Recently, Forever 21 closed its doors because it plagiarized Ariana Grande’s 7 rings music video for one of their photoshoots. Ariana sued them for $10 million for their use of a lookalike model and copycat lighting, outfits, and accessories in their fall campaign. The lawsuit, and slightly lower than normal sales, were enough to put them out of business.
Their already shockingly low prices were cut in half for the blow out sale of the century, and heinous neon skirts were sold for $3 internationally. Forever 21 will forever be remembered as justified chaos and may it rest in peace.
With the death of Forever 21 looming over my head, I have been thinking a lot about the insanity of fast fashion. Don’t get me wrong, I love buying a crop top for $14.99, and so does my minimum-wage pay check, but when you look at the bigger picture it’s horrible for the environment and a huge waste of money.
I don’t think fast fashion should be abolished, because I also think that’s ridiculously unrealistic. But I think consumers need to be mindful of what is and isn’t worth purchasing, and designers on any scale need to do the same with creating. There will always be ridiculous trends – for example those godforsaken tiny sunglasses of 2018 – and everyone, and every brand will put their all into them. It’s always a blatant copy of some designer, and within six months you are stared at as if you have a third arm if you’re caught dead in whatever the trend was.
Though fast fashion encourages low wages for laborers, obviously something I do not support, it doesn’t seem like mass-producing corporations are going anywhere, for now, and many people need the affordable pricing. Stylish people should not have to wear ugly clothes on account of their pay check. I don’t think fast fashion needs to go away, but I do think it needs to slow down.
Many stores have a “pre” season for every season – we barely even have 4 seasons anymore, I don’t think fashion needs 8. Companies are over doing it, and making clothes that just get brushed aside because they’re only weather-relevant for a week. Stores need to be more selective about what they sell and stay true to their brand, rather than sell out for profit.
As someone who shops online, I frequent sites that have a specific style. Sites with every possible style intimidate me, and unless I’m looking for one item that I can search, find, and buy solo, I’m avoiding them like the plague. A drop down search bar with 24 different category options, and then 2500+ results in each category is anxiety provoking, and I use shopping to calm myself down.
I think stores would benefit from only selling their own personal style, they’ll attract customers who dress the same way and probably end up making more money. We don’t need to get rid of fast fashion, but we need to do it right. And if any hugely successful fashion houses want to hire me to help them make that transition, I would be happy to help.
Opmerkingen