If buying fast fashion is starting to feel wrong, it may not just be the heavy moral implications that go with buying unethical garments, but the garments themselves.
Rubbing, ripping, pilling and stretching after just a few uses, fast fashion, true to its name, quickly disintegrates past usefulness quicker than you can say “Pretty Little Thing is having a 99% off sale!”. The primary material used in these clothes is polyester, a synthetic material derived from oil and is extremely cheap and versatile to produce. In 2002, it overtook cotton as the most widely used fibre and, unlike its counterpart, polyester is not biodegradable, on average taking 200 years to break down.
Not only does it stop looking cute after only a few washes, but it also sheds microplastics that can enter our bodies, oceans, and food. Research has found that over 14 million tonnes of microplastics have accumulated on the ocean floor, with 35% of microplastics released to oceans a year originating from washing synthetic textiles. That Boohoo top may not have many washes in its lifetime before it's unusable, but the very few they do are extremely detrimental to the environment.
But it wasn’t always like this - you can find vintage Zara and H&M that stand the test of time. In previous decades, garments were made with more care and attention to detail, often being hand-stitched with seams secured (the bare minimum if we’re being honest). However, today the fast fashion model doesn’t prioritise or even favour quality and longevity. Using poor synthetic materials benefits fast fashion brands in more ways than one: they spend less on quality materials, and they get more money as you need to re-buy clothes more often.
This is referred to as ‘Planned Obsolescence’, when brands purposefully use poor materials in order to keep you re-purchasing clothes.
The use and circulation of bad quality garments is inadvertently affecting the second-hand market, as it is getting harder to source high-quality fabrics. Luckily for you, here at Agite Closet, we spend a lot of time and care to make sure we are bringing you only the best materials and fabrics. That means no pernicious polyester blends or scratchy acrylic, but instead we try to source the highest quality cotton, linen, denim and wool. Durability, breathability and comfort are not something we overlook here.
At Agite Closet, we understand that our money has power, and each of us as individuals can choose who to empower. When we go shopping, it is not just clothes that we are buying - we are funding and supporting companies’ ethics and agendas, their impact on the world and our bodies. We want to make it easy for you to make the right choice.
This is why we have made a plastic-free collection on Shopify to highlight pieces we think you would like, which can be shopped here. Also, sign up to our newsletter as this week we’ll be giving tips on what fabrics to avoid and what to look for when shopping!