I would be very interested to know how much that is compared to how much it was decades ago.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I found this piece very interesting because I often find myself looking at how full my closet is and complaining I have nothing to wear. Although, in my own life I love hand-me downs. I am a very cheap person and enjoy the days when friends of mine give me the things they are tired of wearing (or not wearing). Also, having a sister that is the same size as me is very helpful because we can share different “super cute” tops. In that aspect, through different clothes friends have given me, they are often lower quality and sometimes still have the price tag on. It shocks me how drastically the fashion industry is growing and how different companies are being forced to make cheaper clothes that often end up getting thrown in landfills. I would be very interested to know how much that is compared to how much it was decades ago.
ReplyDeleteI think that fast fashions is going to grow and grow in the future. Eventually people won't keep buying name brand clothes because whats the point? People would rather buy a $5 t-shirt from walmart than a $35 t-shirt from a name brand store. I agree that this will cause huge problems in the future because everyone wants the cheapest option but their opportunity cost is giving up the quality.
ReplyDeleteI am one of those people who wants to buy all clothes in a store(most probably cheap ones) but in reality I can't because of the opportunity cost for money. I never realized that fashion contains the deep business and economics, it is really fascinating that second-hand clothing is being left out by people who used them before. From years, it is common in any clothing industry to produce more of less quality clothes for less price when demand increases(increase in consumers). This type of system gives profit for retailers and satisfaction for the consumers because as the low quality clothes get torn out, most people will go to buy new fashionable clothes in low price at the same store(because they sell the latest fashion clothes). On the other hand, retailers enjoy the profit and inturn supply more low quality clothes. Second-hand clothing industry has an adverse effect due to the less of demand and more piling of supply which nobody wants(surplus); there is one big reason to this effect- people don't want outdated fashionable clothes( for lowest price) due to the social norms. The only part it strikes me that why can't the government recycle the clothes to reuse it for the trending fashion?
ReplyDeleteI found your piece very interesting and I agree. I know fashion has and will continue to grow even if brands are lowering their prices. I think it’s smart that some brands are doing that because then more people might be able to afford those prices and buy more clothing causing an increase in sales. I never realized that clothing goes into landfills and sits there for years. Instead of that the clothing could and should be given to those less fortunate or be make into something new.
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was very interesting and original. I do agree with other comments above stating how people are more into impulse buying. From personal experience, I think more people buy clothing from peer pressure. It's more about having the 'brand name' as Stephanie mentioned above. Going to cheaper stores such as target to get clothes is a better alternative than buying cheap clothes that'll just fall apart soon. In the future, the clothing industry will continue to downgrade based on more consumers wanting the 'brand name".
ReplyDeleteI liked how unique your post was. I definitely agree with you how you said that since clothing shops have to sell more items to make a bigger profit that they are making their clothes really cheap and they will probably fall apart easily. Maybe clothing shops are making their clothes in a bad quality so that once the customers clothes fall apart they will have to come back and buy new clothes.
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