Why are we indulging in fast fashion despite its ethical entanglements?

It’s a well-known fact that the implications of ghost factories and dubious labour are ethical nightmares, so why are we still addicted to fast fashion?

Have you purchased anything from a fast fashion brand within the past one year? If you were to float this question on your group chat, chances are that you’d be greeted by more ayes than nays, and with good reason. For the average 20-something-year-old shopper, it has become increasingly difficult to scroll through their social media feeds without being confronted by shiny, new things available at bargain-basement pricing. For instance, a quick search for the hashtag #zarasale on Instagram will fetch a whopping 2.3 million posts. Haul videos similarly rack up millions of views on YouTube, fostering a more-the-merrier economy that bulldozes over ethical or environmental qualms in its path.  

The latter serves as an interesting quandary, given that the case against fast fashion is now a well-documented one. Ever since Inditex, the parent company of Zara, first abandoned the seasonal fashion cycle with year-around production in the 1990s, the carousel of fast fashion has only gotten blisteringly faster. This has been furthered with the advent of e-commerce retailers like Shein—interestingly founded not by a fashion industry insider but by Chris Xu, a search engine optimisation (SEO) specialist who knows exactly which buttons to push to trigger a purchase. As the algorithm gets smarter, that crop top you saw going viral on Instagram last night has been hastily recreated in countries with unethical labour laws and will be dangling online temptingly for purchase before you sip your morning coffee. The ethical outcry against labour conditions remains an unscalable monolith, and the environmental impact of creating a use-and-dispose economy is another matter altogether. So, why does fast fashion still sell better than drugs? 

 A vicious cycle

For Riea Enok, therapist at The Mood Space, the answer lies in understanding how fast fashion brands encourage behavioural addictions. “Shopping triggers the reward pathway in our brains, motivating us to seek more so we can continue to experience the resulting pleasure. The throwaway discounts and satisfaction of getting a good deal on an item adds to our sense of reward. Since fast fashion focuses on the quantity of sales, it intentionally capitalises on the fact that people will seek the gratification that comes with a cheap purchase,” she explains. 

The matter is further compounded by the stigma of repeating one’s outfits, particularly when coupled with the pressure to share photographs on social media. A study has found that 41 per cent  of 18-25-year-olds feel the pressure to wear a different outfit each time they go out. In comparison, a Twitter user noted that $280 can fund outfits from online retailers like Shein for an entire year—averaging at merely ₹ 2,000 a month. Enok adds, “Keeping up with the latest trends can help people find a sense of identity, self-worth and direction in their lives. The fear of missing out and pressure to fit in with the majority ensures that they continue shopping from fast fashion brands simply to keep up with the trends.” 

Dissociating guilt and shame from shopping

While trying to prise open fast fashion’s vise-like grip from the consumer psyche isn’t a job for the faint-hearted, a growing number of slow fashion brands are willing to take up the task. Raul Rai, founder of Nicobar, says, “We get asked about when the next, next, next collections are coming, but we consciously choose to make smaller drops. For consumers, it might mean that the products you choose are slightly more expensive than others who choose not to check these boxes. For us, picking better fabrics and paying fair wages means that the margins aren’t as big or that we’re releasing products less frequently than other brands. But at the end of the day, we are a studio and not a series of shops.”

Looking ahead, if slow fashion is to serve as a worthy counter to fast fashion’s glib marketing, Enok believes that work needs to be put into divorcing the negative connotations associated with ethical shopping. “By appealing to people’s sense of responsibility, brands can often create feelings of guilt and shame. Ultimately, people act from a sense of duty rather than desire, making them less likely to comply. Over time, individuals become immune to such ploys, which makes it less effective in the long run,” she explains.

Instead, she recommends co-opting fast fashion’s playbook by injecting humour, opting for quirky designs and playing with colours beyond the conventional green. “Brands might want to advertise the sustainability factor as an additional rather than the sole benefit of buying the product. Rather than tapping into feelings of guilt, evoking positive emotions such as taking pride in a sustainable purchase can ensure long-term compliance,” concludes Enok. 

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