Over the past few years, fast fashion has only continued to grow in prominence. Stores like Zara, Shein, TEMU, and more have taken over as the most popular fast fashion retailers, in part due to their affordability and convenience. Fast Fashion is defined as low cost clothing that is rapidly produced in large quantities so brands can respond quickly to trends. The various extreme impacts that fast fashion has had on the environment are things that have been called to notice for years, including environmental waste, pollution and more. But, the ethical impacts that Fast Fashion produces bring on their own challenging issues that deserve more spotlight as well.
Most of the clothing that fast fashion companies produce is made in sweatshops, which are factories that employ manual workers to work long hours for little wages to produce clothing. Their workers aren’t given breaks, some not at all, and workplace hazards are rampant.
For example, in 2012, the Tazreen Fashions factory in Bangladesh that supplied garments to stores like Walmart and Sears, had a fire break out that ended up taking 117 people’s lives. According to the WSR Network, poor electrical wiring led to the fire, and no proper exits around the building was what caused so many people to end up trapped inside. Incidents like what happened at Tazreen Fashion factory aren’t uncommon, and if fast fashion continues to grow with extremely poor working conditions for the people making these clothes, then many more incidents like it can happen.
When the garments are made, many chemicals are also used in the process. Recently, brands like SHEIN and TEMU made headlines for potentially selling clothing that may have toxic substances. On September 3rd, 2024, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a statement calling on the staff to look into safety concerns for both SHEIN and TEMU. In an exception done by South Korean authorities, over a hundred products were tested, including from SHEIN and TEMU, and were found to contain high levels of chemicals like phthalates, formaldehyde and lead, all chemicals that can be very harmful to humans. These harmful substances are coming in direct contact with human skin, which can lead to various health issues. If the amount of chemical residue left on clothing harms the Consumer this much, you can only imagine the effects that it can have on the health of the people making these clothes as well.
Fast fashion continues to grow year by year, with new brands and stores continuing to monopolize the business. With so much concern over the environmental impacts, it is important to remember the ethical impacts it continues to have as well, especially on the many impoverished people who are producing these clothes.
