Fast Fashion versus Slow Fashion
Fast Fashion
Slow Fashion is a movement that is directly opposed to the term Fast Fashion (I‘m thinking here, and I’m not afraid to NAME them ! Shein, Temu, H&M, Zara etc..). It promotes an ethical, sustainable and thoughtful vision of our relationship with clothing.
To fully understand Slow Fashion, you also need to understand what Fast Fashion is, so here we go!
Fast Fashion encourages overconsumption, with low-quality collections that are renewed far too frequently. It is the world’s number two polluting industry, after oil.
Large-scale devastation
- Overproduction therefore waste ( mountains of clothes accumulate and pollute the world )
- Water pollution and CO2 emissions linked to mass production in a world where water is becoming increasingly scarce
- Degrading working conditions abroad (Well yes, how do you think the selling prices of Fast Fashion are so low? … Exploitation of adults , and in many cases, also of children – according to the WHO “15% of children aged 6 to 14 from the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, work full-time in the textile industry. After the age of 14, this proportion rises to 50%.”
A concrete example
Those who know me know that I go to Ploufragan several times a year !
I was there last Tuesday (training on “improving” your website… There’s still work to be done!) A participant, who makes wooden toys, told me that she had barely put one of her creations on her site (a few days) that it had already appeared on the site of shein or temu…, I don’t remember which one. (I’m taking off the capital letters, they don’t deserve it ! Not only do they exploit their workers (obviously, how else can you sell a hat for less than €5 when it’s not even the price of a ball of wool!) but what’s more, THEY ARE THIEVES !
Slow Fashion
Slow Fashion is a movement that advocates more conscious consumption : we don’t buy just anything, anytime, at any price. We prioritize quality over quantity, and we restore value to our clothes. We can repair them, recycle them, and pass them on.
The following advantages come from both a personal and collective choice:
- By buying less, we reduce our carbon footprint
- We support artisans (like me!) or businesses that do not exploit workers.
- In the long term, we save money because Slow Fashion clothes last longer.
- We assert our identity by developing a PERSONAL STYLE far from the dictates of fleeting trends (we don’t dress “like everyone else” because apparently, it’s fashionable now. So we become a sheep that follows the leader of the flock…)
- We are taking back control of our consumption
- We know where our clothes come from (transparency)
How to integrate Slow Fashion into everyday life
We sort it out…
We only keep the pieces we love and want to wear. The rest, we give away so it can make someone else happy! So we’re becoming a little more minimalist…
When possible, we repair!
If it’s good quality, then most likely, it’s REPAIRABLE ! If you can’t do it yourself, you’ll have no trouble finding a local craftswoman who can repair it for you. This way, you can also personalize your clothes. You choose what you want to hide that hole in your favorite dress! Seams can be sewn, leather shoes repaired, holes in sweaters reknitted.
We buy second-hand
These days, it’s no problem to find a thrift store, a clothes swap or a website that specializes in second-hand clothing (e.g. Vinted).
We consume less often and buy more responsibly
By consuming less, your finances are in better shape.
Of course, responsible fashion, Slow Fashion, costs more than clothing made in sweatshops. Remember, we pay for quality, so we don’t need quantity! In the end, it’s worth it, isn’t it ? It all adds up !
The first thing to ask yourself is : Do I really need it ? And if so, can I find it locally? Is there a craftsman who makes them near me? A local shop or craft market perhaps ?
Personally, I am lucky enough to have a wool spinner five kilometers from my home, B et B Kerlouet .
I must admit that I still have some of the yarn I bought from them two years ago. It’s so beautiful… But yes, I promise I’ll stop admiring it and I’ll share it with my customers very soon!
iWe conclude on Slow Fashion
The bottom line ? Well, LESS is MORE !!! That said, I understand that having less isn’t always a choice, and so I’m speaking to people who can afford to consciously make that choice.
My parents and grandparents (and those before them) didn’t even have to think about it. Fast fashion didn’t exist then, and I remember having one outfit for Sunday, and one or two more for school. Clothes had VALUE, we didn’t throw them away, but we repaired them. There were 5 of us girls in my family, and we passed on clothes from one to the other as we grew up.
Slow Fashion doesn’t invite you to return to the Middle Ages, but rather to a return to the future. A future where we slow down and reflect, where we do good while contributing to creating an industry that’s more respectful of the planet and its inhabitants.
