Slow fashion is here to stay
Let's start with its opposite, what is fast fashion? Well, fast fashion has only really been a ‘thing’ for the last few decades. Ever since clothing companies found out it’s cheaper to outsource to countries such as India, Bangladesh and Thailand, fast fashion has unfortunately become the norm on the high street. We all know this is highly unethical, as the workers endure dangerous conditions and low pay.
But how do you know the difference between a fast fashion brand and a slow fashion brand? There are a few things to look out for:
- A fast fashion brand usually boasts hundreds, if not thousands, of styles all in the latest trends
- The clothing is made of cheap, low quality materials
- The clothing wears within a few months
- There’s only a limited amount of a certain item for no more than a couple of months, as the brand brings out new stock regularly.
- The labels say the clothing is made in an Asian country (a big sign that the company may be using unethical sweatshops to manufactures its garments)
But it was only 120 years ago that the UK also had its own ‘sweatshops.’ Healthcare was improving, so the populations was blowing up big time. This meant there were even more people needing clothes. To fulfill demand, dress-making companies employed teams of garment workers in their factories...who also experienced dangerous conditions and low pay.
Fast forward to the 60s and 70s, and it’s here you’ll find that people were keen to use clothing to express themselves - think the mods and rockers! Although all these new subcultures had their own ‘uniforms’, they were still buying clothing that was built to last. This brings us to slow fashion...
Slow fashion, in comparison, is a lot better for our environment, working conditions and, believe it or not, our finances. High quality clothing can come with a slightly higher price tag - but it’s an investment that pays for itself over the long-term.
For example, you buy a T-shirt from a fast fashion brand for £4. You wear it once a week for three months. It’s worn out after about 12 ‘wears.’ Instead, you buy a T-shirt from a slow fashion brand for £20. You wear it once a week. It lasts for two years before wearing out...that’s about 104 wears in total!
Fast fashion brand T-shirt: 33p per wear...for three months
Slow fashion brand T-shirt: 19p per wear for two years
By the time you’ve worn the slow fashion brand for three months (the same amount of time it takes the fast fashion brand to wear out), it would have cost you £2.28 - that’s almost half the price of the fast fashion brand.
If you wanted your £4 fast-fashion T-shirt to last for 2 years, you’d have to buy it eight times over - costing you a grand total of £32. In the long-run fast fashion is just so expensive - and very harmful to the environment.
How to spot a slow fashion brand
We know a lot of companies claim to be ethical and socially conscious when actually they’re far from it! But luckily there are a few ways you can spot a slow fashion brand:
- Clothing is made from sustainable material of a high quality
- New styles are only released a few times a year
- Manufactured locally - doesn’t use sweatshops
- Smaller, indie companies
How can we beat fast fashion? We may have found a small way to combat this. Not only is our clothing made in the UK with no sweatshop conditions or child labour, we believe in making good things last.
That’s why we’re launching a second-hand section on the GFW Clothing Facebook Group! This means you can sell all your pre-owned GFW items online. No matter whether you have changed clothing sizes recently or you simply want a new look, you can sell on your pre-owned items to like minded people in our wonderful community! We will also post any seconds we have in this group which people can buy at a reduced price.
Check out our pre-owned section on our Facebook group: GFW Clothing Pre-Loved Sales.