By: Kat Littfin

Local Editor 

While walking the Los Gatos High School campus, I find myself complimenting other students’ outfits. Whether it’s a flattering top or a stylish pair of jeans, I often ask, “Where did you get that from?” and, more often than not, they reply, “Shein.”

Fast fashion is a term used to describe the cheap, quick, and low-quality mass production of clothing. Zara, a prime example of a fast fashion brand, has warehouses across several continents, with their largest factories in Spain, China, and Brazil. Sourcing products from international warehouses allows Zara to bypass many of the regulations of factories in the United States such as those regarding workers’ hours and wages. H&M, Gap, Shein, and Temu are just a few of the popular “fast fashion”  brands. Like Zara, the majority of their warehouses are in countries with loose laws concerning workers’ wages and rights. As a society, we must stop buying from fast fashion brands to encourage fair treatment of workers and to limit our environmentally damaging wastefulness. 

The unlivable wages and poor treatment of workers that fast fashion encourages tend to violate human rights. According to the Clean Clothes Campaign, in 2011, ninety percent of Zara’s Brazilian factories employed migrant workers, forcing them to work for upwards of 16 hours with little pay and no breaks. Workers were as young as 14 years old. The Brazilian government has since shut down these factories, but similar factories continue to exist around the world, forcing workers to labor for excessive hours with negligible pay.

Furthermore, the overwhelming consumption of clothing that fast fashion promotes is wasteful and environmentally damaging. Brands that produce clothes quickly and cheaply often do not design their products with longevity in mind, so clothes must frequently be discarded after just a few wears. Fast fashion brands rush to produce products that are in style, and the clothing’s low cost encourages high-scale purchasing. Clothing waste is inevitable as people rush to buy numerous clothes that emulate new trends they find on social media while discarding their out-of-style garments. The United States Environmental Protection Agency reports that more than 60% of clothing produced in 2018 was landfilled the same year. As websites continue to sell shirts for less than five dollars that will only last a few wears, people avoid more environmentally ethical shopping. People overlook thrift stores— which rival the prices of fast fashion brands and limit the amount of goods being wasted— for the convenience of online shopping.

Though it seems silly to say that buying a leopard print tube top violates human rights, purchasing clothing from fast fashion brands encourages the immoral and unfair treatment of workers and harms the environment. Societally we must avoid fast fashion and overconsumption to protect our environment and preserve human rights, so rather than tailoring your perfect Shein cart while you should be doing your math homework, convince one of your friends to come with you to the nearest Goodwill or Savers instead. 

(Sources: United States Environmental Protection Agency, The Clean Clothes Campaign, CNN)