The amount of clothing brands is increasing worldwide. Today the fashion industry produces more clothes than in the entire previous history. Such changes are partly caused by the development of technologies.
The article “The Power of Buying Less by Buying Better” by Elizabeth Cline is devoted to changing trends in the global fashion industry. The phenomenon “fast fashion” gains the increasing popularity all over the world. And today most clothing designers are focused on how to produce more, but with less quality.
The situation in the fashion industry has changed due to the occurrence of alternative offer. In contrast with “fast fashion” “durability-focused companies” (Cline) appeared. They focused on how to provide people high quality and durable clothing, as opposed to cheap and low-quality garment.
“Fast fashion” appearance is connected with the process of globalization. It is precisely noted in the article. Cheap and low-quality clothing is “the result of the globalization of the fashion industry and the movement of garment manufacturing from unionized shops in the United States and other developed countries to low-wage factories with few environmental regulations, most of them in Asia” (Cline).
But in spite of the development of fast-fashion industry the appearance of alternative offer allowed to change mainstream fashion`s taste. The alternative offered high-quality and durable clothing that people could afford themselves. Nowadays it gains more interest among people. They began to buy ecological and high-quality clothing. It is noted that “according to a 2014 Nielsen study, 41 percent of Americans responded that they are willing to pay more for products and services provided by companies that are committed to making a positive impact socially and environmentally” (Cline).
The article also reflects several economic issues. The first issue concerns the increasing number of produced garment. This trend promotes fast fashion to produce more clothes and impose it to buyer. There is imbalance in supply and demand in the market. The excess of supply over demand arises clothing overproduction.
Marketing is the main factor of “fast fashion”. The release of new products makes clothes a cost-effective marketing tool that manages consumer visits, increases brand awareness and leads to higher rates of consumer purchases.
Many companies and retailers offer new views on all categories of clothing: women's, men's clothing and even underwear and children's clothing. New trends are constantly appearing on the market and on television. All this poses a significant challenge for clothing designers. Clothing company should benefit from an improved computer-aided design and 3D printing technology to produce faster and more accurate prototypes.
The other economic issue is that the high-tech and functional clothing market is one of the fastest growing sectors of the fashion industry. Clothing designers need to invest in the technology of functional fabrics, as this market offers higher margins than traditional clothing.
Another issue is the environmental and ethical components. Fast fashion faces significant criticism. Excessive use of water, chemicals and bad working conditions determine the industry a bad reputation. Each stage of clothing production harms aquatic, terrestrial and atmospheric ecosystems. This damage includes the emission of toxic gases into the atmosphere and the pollution and destruction of habitats of animals. Consumers produce huge amounts of waste by buying and throwing away clothes in developed countries. To counter the criticism, clothing companies should be more responsible. They should monitor working conditions in factories, pay attention to the protection against counterfeiting and recycling. They also need to propose new initiatives in industry to reduce environmental pollution.
This article also reflects the main disadvantages of fast fashion, its law-quality, disposable and casual clothing. “More people are rejecting mass-production for aesthetic reasons and because of the exploitation in the fast-fashion system” (Cline).
It can be noted that the changes in the fashion industry have already begun.
It is out of the question that the main feature of fast fashion stores or "fast fashion" is the instantaneous adaptation to current trends and copying models of more expensive brands to supply low-quality but cheap products to people.
If the price of high-quality clothing is approximately the same as the low-quality clothing the buyer will continue buying good clothes. It allows him to buy less but invest better. He could save his money.
Fast fashion should not be transformed into a “rubbish fashion”. Any movement that enters the mainstream fashion industry must have healthy boundaries and observe the golden mean.
If there is the progress in changing trends from fast fashion to high-quality and durable clothing, the lifestyle and fashion tastes will be changed. It is necessary to stimulate the production of high-quality clothing and to start a reassessment of consumer values. People will begin to wonder why they should buy and have a lot of things.
As a result, we have a positive tendency. There are people and companies denying fast fashion trend. People have a choice to invest in high-quality clothing by buying it. There are many clothing designers who realized to produce ecological and durable clothes. “As retailers, it’s our duty to fix that and to make better products, more expensive products and to make an alternative offer and stop making products that neglect sustainability,” Gallardo says” (Cline).
Works Cited
Cline, Elizabeth. “The Power of Buying Less by Buying Better.” The Atlantic, 16 Feb. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/02/buying-less-by-buying-better/462639/. Accessed 03 February 2017.
