Fast Fashion vs. Seasonless Slow Fashion ... We Should Care
What is fast fashion and why should we care?
Back in the day, there were only two fashion seasons: Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. Then each combination separated and it increased to 4 seasons. We bought clothing mainly 4 times a year. Different styles and individual trends were to be worn during each of the different seasons. Now, fast fashion businesses produce 52 micro-seasons every year. With new trends emerging every week, the purpose is for customers to purchase clothing more often and rapidly.
For brands like Shein, Zara, or Fashion Nova this means every week they are re-stocking their stores. Living in the social media era youthful customers were used to wearing clothing and discarding it because once they posted it, the life of the piece was over.
Wait! It gets worse…
Now we have seen the rise of “ultra-fast” fashion — Asos, Boohoo, Fashion Nova, and now Shein — emerged as viable rivals to the previous decade’s major fashion empires. You can find tens of thousands of styles on Shein’s website with an average of 2,000 SKUs added every day. Despite the false sustainability pledge listed on their website Shein’s business philosophy is based on the idea that more is better, that excess can be made available at strangely cheap rates, with little regard for the environmental consequences of openness regarding its workforce. As the final fate, excess items are not donated to those in need but intentionally damaged, written off as a loss, and thrown away, harming the environment.
What!? How exactly does fast fashion impact the environment?
Unsold clothing is not donated to those in need or sold off for pennies. They are thrown into landfills or burned. In 2017 $38 million of unsold stock was burned. In landfills, these items take up to 200 years to decompose. While Hong Kong alone sends 253 tons of textiles to landfill. DAILY.
Environmentally harmful fibers and toxic chemicals are used to make 72% of our clothing. This is how companies can produce large quantities cheaply. About 20 percent of industrial water pollution is due to garment manufacturing. Paying below-poverty wages and using at-risk members of the population is another popular way to keep prices at their lowest. 85% of garment workers are women who work 10-16hrs 6-7 days a week.
Sooooo, if that is fast fashion ... what is seasonless slow fashion?
The seasonless slow fashion ethos is to buy less and buy quality pieces that last much longer with styles that are not just season specific. It is all about conscious consumption and hat can include recycling your clothes i.e. wearing them more than once, in fact for many many seasons to come, ethically crafted and sustainable.
Slow fashion is what we do here at the Aesthetik. That means once a year we release a new collection in which pieces can be styled to be worn year-round. There is no need to be different styles that only work for one season and then go the way of last week’s TikTok challenge. These pieces can be styled to be worn year-round. This means you are buying quality pieces that are made to last and will stand the test of time. White can now be worn well past labor day! With our collection, you can shop year-round and be confident no matter what you buy it will work with the pieces you bought earlier that year. Not only that but we adhere to sustainable business practices. Our fabrics are made from fibers that are either organic, all-natural or recycled man-made. Thus significantly reducing our carbon footprint. We are proud to be listed among the front runners Prada and Chloe have also adopted this approach.
How do you wear seasonless slow fashion?
Just look at the last six months. Did you wear all twelve of those jeans you shoved in your drawer? How about that impulse buy from February that you just had to have? If you're like most of us, you likely wore the same two pieces over and over again and lived to tell the tale. We all do it. We all have our go-to’s. Shopping seasonless fashion ensures that those pieces hold up thru years of wear while still looking new. That way the money you save can be used to buy more exciting statement pieces. Let's take a step back and care a little more about what we wear, how we maintain those items to make them last, and more importantly, what happens when we are finished with them.
the Aesthetik collections consist of pieces that are both trendy yet adjustable based on the season and work with what you already have in your wardrobe. You can wear boots with dresses and our tops that are made with a light but durable fabric that can be layered in the winter with a sweater, or worn alone in the summer heat. You could buy from one collection and form a wardrobe all year round around it.
And what does seasonless fashion do for me?
It might take you some time to re-shape your wardrobe to be seasonless but with a careful selection of both trendy classic styles with quality, the benefits are long-lasting.
The 8 main benefits are:
- Seasonless fashion is a sustainable way to invest in a wardrobe that lasts you many seasons
- You have the freedom to break fashion rules and experiment. This will give you the confidence to develop your own individual style and grow your wardrobe ethically.
- You support small businesses, domestic / local fashion industry, and by wasting less by investing in quality pieces you reduce your carbon foot print.
- Trendy classic clothing that is easy to mix and match without looking outdated.
- You don’t have the pressure to constantly plan and update your wardrobe every season.
- Easy-to-wear pieces suitable for everyday, work, and holiday.
- You can easily update your wardrobe with accessories
- Seasonless fashion is an easy way of life. It provides you with the opportunity to appreciate the quality and where your clothes are made.
Want to learn more? Check out these articles …
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/christophermarquis/2021/05/14/what-does-slow-fashion-actually-mean/?sh=3943c2cd73b4
- https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/style/fashion-influencers-sustainability.html
- https://www.instyle.com/fashion/future-of-fashion-is-seasonless
- https://www.savoirflair.com/fashion/502832/what-is-seasonless-fashion