What is fast fashion?
Fast fashion means that workers in countries where labor laws aren’t as strong can be paid extremely low, unlivable wages to make clothing for brands that will sell it at a much higher price. Also, many of the methods to quickly mass-produce clothing isn’t environmentally safe and has a negative impact on the environment.
Who is affected?
Workers in countries with less strict labor laws, who are exploited for cheap labor. There are also major sweatshops in cities like New York and Los Angeles used by major chains like Forever 21. Sweatshops both in-country and abroad often use child labor and do not pay workers a proper living wage. The use of overseas labor also hurts US-based manufacturers because big companies prefer the cheaper labor from other countries. It causes US suppliers to lower costs to compete with overseas companies, which leads to wage cuts and less jobs in these companies.
