Fashion is such an integral part of society and culture today, especially with the reach provided by the advancement of media, as most recently demonstrated by the Met Gala. Renowned magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Vanity Fair documented this year’s Met Gala event while everyone else watched it at home from their phones.
This glamorous portrayal of fashion in media is furthered by social media specifically, commonly through influencers, so that even everyday clothing is elevated. This impacts teenagers most directly, considering that social media is one of the most popular forms of communication for teens.
However, for many, this extravagant lifestyle represented by trendy attire isn’t an option due to the high costs involved. So, teenagers tend to turn to a more accessible alternative: fast fashion. Of course, consumers don’t always realize that their shopping contributes to this growing disaster; brands often try to gloss over the negative impacts that they create.
One of the most unsuspecting offenders is a store called Brandy Melville, which is one of the most popular clothing stores in the world (for teenage girls at least). The store reportedly has over 3 million followers on Instagram and rakes in more than $332 million a year in revenue.
What is intriguing about Brandy Melville specifically is its unique brand identity created by its infamous “one size fits all” attitude toward sizing, despite its lack of size inclusivity. This identity produces an exclusive, unachievable image desired by customers, all of which were recently highlighted in HBO’s “Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion” – the recent documentary which inspired this article.
The fact that Brandy Melville has such a chokehold on its audience means that the negative impacts caused by it are large scale. Nevertheless, not many people know the truth behind the company and its impact on our planet. However, it isn’t the only brand that does this; large retailers such as Zara, Nike, and Urban Outfitters have been criticized for this unethical business model as well. There isn’t a lot of awareness surrounding the general effects of fast fashion, but this an extremely important issue because of the direct impact that we as consumers have on our planet.
Fast fashion in simple terms is just relatively cheap clothing items produced at an alarming rate. This allows brands to follow fashion trends and encourages overconsumption. This business model promotes overproduction, which is responsible for creating a large amount of waste in the world. This impacts people’s closets because when you have cheap items that you spend very little money on, you don’t really care when they break, and you just toss them out. This quick closet-to-landfill pipeline is a common narrative when it comes to fast fashion and only fuels the cycle of overproduction in this growing industry.
The most striking part of this whole process is the devastating environmental effects and the fact that they continue to actively damage our environment. The factories that manufacture the clothing alone produce large quantities of toxins and chemicals in the air that contribute to greenhouse gasses and the climate crisis. This affects surrounding environments and makes it hard for people, plants and animals to live there. It’s important to recognize that the effects aren’t just airborne; fast fashion factories cause direct damage in marine environments as well as terrestrial habitats. These factories are responsible for many of the microplastics in marine habitats, polluting the water and killing the animals living in them.
Additionally, the cheap quality of material means a shorter lifespan for the garments, meaning that these clothes often end up in landfills after just a few wears.
Fast fashion is a rapidly developing phenomenon that ultimately promotes overconsumption through overproduction. While it produces clothing sold at an inexpensive price, the environmental cost is tremendous and affects everyone on the planet. This relatively new, unethical business model is quickly becoming more popular, which means the effects are only getting worse. Take this article as a sign to be more conscious when purchasing clothing and take into consideration where you shop. This issue is so important because as consumers we are repeatedly given the choice to either support or reject it, while the rest of the world lives with the consequences.
Photographer Muntaka Chasant has documented thousands of washed-up clothes on a beach in Africa to highlight the environmental impact of fast fashion. (Petapixel)
The Bamboo 
By Semiah Huang ’27 & Cameron Palmer ’27
Fashion is such an integral part of society and culture today, especially with the reach provided by the advancement of media, as most recently demonstrated by the Met Gala. Renowned magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Vanity Fair documented this year’s Met Gala event while everyone else watched it at
home from their phones.
This glamorous portrayal of fashion in media is furthered by social media specifically, commonly through influencers, so that even everyday clothing is elevated. This impacts teenagers most directly, considering that social media is one of the most popular forms of communication for teens.
However, for many, this extravagant lifestyle represented by trendy attire isn’t an option due to the high costs involved. So, teenagers tend to turn to a more accessible alternative: fast fashion. Of course, consumers don’t always realize that their shopping contributes to this growing disaster; brands often try to
gloss over the negative impacts that they create.
One of the most unsuspecting offenders is a store called Brandy Melville, which is one of the most popular clothing stores in the world (for teenage girls at least). The store reportedly has over 3 million followers on Instagram and rakes in more than $332 million a year in revenue.
What is intriguing about Brandy Melville specifically is its unique brand identity created by its infamous “one size fits all” attitude toward sizing, despite its lack of size inclusivity. This identity produces an exclusive, unachievable image desired by customers, all of which were recently highlighted in HBO’s “Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion” – the recent documentary which inspired this article.
The fact that Brandy Melville has such a chokehold on its audience means that the negative impacts caused by it are large scale. Nevertheless, not many people know the truth behind the company and its impact on our planet. However, it isn’t the only brand that does this; large retailers such as Zara, Nike,
and Urban Outfitters have been criticized for this unethical business model as well. There isn’t a lot of awareness surrounding the general effects of fast fashion, but this an extremely important issue because of the direct impact that we as consumers have on our planet.
Fast fashion in simple terms is just relatively cheap clothing items produced at an alarming rate. This allows brands to follow fashion trends and encourages overconsumption. This business model promotes overproduction, which is responsible for creating a large amount of waste in the world. This impacts
people’s closets because when you have cheap items that you spend very little money on, you don’t really care when they break, and you just toss them out. This quick closet-to-landfill pipeline is a common narrative when it comes to fast fashion and only fuels the cycle of overproduction in this growing
industry.
The most striking part of this whole process is the devastating environmental effects and the fact that they continue to actively damage our environment. The factories that manufacture the clothing alone produce large quantities of toxins and chemicals in the air that contribute to greenhouse gasses and the climate
crisis. This affects surrounding environments and makes it hard for people, plants and animals to live there. It’s important to recognize that the effects aren’t just airborne; fast fashion factories cause direct damage in marine environments as well as terrestrial habitats. These factories are responsible for many of
the microplastics in marine habitats, polluting the water and killing the animals living in them.
Additionally, the cheap quality of material means a shorter lifespan for the garments, meaning that these clothes often end up in landfills after just a few wears.
Fast fashion is a rapidly developing phenomenon that ultimately promotes overconsumption through overproduction. While it produces clothing sold at an inexpensive price, the environmental cost is tremendous and affects everyone on the planet. This relatively new, unethical business model is quickly becoming more popular, which means the effects are only getting worse. Take this article as a sign to be more conscious when purchasing clothing and take into consideration where you shop. This issue is so important because as consumers we are repeatedly given the choice to either support or reject it, while the
rest of the world lives with the consequences.
Sources: https://time.com/6965880/brandy-hellville-documentary-true-story/,
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/sustainability/fast_fashion#:~:text=The%20pollution%20introduced%20by%20the,change%20from%20anthropogenic%20greenhouse%20gas
Photographer Muntaka Chasant has documented thousands of washed-up clothes on a beach in Africa to
highlight the environmental impact of fast fashion. (Petapixel)
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