Does fast fashion really cost that much? Hidden costs as an alarm bell to give up on them
2023-11-02 09:32:22
TiranaPost
Fast fashion costs a little? Not actually. Fast Fashion has hidden costs and in one way or another we pay, the generations to come pay.
Italian journalist Milena Gabanelli talks about these costs in a video.
Today, the owner of Shein, the number 1 fast fashion company, is among the 25 richest people in China. It has managed to earn up to 1 billion per month. It has overtaken Zara and H&M in profits.
But are cheap, fast fashion clothes worth buying and are they really as useful as they seem?
"Fast fashion and fast fashion that costs little. How little? Paying 3 euros for a T-shirt and 7 euros for a suit is really little. And someone else pays for the unseen costs. The brand of the moment is Shein. Someone pronounces it differently. It is a Chinese company that was born 15 years ago to sell only online and retail.
Over time it became so popular that today the market is worth 60 billion dollars.
How does it manage to upload 500 new models to its online platform every day, with copies and overloaded with plagiarism lawsuits.
Consumers, their favorite customers are young people. In fact, they are the ones who visit their site even more. It is precisely those who are most sensitive and active in environmental issues. And we start from here!
Environmental impact To realize a single cotton T-shirt requires an average of 2.7 thousand liters of water, because the plantations must be irrigated.
The toxic waste from the processing of all Shein synthetic products, which are so many, and which contain lead PFAS, phthalates, beyond legal limits, pollutes waterways.
According to a CBC Marketplace survey, these pieces are not safe when they come into contact with the skin.
Data from the Helen McArthur Foundation 92 million tonnes of woven waste are generated each year. Of these, only 15% manage to be recycled.
Most of it comes from fast fashion, because it costs little and based on poor quality, you buy more, use and throw away faster.
There is an alternative solution to all this. Buy on the used market. They are even more original.
The difference in the end is made by the sum of individual behaviors that will choose to destroy the planet or save it", explains Gabanelli.
