In the beginning, I think fashion is just something beautiful. However, after completing the intro to fashion course this semester, I discovered that the fashion in this world does not merely spread beauty, create markets and express our personality. Fashion’s influence on the world is constantly expanding and it is building a huge business empire. But fashion is also constantly eroding our world. We may only see the beautiful side of it, but the darkness behind fashion gradually approaches us. Perhaps most people do not know that the most polluting industry in the world today is the fashion industry. And most of the problems in fashion come from the supply chain. In our reading This Earth Day, Green Is the New Denim; it mentioned:“Supply-chain issues are among the thorniest in all of the fashion, both because of the human and environmental costs involved and because eyes tend to glaze over at the topic.” While Fashion pursues less explicit costs, it is paying more hidden costs; the environment, water, and people’s health all belong to the hidden cost. There are also labor issues caused by the fashion industry. In many third world countries, labor is not respected, labor safety is not guaranteed, and salaries are far below the minimum standard. But those sweatshops are the main production channels for the fashion industry today.
Before I studied this course, I didn’t realize that the fashion industry had these severe problems. Although I knew that some production processes would cause pollution, I did not know that the pollution was so uncontrollable. And for the time being, there are no effective solutions to these pollution and labor problems I think. Fashion was once only business and market for me, but now fashion has become my responsibility. I will work hard with others to try to change this situation.
