JourneywomanHigh quality or fast fashion?
July 1st 2008 01:51
Despite economic pressures to spend less on all everyday products, Australians are spending more on fashion than ever before. And rather than investing in high-quality garments that go the distance, we're buying cheaper clothes that are on-trend, knowing full well that in a couple of months, they'll be unwearable by us fashionistas, and we'll have moved onto the next big thing. Those clothes we bought less than a season ago will be sold on ebay, given to charity, or simply chucked out.
This is called fast fashion. And let's face it - Australians love to buy clothes. Even when times are tough and we should be tightening our (trendy) belts, we buy clothes. Last year we spent $10.4 billion on fashion and, despite continually increasing petrol prices and high interest rates, industry analysts expect us to spend 3% more a year on our outfits for the next five years.
Every year, on average, Australian women buy 56 new garments of clothing, while the average guy buys 29. If you're under 30, you'd typically buy double that number, according to the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA).
Jo Kellock, executive director of TFIA, believes that this culture of fast fashion must change. "In an environment where we are being asked to consume less - less petrol, less energy, less water... less of everything - this whole culture or cycle of wanting more fashion faster just doesn't seem to fit," she says. Fast fashion is damaging to both the environment, and the living standards of the people in third-world countries who are forced to work in slave-labour conditions.
But convincing companies to slow down their production cycles or consumers to buy less won't be easy, says Kellock. "To change these patterns in the way we shop for clothes is going to a big job. It's going to be interesting to see what happens. For example, will there come a day when we are ashamed to say we bought a new dress this week, last week, the week before and the week before that?"
It's tough to say. In an increasingly materialistic society, it doesn't seem likely anytime soon. Personally, rather than buying cheap, trendy gear that doesn't last more than a few weeks, I choose to pay that bit extra for quality garments that will last me years, and which I know (or am quite certain) haven't come directly from the sweatshops.
The way to go about it is to pick and choose. Spend extra on items such as jeans, shoes, coats, evening wear, suits and pants, and you can afford to be thrifty when it comes to tops, skirts and accessories (and can thus afford a relatively quick turnover, staying on-trend). If you embrace fast fashion for some items, but spend more for higher quality on others, you'll have a wardrobe that is both trendy and classically elegant - and that is exactly what every fashion-conscious girl should want.
This is called fast fashion. And let's face it - Australians love to buy clothes. Even when times are tough and we should be tightening our (trendy) belts, we buy clothes. Last year we spent $10.4 billion on fashion and, despite continually increasing petrol prices and high interest rates, industry analysts expect us to spend 3% more a year on our outfits for the next five years.
Every year, on average, Australian women buy 56 new garments of clothing, while the average guy buys 29. If you're under 30, you'd typically buy double that number, according to the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA).
Jo Kellock, executive director of TFIA, believes that this culture of fast fashion must change. "In an environment where we are being asked to consume less - less petrol, less energy, less water... less of everything - this whole culture or cycle of wanting more fashion faster just doesn't seem to fit," she says. Fast fashion is damaging to both the environment, and the living standards of the people in third-world countries who are forced to work in slave-labour conditions.
But convincing companies to slow down their production cycles or consumers to buy less won't be easy, says Kellock. "To change these patterns in the way we shop for clothes is going to a big job. It's going to be interesting to see what happens. For example, will there come a day when we are ashamed to say we bought a new dress this week, last week, the week before and the week before that?"
It's tough to say. In an increasingly materialistic society, it doesn't seem likely anytime soon. Personally, rather than buying cheap, trendy gear that doesn't last more than a few weeks, I choose to pay that bit extra for quality garments that will last me years, and which I know (or am quite certain) haven't come directly from the sweatshops.
The way to go about it is to pick and choose. Spend extra on items such as jeans, shoes, coats, evening wear, suits and pants, and you can afford to be thrifty when it comes to tops, skirts and accessories (and can thus afford a relatively quick turnover, staying on-trend). If you embrace fast fashion for some items, but spend more for higher quality on others, you'll have a wardrobe that is both trendy and classically elegant - and that is exactly what every fashion-conscious girl should want.
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