Fast fashion and sustainability are an oxymoron. The whole idea behind fast fashion is to churn out cheap new collections and stimulate consumption, and there’s nothing sustainable about that. It’s impossible to produce ethical, eco-friendly clothing at the quantity and rate that fast fashion demands while maintaining genuinely high and environmentally sustainable standards.
Many clothing companies would have us think otherwise. They create sustainable and eco-friendly lines to entice those slightly more discerning or skeptical customers. Anarticle in Al Jazeera points out that “H&M has its Conscious collection, made of organic cotton and recycled polyester; Puma’s biodegradable InCycle Collection; Adidas’ Design for Environment gear; Uniqlo’s All-Product Recycling Initiative; Zara’s eco-efficient stores; and the Gap’s P.A.C.E. program, to benefit the lives of female garment workers.”
