Fed up with fast fashion? Time to apply the brakes

Have you stopped to add up how much it costs to constantly replace the same clothes? It’s a safe bet you’re spending more than you used to before fast fashion came along.

Fast fashion is making fools of us all. So why do we let it continue? (Pic: Supplied)

Fast fashion is making fools of us.

How else to explain it’s become accepted that clothes will only last a few months? We don’t mind, we just buy another item. And another and another.

Have you stopped to add up how much you’re spending constantly replacing the same clothes in your wardrobe, instead of having one sweater, for example, that lasts — gasp — a couple of years? I’ll bet if you did the maths, you’re splashing out more than you used to before there was such a thing as fast fashion.

I am tired of it. I don’t want to shop on price point if it means I only get a few wears out of things before the pockets unravel, the lining shears off or holes appear.

I was gleeful to get a bargain pair of jeans from a chain store recently, but not so cheery when they unravelled after a couple of months. What did I do? Bought another pair, like the sucker I am.

Even though they only last a few months, instead of a few years, we keep buying into the fast fashion trend. (Picture: iStock)

It’s the same with children's’ clothes — like most mums I adore Purebaby, for its socially responsible organic clothes, but it’s pricey.

I recently looked at a lovely sweater there, but decided to be “sensible” and buy my daughter’s winterwear from a cheaper brand. I got two jumpers for the same price. Brilliant, I thought, except both have worn out and we’re not even halfway through winter. If I’d bought the Purebaby one, it would be going strong and survive to get passed on to her little sister — a concept I fear will soon be extinct.

I’m fed up with it. I don’t like throwing clothes away, I don’t like the waste of resources — Australians bin $500 million worth of clothes every year — and I don’t like the sweat shops fast fashion has spawned to service it.

And I’ve realised it’s not good value.

With the production of our clothes now being done so far away, like the Fashion Palace in Dhaka city, Bangladesh, we’ve forgotten the human price for such cheap clothing. (Pic: iStock)

In the past we used to pay more for clothes, but expected them to last. When fast fashion arrived, we all got really excited about the democratisation of style, myself included. But instead of simply making designer rip-offs cheaper, with a couple of collections per season, chain stores increased the pace, pumping in new ranges on a weekly basis, which fuelled our consumption and blew up the fashion industry in the process.

And while at first stores offered items at a fairly good quality, over the years, the prices have remained low and the quality plummeted, making us come back for another hit again and again like addicts.

So will it ever end? “Fast fashion is designed to last the season ‘at best’,” says Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the Australian Retailers Association. He says it’s consumer-driven. “They are quite prepared to spend a fortune on cars, handbags or watches, but not clothing.

“One day it will end,” he adds, “But not until the consumer gets sick of buying something and it falls apart after six weeks.”

Well I am. There’s a movement called Slow Fashion, which is about buying less, for more. I’m applying the brakes, right now.