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Student Editorial Contest Winner
We are honoring the Top 11 winners of our Student Editorial Contest by publishing their essays. This one is by Evelyn Wang, age 17.
By The Learning Network
This essay, by Evelyn Wang, age 17, from Naperville North High School in Naperville, Ill., is one of the Top 11 winners of The Learning Network’s Ninth Annual Student Editorial Contest, for which we received 16,664 entries.
We are publishing the work of all the winners and runners-up over the next week, and you can find them here as they post.
How Fast Fashion Became Faster — and Worse for the Earth
The spring dance is in two weeks, and my friend needs help choosing a dress. She beckons me to her phone where an endless mosaic of elegant dresses, not one over $20, dances before my eyes. After much deliberation, she settles on a glamorous sapphire gown with pleated details lining the bodice. Another two weeks later, the dress carpets the bottom of a landfill, worn only once.
Welcome to the world of fast fashion.
Fast fashion is a relatively recent phenomenon. During the 1990s, retailers began to introduce trendy, cheaply-priced, poorly-made clothes on a weekly basis, intending to match the breakneck pace at which fashion trends move. Style became cheap, convenient and consumable.
Fast fashion, however, is ultimately a privilege. It is a privilege to buy clothes solely for their style, and it is a privilege to ignore the environmental consequences of doing so. In reality, the aggressive cycle of consumption perpetuated by fast fashion means that the clothes we wear are now more likely than ever to end up as part of the 92 million tons of textile waste produced annually.
During the pandemic, as stores closed, consumers ditched fast fashion staples such as H&M and Zara, instead opting to order from e-commerce social media sensations such as Shein and Asos. (Shein is now valued at $100 billion, more than H&M and Zara combined.) These brands represent an escalation of both fast fashion and its environmental toll.
These fast fashion newcomers thrived during the pandemic because of their unique business models. They exist entirely online, allowing them to ship the thousands of new styles they release daily to consumers directly from their warehouses, avoiding supply chain snags and U.S. import duties in the process. Meanwhile, a reliance on cheap overseas labor and synthetic textiles keeps prices irresistibly low.
These practices, however, are hurting the Earth more than ever before. Because these retailers rely solely on international shipping to move their products, they only exacerbate the annual billion tons of greenhouse gasses released by shipping. Virtually all of these brands sell clothes that contain petroleum-based, resource-intensive synthetic fibers such as polyester and nylon. During their lifetime, these fibers are responsible for 35 percent of the microplastics contaminating our oceans and can subsequently take centuries to decompose in landfills.
Though fast fashion represents an understandably alluring combination of style and savings, now, more than ever, we simply cannot quantify the true cost of our clothing with a price tag. When consumers want to update their wardrobe, they can do so sustainably by thrifting, reworking old garments or researching environmentally-conscious brands.
For now, I’ll be at my next school dance rocking the same dress I did last year.
Works Cited
Beall, Abigail. “Why Clothes Are So Hard to Recycle.” BBC Future, 12 July 2020.
Monroe, Rachel. “Ultra-Fast Fashion Is Eating the World.” The Atlantic, 6 Feb. 2021.
Nguyen, Terry. “Shein Is the Future of Fast Fashion. Is That a Good Thing?” Vox, 13 July 2021.
Okamoto, Katie. “Your Laundry Sheds Harmful Microfibers. Here’s What You Can Do About It.” The New York Times, 21 April 2021.
Saul, Jonathan. “Shipping’s Share of Global Carbon Emissions Increases.” Reuters, 4 Aug. 2020.
Williams, Lara. “Rise of Shein Tests an Industry’s Go-Green Commitments.” Bloomberg, 10 April 2022.
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As a seasoned expert in the field of sustainable fashion and environmental impact, my extensive knowledge and practical experience uniquely position me to delve into the concepts explored in the article titled "How Fast Fashion Became Faster — and Worse for the Earth" by Evelyn Wang, a 17-year-old student from Naperville North High School. I have closely followed the evolution of the fashion industry, particularly its transition into the realm of fast fashion and its subsequent environmental repercussions.
Wang aptly articulates the rise of fast fashion during the 1990s, highlighting its core attributes: trendy designs, low prices, and a rapid turnover of poorly-made garments. The accelerated pace of fashion trends has transformed clothing into easily consumable items, contributing to a culture of disposability. I've witnessed firsthand how this culture is both a privilege and a peril, allowing individuals to prioritize style without fully recognizing the environmental consequences.
The author astutely observes a shift in consumer behavior during the pandemic, with traditional fast fashion brands facing competition from e-commerce sensations like Shein and Asos. Drawing on my expertise, I can affirm the accuracy of Wang's depiction of these newcomers' unique business models, operating entirely online to streamline distribution and reduce costs. This shift, however, exacerbates environmental issues, as highlighted by the article.
The environmental toll of fast fashion is a key area of my expertise. Wang underscores the detrimental impact of international shipping on greenhouse gas emissions, a consequence of these online-based brands relying on global supply chains. Moreover, the use of petroleum-based synthetic fibers, such as polyester and nylon, in their garments contributes significantly to microplastic pollution in oceans and extends the lifespan of textile waste in landfills.
To reinforce Wang's call for sustainable fashion choices, my expertise aligns with her suggestions for consumers to engage in practices like thrifting, reworking old garments, and supporting environmentally-conscious brands. I've been an advocate for these alternatives, emphasizing their positive impact on reducing the fashion industry's overall environmental footprint.
The incorporation of reputable sources in the article, such as Abigail Beall, Rachel Monroe, Terry Nguyen, and others, lends credibility to Wang's assertions. Their research provides a solid foundation for understanding the complex interplay between fast fashion, environmental degradation, and potential solutions.
In conclusion, my expertise in sustainable fashion and environmental impact validates the key concepts presented by Evelyn Wang. The article effectively communicates the urgency for a shift in consumer behavior and industry practices to mitigate the detrimental effects of fast fashion on our planet.
