Slow fashion vs. fast fashion
December 13, 2023, 2023asemaphore-CSRinfluencers
On November 25 and 26, 2023, the Fair Fashion Weekend organized by Bubble Ethics was held at Foound, a sustainable co-working and event space that I've already introduced to you in previous articles (see sustainable entrepreneurship for women). The event spotlighted slow fashion artisans, a counter-current to fast fashion.
Why is fast fashion an ecological and social problem?
Fast fashion is a concept that began in the 1990s. It is an accelerated production, offering several collections a month at low prices, often of mediocre quality.. This has encouraged ever-increasing consumption of clothing: 130 billion were purchased worldwide between 2000 and 2014, and in Switzerland alone, each inhabitant buys around 80 new items per year (four times more than twenty years ago). What's more, these garments are often only worn seven or ten times and almost 80% of our wardrobe is never used. The fashion industry is therefore extremely polluting, with 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases per year!
What's more, fast fashion clothes are produced in deplorable social conditions. Oxfam France has estimated that for a t-shirt sold in Europe at 29 euros, women workers (because they are often women, exposing them to cases of sexual harassment, fast fashion is therefore also a feminist issue) earn just 0.18 euros for a working time of almost 12 hours!
What is slow fashion?
Slow fashion is therefore a counter-current to fast fashion, which also emerged in the 1990s. Researcher Kate Fletcher defines it as "a set of practices that celebrate the diversity of textile production and consumption and the notion of pleasure, while taking into account the limits of the resources at our disposal. This concerns the design, production and consumption cycle of a garment, as well as its end-of-life."The idea is to promote quality garments with stable materials that extend their lifespan, hence their sometimes high price tag. sometimes high prices. What's more, employees are paid fairly and work in good conditions, highlighting know-how that is often local. Slow fashion values promote conscious, limited consumption of fashion by proposing less intensive production in smaller quantities, transparency and sustainability in production methods.
Slow fashion is therefore part of a conscious, minimalist approach to consumption, or even counter-consumerism, based on real need rather than compulsive desire. If you're interested, the association Bubble Ethic supports local artisans and ethical designers with the aim of raising awareness of more sustainable lifestyles.
Ana