Anaya Godineaux, a junior in high school, is infatuated with personal style. Often wearing baggy dark wash denim pants, a fluffy deep brown sweater with a skull design, and adorning herself with spiky bracelets and silver jewelry, Anaya considers herself quite the fashionista. She believes that a large contribution to the consumption of online fast fashion is its affordable pricing. She says, “I find shopping online more convenient and affordable than visiting high end ass clothing stores.”
Fast fashion has been around for a long time. But its newest boom has caused an influx in overconsumption, up to 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions. While most fast fashion is typically marketed closer to women, it seems to also attract more teenagers. An active factor seems to be social media influencers. BASE Highschooler Aubrey Barker, known for his style, has mentioned in an interview that “it really depends on the way that they style it. Like if they style it in a perfect way that I like and enjoy, it kind of makes me want to buy it so I can style it that kinda way.” Another student by the name of Joseph Camacho, adds onto this. He says “sometimes, I’ll see a model for a certain fashion brand and think ‘that’ll look very nice on me.’”
Although influencers captivate many teens’ attention and encourage them to buy more clothing than needed; when asked if trends influence their shopping habits; most disagreed with the notion. Anaya says “I prefer comfort over following specific fashion trends, so I choose outfits that make me feel good and confident.” Following this, Joseph argues, “But in my opinion fast fashion comes from trend hopping, and I like shopping for what I want rather than what’s trending.”
Somehow, teens still drive a large amount of the environmental harm that fast fashion causes irregardless of personal style. “As clothing degrades in landfills it releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is 28 times more powerful than carbon dioxide”, says the Action for the Climate Emergency. Joseph brings up a very good point about the lifespan of fast fashion. “If my item doesn’t rip, stain, or I grow out of it, I’ll keep and wear it forever.” “Fast fashion is known to break, tear, or fall apart after about 1-2 years 200+ years for the materials to decompose in a landfill”, according to a recycling company, Roadrunner. So whether or not teens intend to, they contribute to the waste that harms our planet. This works to keep the cycle of kids buying fast fashion. If an item breaks, it’s cheap enough to simply repurchase another item to replace it.
However fast fashion isn’t the only way to purchase affordable fashion. All interviewees agreed that they tend to thrift. Thrifting is a good way to find interesting vintage pieces that typically last way longer in a wardrobe than fast fashion at the same affordable prices. It’s also more sustainable because you’re purchasing used clothing rather than wasting more product that could potentially end up in a dump only a couple of years after use.
As teens drive a lot of the fashion world, encouraging DIY, thrifting or other sustainable fashion alternatives could be the way to cure a large portion of our overconsumption and waste issues in the world.
