The trend of trying cheap fashion sites have hit the fashion industry hard. On every social media such as Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat, and Twitter there are photos, vidoes, and reviews of these cute super cheap clothes. At first, myself included, I was very shocked at how cheap these clothes were and I jumped on the websites to start buying things. Some of these fast fashion websites include: Shein, Romwe Boohoo, and Forever 21. I ordered some things off of Shein and recently reviewed them on my blog. I thought it was all great and amazing until I started researching into behind the scenes of these websites.

Fast fashion is described as follows: cheap, trendy clothing that reflects/copies the ideas of runways or celebrities. The companies can get these clothing pieces out in weeks. No one has really thought of the work conditions or who was making them and how much they are getting paid. That is until 2013 when a fast fashion complex collapsed and killed over 1,000 workers. Ever since then there has been a heightened sense of awareness about fast fashion.

These fast fashion companies use offshore manufacturing (usually in China or India) so that the labor is cheaper. They pay their workers very low wages with usually unsafe work conditions. The dangerous conditions can even travel down to the farmers growing the supplies who may be using toxic chemicals. Fast fashion doesn’t just hurt the people making the clothes, it also deeply hurts the environment. Fast fashion uses cheap, toxic chemicals that when thrown away are bad for the environment. The fashion industry is the second largest polluter of clean water globally. Animals are also affected by the pollution of the water which can make them sick.

The big question is what can we do? I know that we all love a good deal, but isn’t protecting human beings, animals, and the earth more important? By supporting eco-friendly and non-fast fashion brands we can end this cycle. We can also support fast fashion brands but pressure them to be more eco-friendly and more protective of their workers. Once we end this vicious cycle the fashion industry can benefit all.

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