For years people have watched different fashion trends glide through the media. But now fashion trends are moving on much faster than people can handle.
This generation mostly live vicariously through many different social media platforms.
On these platforms many different ‘influencers’ show off their new clothes, jewellery and bags.
But each week these items are changing.
Fashion usually goes through 5 stages: Introduction, rise, peak, decline and obsolescence.
But now it seems that through social media, trends are going from introduction to obsolescence almost simultaneously.
I spoke to a 15 year old girl who owns many social media apps and she said ‘I can’t keep up with all the new designs. One week monochrome colours are in, the next week it’s leopard print and no-one wants to be wearing black and white while the rest of the world is in leopard print! Clothes are so expensive now even ones from cheap brands, literally no-one can afford a new wardrobe every week! Well I certainly can't! ’
So, these new trends are not only hard for people to keep up with but also hard for the environment to process.
92 million tonnes of textiles end up in landfills every year, and many of these textiles can be blamed on Fast Fashion.
When a new trend comes in the last one is thrown out - leading to wastage.
And with the rate of new trends increasing consequently so is the landfill!
But it is not just the after effects of clothes that impact the environment.
People are led to believe their clothes are coming from an ethical green company when in many cases they are not.
Many companies use factories that release more and more carbon emissions to keep producing items relating to the newest trend.
With more clothes ‘needed’ more planes are hauling clothes from Beijing to London.
These emissions melt 95.3 square feet of the arctic sea.
New trends that are fulfilled by companies are making fast fashion too fast for the environment.
So next time, you NEED to buy that new top because it is ‘so in trend’ think what’s going to be ‘so in trend’ next week.
How fast will your top be thrown off the shelf?
Can you keep up with fast fashion or should it be renamed tooooooo fast fashion?