In today’s world, fast fashion is not just a trend, it’s a global industry worth nearly 1.2 trillion HKD that produces clothing at light speed. With an estimation of 92 million tons of textile waste generated per year, there has been a significant discussion regarding the impacts of what is now known as the fast fashion industry. “Fast fashion” refers to lowly priced clothing, which keeps up with all the most current trends, allowing consumers to keep up with the trends without breaking the bank. Interviews by Fashion Revolution and Cable News Network present cotton farmers’ perspectives on fast fashion, and how it impacts them, sharing the impacts of fairtrade, and what overwhelming amounts of debt does to people. This essay will take a chance to dive into various lenses of workers in the fast fashion industry, presenting the advantages and disadvantages, ultimately arguing that collectively, we should discourage fast fashion in Hong Kong.
The unfair conditions of workers in the fast fashion industry highlight why we should discourage fast fashion in China and globally due to the harsh working conditions. Approximately 150 million internal migrant workers in China face harsh working conditions, including the need to work overtime often, the lack of employment contracts, and limited access to social security benefits. Despite the country’s rapid industrial growth, these workers live in crowded dormitories, and frequently endure 14-16 hour shifts, 7 days a week, and overtime for low wages, averaging 1,690 CNY per month. Migrant workers make up a significant portion of the workforce, with 75 million factory workers worldwide, less than 2% earn a living wage, and 80% are women who face gender inequality and lack the rights of maternity leave and childcare options, which forces them to make difficult choices about their family situations, making them vulnerable to employers being able to exploit them without any consequences. These extreme working conditions in the fashion industry are extremely common in China and heavily impact migrant workers’ mental as well as physical health.
Alternatively, from the point of view of some cotton farmers, fast fashion has the opportunity to improve their lifestyles drastically. Kady Walie, from West Africa is involved in the fairtrade system, where cotton farmers are paid a guaranteed price, over the market price, for their cotton. They are given training courses to get higher yields, as well as a fairtrade premium which is granted to the farmers’ group, where they can collectively decide how to utilise it. As yet, the premium has been used to help provide support for them towards Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, and 6, which are good health and well being, quality education, and clean water and sanitation. Fast fashion can also shift the lives of many cotton farmers in Hong Kong due to a high demand of cotton from fast fashion brands, as cotton is a cheap and durable material. There is a current drive in fast fashion, with the market reaching over 20.2 billion HKD this year, there is an estimate that it will continue to grow about 9.5% reaching 2029, which suggests a significant upwards trend in the fast fashion industry. Consumers knowing where their clothes come from could lead to appreciation and acknowledgement for the farmers, increasing customers’ awareness, potentially driving more support for fairtrade initiatives, which foreshadows a future of sustainable lifestyles for cotton farmers all over the globe.
Additionally, many farmers commit suicide as they cannot make their living wage, highlighting the impacts of unstable market prices, as well as agricultural debt on cotton farmers and their families. Many cotton farmers worldwide go through similar devastating experiences to Yogita Kanhiya, who lost her husband who committed suicide due to an overwhelming amount of debt, which seems to be common pattern in the area, as 44 farmers take their lives every day. While fairtrade has its many benefits, and could potentially assist to solve this groundbreaking issue, the assumption of which fairtrade could tremendously improve cotton farmers’ lifestyles oversimplifies the complex challenges and ignores major issues in the cotton industry, and fairtrade sales are unreliable as customer awareness is limited and fluctuates based on current trends. Although fairtrade provides a guaranteed price and a premium for community needs, these benefits are nowhere near enough to address underlying issues such as exploitation and poverty, and the lack of basic needs. Unpredictable weather has destroyed many crops in the past, triggering despair and hopelessness in these farmers. The quality of cotton is reduced as a consequence of the high demand for cotton which arises as fast fashion encourages a throwaway culture. Over the past 30 years, cotton prices have halved, production costs have risen, making it extremely challenging for farmers to earn a steady income. Fast fashion involves the use of many chemicals and practices that are unsustainable and harm the environment, ultimately complicating the process of growing healthy cotton. The governments’ poor attempts to address the situation has caused the local community to lose hope in which the situation will improve, leaving farmers in India trapped in mountains of debt. Discouraging fast fashion is crucial as it would majorly contribute to easing the burdens on cotton farmers, and it would help support a healthy financial, as well as mental wellbeing.
Living in Hong Kong, the issue of fast fashion leads to overflowing landfills along with both air and water pollution, as fast fashion promotes a throwaway culture. This affects local communities and the overall public’s health, myself included. Moreover, as awareness of extreme working conditions including migrant workers suffering 14-16 hour shifts, 7 days a week for only 1,690 CNY, and cotton farmers facing overwhelming amounts of debt, leading to 44 committing suicide daily, these extreme measure which workers in the fast fashion industry face could lead to guilt and self reflection in consumers and make them reconsider their spending choices on temporary trends, which make people like myself feel pressured to constantly update their wardrobes to fit in, as many people my age are impacted by FOMO, which social media indirectly promotes. Us, as a community of consumers can help take action by choosing to buy from sustainable brands, saving you money in the long term as you do not need to buy replacements as often for low quality, cheap, garments.
We all have a role to play in making sure that from where our clothes’ journey starts in the cotton farms in India, to where they are constructed in cramped factories in China, all employees are treated fairly. You can help Yogita Kanhiya and many others by advocate for the Hong Kong government to set laws for brands to follow regarding labour practices and sustainability, raise awareness for the workers in the fast fashion industry through campaigns, implement textile recycling programs to reduce clothing waste, offer financial support to local businesses that use eco friendly practices, ultimately encouraging sustainable choices and a reduced demand for fast fashion.
The evidence presented clearly indicates that fast fashion should be discouraged in Hong Kong, due to its exploitation of workers, negative impact on cotton farmers, environmental impact, etc., all contributing to significant social and ethical issues. Nethertheless, there are still several advantages to fast fashion, an example being that it could potentially ease the lives of cotton farmers with the help of fairtrade. However, as expressed, fairtrade does not consider all aspects of this complex issue. When contrasted with the overloading negative impacts, it is clear that the only outcome is that Hong Kong should discourage fast fashion.
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