I have a large consumption of garments since I am a fashion design student with a pretty high interest in fashion. I went out shopping for clothes at least twice a month, cause there always feels like something is missing in my closet. As an addition, a habit of mine is to collect unique clothing piece, which takes time to match them to an outfit, also takes time for them to be abandoned. In the film, it shows many facts of the cruelty behind a glamorous garment’s production. Fast fashion brand like H.M, Forever 21, or ZARA, they release a new season every week with a lower range of price in the market, which leads to a large customer group, and also a large amount of waste. They are hardly reused or resell cause most of the waste is from the company, not the costumers. I never have imaged perfectly fine clothes would be ended up under the sea, I had never considered them garbage before. An alternative to fast fashion to my consideration is thrift shopping. Fashion is a circle, what had been popular in the past, it could still be popular today, why retro if we can own something that carries the real mark from the past? Some brands and companies are using “sustainable manufacturing” practice are holding the winding vine of fashion producing. For example, a brand called Reformation is very conceptual about it. They are using as sustainable materials as possible, such as TENCEL, viscose, recycled cotton, recover yarns which are made of old clothes and fabric waste. As what they marked themselves on the website: “We put sustainability at the core of everything we do. We invest in green building infrastructure to minimize our waste, water, and energy footprints. By providing on-the-job training and opportunities for growth, we also invest in the people who make this revolution possible.”, if it is true, they are making a big difference in the fashion industry.
It is making me distressed that fashion has made our environment and people in a difficult situation. This video should be spread more wisely if possible. If people don’t make changes, at least they should be informed about what effects have been caused by their daily behavior.
