Has COVID Killed Fast Fashion?

 By Lucy Jones 

COVID-19 launched us into a national lockdown around this time last year, leaving us with an abundance of time and nothing to do. Naturally, many of us turned to the Internet in the hope of temporarily quelling our boredom by investing in a variety of nonsensical online purchases. Yet the reality of the pandemic and its unprecedented effects on consumer behaviour have seen a sharp decline in clothing retail revenue compared to overall online expenditure. At surface level, a fall in fast fashion sales could be perceived as a win for sustainability. However, many garment workers employed by bigger brands have been left without jobs or pay, as companies have rejected their responsibilities and cancelled billions of dollars' worth of orders. This complete absence of accountability has fed into the growing awareness of ethicality (or lack thereof) in the fashion industry, enhancing consumers' consciousness regarding the origins of their clothing and thus raising the question: has COVID killed fast fashion?

    The first lockdown in the spring of last year saw huge growth in online retail, with sales of household goods rising 187% above figures from 2016. Comparatively, online clothing sales saw only a 22% increase.¹ The call for new clothes died with our social lives, and online retailers suffered large losses as a result; no amount of clever marketing techniques, such as 'Nama-stay inside' slogan tees or £28 hand sanitiser could bring the fashion industry back to pre-lockdown levels.²

    Although a decrease in support of fast fashion could be perceived as positive momentum, in reality, the problematic structure of the fast fashion industry has meant that the pandemic has further exacerbated issues in the garment industry. Its structure means that suppliers are only paid by brands weeks or months after delivery, rather than on an individual order basis.³ As suppliers pay upfront for raw materials, they often head those initial costs all by themselves. In response to the pandemic, many fashion brands and retailers cancelled orders and halted payments, though the products they had ordered had been already made, their materials already paid for by their suppliers. According to a Bloomberg report,⁴ 1,089 garment factories in Bangladesh had $1.5 billion worth of orders cancelled as a result of coronavirus,⁵ with 70 million garment workers left unemployed without pay.⁶ This has left millions without an income during the pandemic, and, as the average garment worker’s income is less than £73.85 a month,⁷ many have also lacked the stability of savings to support themselves.

    Those who remain employed have been placed in a difficult situation, as cramped conditions and poor hygiene standards in the workplace have made many highly vulnerable to the virus. These negative effects are occurring mainly in the Asian Pacific, but are also present in factories across Europe. In the UK, ten thousand textile workers have been found to be working in exploitative conditions, earning less than half the minimum wage.⁸ Boohoo recently faced backlash following an undercover investigation by The Times in one of its Leicester factories, where, during a local lockdown, individuals were being paid an hourly rate of £3.50.⁹

    Other leading fast fashion brands such as H&M and Zara have also faced criticism in the #PayUp movement which trended on social media.¹ These brands have been accused of not taking social or financial responsibility for the garment workers who uphold their supply chains. Public pressure eventually led to many of these brands paying back suppliers, emphasizing the potential power of Internet campaigns in tackling the lack of accountability in fashion.

    The corrupt structure of the fashion industry has been further exposed as a result of COVID-19. Studies on consumer behaviour during the pandemic note that consumers have become more aware of the impact of their purchasing powers, and 78% said the use of sustainable materials and ethical treatment of employees took priority when buying clothes.² Thus, sustainable campaigns and growing awareness of the harsh realities of fast fashion are gaining traction against large fashion brands. Perhaps the virus hasn’t killed fast fashion, but its exposé of the loose ethics surrounding the industry could contribute to its slow demise.

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Sources

1. Bootle, E., 2020. Why even the pandemic couldn’t kill fast fashion. [online] Newstatesman.com. Available at: <https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2020/10/why-even-pandemic-couldn-t-kill-fast-fashion> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

2. Ibid.

3. Revolution, F., 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on the people who make our clothes - Fashion Revolution. [online] Fashion Revolution. Available at: <https://www.fashionrevolution.org/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-the-people-who-make-our-clothes/> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

4. Millan Lombrana, L., 2020. Green Brands Have a Head Start on Fashion’s Post-Virus Recovery. [online] Bloomberg. Available at: <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-01/green-brands-out-ahead-of-fashion-s-post-coronavirus-recovery> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

5. Revolution, F., 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on the people who make our clothes - Fashion Revolution.

6. Kleiderly. 2020. Did COVID-19 change the Fast Fashion industry? — Kleiderly.. [online] Available at: <https://www.kleiderly.com/our-blog/did-covid-19-change-the-fast-fashion-industry> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

7. Butler, S., 2019. Why are wages so low for garment workers in Bangladesh?. [online] The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/21/low-wages-garment-workers-bangladesh-analysis> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

8. Bootle, E., 2020. Why even the pandemic couldn’t kill fast fashion.

9. Matety, V., Bassey, A., Wheeler, C. and Swinford, S., 2021. Boohoo: fashion giant faces ‘slavery’ investigation. [online] thetimes.co.uk. Available at: <https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/boohoo-fashion-giant-faces-slavery-investigation-57s3hxcth> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

1. STOP THE TRAFFIK. 2020. Has Covid-19 marked the end of Fast Fashion? » STOP THE TRAFFIK. [online] Available at: <https://www.stopthetraffik.org/covid-19-marked-end-fast-fashion/> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

2. Kleiderly. 2020. Did COVID-19 change the Fast Fashion industry?

Photos:

Fig. 1: Revolution, F., 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on the people who make our clothes - Fashion Revolution. [online] Fashion Revolution. Available at: <https://www.fashionrevolution.org/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-the-people-who-make-our-clothes/> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

Fig. 2: Athanasaki,, N., 2021. FAST FASHION: THE INDUSTRY THAT DESTROYS THE ENVIRONMENT.. [online] The Sofia Blog. Available at: <https://thesafiablog.com/2020/02/05/fast-fashion-the-industry-that-destroys-the-environment/> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

Fig. 3: Millan Lombrana, L., 2020. Green Brands Have a Head Start on Fashion’s Post-Virus Recovery. [online] Bloomberg. Available at: <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-01/green-brands-out-ahead-of-fashion-s-post-coronavirus-recovery> [Accessed 20 March 2021].