Written by: Emily Parrish
New York City: fashion capital of the world and in America’s backyard, there is no wonder why America has maintained and created such a booming fashion community for itself. Fashion activists across America are currently standing up against “fast fashion”, solely based off of the assumption that this branch of the fashion industry is taking a toll on workers in developing countries. Little do they know, when put into perspective, fast fashion is not only vital for a prosperous complex economy but also has its perks for workers too.
Fast fashion is the term describing the quick process under which designs are created and sent to stores such as H&M, Zara, and Forever 21. The overarching argument of the matter is simply the opportunity cost—that workers are being underpaid for the sake of our constant, high demand for clothing. However, many are caught comparing the pay of workers in developing countries to that which Americans are paid and in doing so are blind to the positive impacts of fast fashion.
In Naked Economics, author Charles Wheelan states that, “a complex economy involves billions of transactions every day, the vast majority of which happen without any government involvement.” [1] Our economic strength hinges on big industries such as the fashion industry which produces masses of clothing for us to buy each day. Being the largest in the world, the U.S. Apparel Market was valued at $292 billion in 2016. [2] How is it possible to bring in this amount of money on clothing alone? Businesses, firms, and industries take note of how the American society thrives off of consumerism and the fashion industry specifically has found how to make an enormous profit off of this. People love a good deal. Many jump at the thought of cheap stores like H&M, Zara, and Forever 21 competing with the styles of high class, name-brand clothing. Not only can the consumer purchase unique pieces but in turn, they get more bang for their buck and purchase even more.
When asked how many seasons are in a year, most would not hesitate to confidently proclaim four: winter, spring, summer, and fall. However, the fashion industry begs to differ. New clothing hits stores at a weekly rate, as the fashion industry believes there are 52 micro-seasons, in short every week in and of itself is a new season. [3] Therefore, the goals of cheap fashion-retail chains are to 1) attract customers with cheap, yet stylish garments and 2) sell as many articles of clothing in as short of a time-span as possible. Why do we fall for the fashion ideal of 52 micro-seasons? Margeta van den Bosch, H&M’s style adviser hints at their goal of wanting, “to surprise the customers. We want to have something exciting. And if it’s all the time hanging the same things here, it is not so exciting, I think.” [4] In a fast-paced society, it is not surprising that our desire to be fashionable would meet this mentality. We always long for something new, something different, something that sets us apart from others, and something that puts us one step ahead. H&M, Zara, and Forever 21 are three of the most successful companies in feeding this hunger.
“Who is making my clothes,” is a question many activists are investigating. While we see a mannequin advertising our next favorite clothing piece, that does not give the full story of our garments. Taking into consideration the rate of new trends appearing in stores, you can imagine the “full story” may very well be a short one. Most fast fashion apparel is being made abroad, more specifically in developing Asian countries. As American citizens we are quick to oppose the idea of working in a garment factory, but we are basing this off our standards and it is safe to say that from country to country, standards can greatly differ. To put into further context, let’s compare the U.S. to Cambodia. The U.S. GDP was $18.57 trillion in 2016, while Cambodia’s reached $20.02 billion. [5] Since GDP is calculated to show the value of all goods and services produced by a nation over a certain time period, it can show how wealthy the people of a country are. The Cambodia GDP in contrast to the U.S. GDP shows that people in Cambodia are spending less and therefore making less. Although Cambodian citizens are making far less than American citizens, the fashion industry is in fact helping boost the minimum wage for workers.
Zara, along with additional brands came together to support Cambodian workers receiving a higher wage in 2014. [6] In 2013, the minimum wage was raised to $80 a month; fast-forward 5 years to 2018 and the minimum wage is now $170 a month, thanks to companies like Zara.[6] [7] Despite the requirement for workers to meet high demands, fashion chains are beginning to align their pay more fairly. In fact, “H&M; has said it could raise its prices to help pay better wages in source countries.” [7] While Zara and H&M are purposely vouching for the workers, they are in turn helping Cambodia as a whole due to the fact that, “The country’s garment sector is home to as many as half a million jobs and generates a third of the country’s GDP.” [7]
Fast fashion often times is viewed very negatively, but when seen in a different light and from various angles, there are many benefits that activists choose to overlook. The fashion industry is one of the strongest and highest wealth-producing industries in the world and especially in the U.S., particularly due to the fast fashion branch. Not only does fast fashion encourage consumers to buy more, boosting our economy, but it also presents many jobs in developing countries. Despite the popular notion to view the workers as being underpaid for their work, it is important to look at the specific country’s economic state and to recognize how companies are aiming to improve wages, bettering workers’ lives and the country.
[1] Charles J. Wheelan and Burton G. Malkiel, “Chapter 1,” in Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, 2nd ed. (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012), 4.
[2] Duncan, Eric. “Topic: Apparel Market in the U.S.” Statista, www.statista.com/topics/965/apparel-market-in-the-us/.
[3] Whitehead, Shannon. “5 Truths the Fast Fashion Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Oct. 2014, www.huffingtonpost.com/shannon-whitehead/5-truths-the-fast-fashion_b_5690575.html.
[4] Zarroli, Jim. “In Trendy World Of Fast Fashion, Styles Aren’t Made To Last.” NPR, NPR, 11 Mar. 2013, www.npr.org/2013/03/11/174013774/in-trendy-world-of-fast-fashion-styles-arent-made-to-last.
[5] “Cambodia GDP | 1960-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast | News.” Haiti Exports | 2008-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast | News, tradingeconomics.com/cambodia/gdp.
[6] “Zara, 7 Other Brands Pledge To Pay More So Cambodian Garment Workers Can Get A Higher Wage.” ThinkProgress, ThinkProgress, thinkprogress.org/zara-7-other-brands-pledge-to-pay-more-so-cambodian-garment-workers-can-get-a-higher-wage-cd3c7ff8565c/.
[7] Staff, RFA. “Cambodian Garment and Footwear Workers to Get Minimum Wage Hike by 2018.” Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Asia, 5 Oct. 2017, www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/textile-wages-10052017171647.html.
Tan, Oliver. “Fashion Sketches.” – Adweek, Adweek, 3 July 2017, http://www.adweek.com/digital/oliver-tan-visenze-guest-pot-fast-fashion/.
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