Clothing shopping used to be a once-in-a-while event, something we did a few times a year when the seasons changed or we outgrew our current wardrobe. Something changed, though, around 20 years ago. Clothes grew less expensive, trend cycles accelerated, and shopping became a pastime. Fast fashion and foreign retailers have taken over our high streets and online shopping.
Fast fashion, to put it simply, is exactly what the name implies like: it\’s fast and it\’s fashionable. Fast fashion refers to the complete process of producing and distributing the apparel we see on models, but at a faster and lower cost.
Fast fashion brands in India mass-produce identical runway designs on a large-scale utilising less expensive fabrics and labour, and then sell the clothing at a fraction of the original price, making the current fashion trends accessible to everyone.
How and why are fast fashion brands in India making cheap clothes?
Fast fashion retailers in India are focussing on producing cheap clothes in bulk, to provide the latest “gram fashion” to all.
To manufacture inexpensive and widely available apparel, the raw ingredients and final fabrics must be inexpensive as well. Petrochemical textiles are low-cost fabrics that are created from non-renewable fossil fuels. Producing them demands a tremendous amount of energy and materials. Textiles made of petrochemicals are favoured over cotton and other plant-based textiles because they are less expensive to produce.
The use of low-cost, hazardous textile dyes is one of fast fashion\’s negative consequences, making the fashion sector the world\’s second-largest polluter of clean water behind agriculture.
According to the current Better Buying index, suppliers in low-cost locations are being forced to decrease prices even further, with 38% of Bangladesh suppliers indicating that their clients have kept them to last year\’s prices despite inflation and growing salaries.
The industry is plagued by questionable working conditions, ranging from inhumane working hours to a lack of proper sanitation and drinking water, a deplorable work environment, and a disregard for workers\’ health and safety, particularly in the cut and sew operation, which is the most labour-intensive and is primarily performed in low-wage countries.
Several incidents have revealed that actual fur, especially cat and dog fur, is frequently mislabelled as faux fur by unsuspecting customers. The truth is that genuine fur is now cheaper to make and buy than synthetic fur because so much of it is produced in deplorable conditions in fur farms! This can especially be seen in luxury clothing manufacturers India who create the “fancy expensive look” with fur coats.
The repercussions of this acceleration of what is already fast fashion are devastating – consider more environmental destruction, lower worker salaries, animal abuse, and more mindless consumption, which is now available 24/7 at the click of a button.
BUY LESS, CHOOSE WELL, MAKE IT LAST WITH THE ODD FACTORY
Let’s take you through HOW THE ODD FACTORY MANUFACTURES YOUR STITCH AFFORDABLE AND SUSTAINABLE
We\’re committed to zero waste, so we recycle, upcycle, and go above and above to incorporate sustainability ideas into our daily operations. Let us help you manufacture more responsibly if you haven\’t considered how your scrap is handled.
We place a high value on ethics. We take good care of our staff. Everyone benefits when we do the right thing for our people. Better quality, more dedication, and a shared passion for what we do.
We reward and recognise our employees on a regular basis, and we take celebration very seriously in order to appreciate the diversity of our workforce. That means we don\’t cut corners on labour costs and may charge somewhat more than the average wholesaler. But we create fashion that is always affordable for the long run.