The impulsive shopping of the latest trends at our favorite fast-fashion brand comes at a price of environmental and social injustices. Fast fashion might be trendy, inexpensive with readily available clothes but it is harmful to our planet in more than one way.
What Is The Problem With Fast Fashion?
The fast fashion industry follows a highly profitable business model wherein they replicate catwalk trends and high-fashion designs by mass-producing them at low cost.
However, due to the scale of production and the frequency of it, these factories are infamous for inhumane working conditions as well as degrading the local environment.
Since these factories are usually set up in developing countries like Bangladesh, China and Vietnam, they get away with these unethical practices because of the lack of strict labor and environmental laws in developing countries.
According to the study published in ‘Environmental Health’, 80 billion pieces of new clothing are purchased globally, which translates into $1.2 trillion annually. This abundance of low-quality clothing has a very short shelf life and it often ends up in landfills within months of its purchase.
Therefore, it is high time we switch to a more sustainable way to manage our clothes.
One such way is the concept of a capsule wardrobe.
What Is A Capsule Wardrobe?
The term ‘Capsule Wardrobe’ was first coined by wardrobe consultant and author Susie Faux in the 1970s. It became mainstream when designer Donna Karan created the first capsule collection in 1985 called “Seven Easy Pieces.”
The concept of a capsule wardrobe is to have a minimalist collection of clothing and accessories. Hence, you only buy essential pieces of clothing and accessories that you need and utilize them to their fullest.
Basically, for creating a capsule wardrobe, one can pare down to 37 pieces of clothing and change it seasonally without purchasing any other item for up to 6 months.
It is all about curating a wardrobe that has all the pieces you want and not about any ongoing trend. You could invest in good quality wardrobe basics like solid colour tank tops and a T-shirt or versatile layering pieces, like, blazers, and overcoats.
Read More: Here’s How A Couple From Kerala Built A ‘Forest’ Around Their House To Practice Sustainable Living
How Is A Capsule Wardrobe Environmentally Friendly?
A capsule wardrobe promotes slow fashion as it does not depend on the latest trend in the market. It also reduces the carbon footprint of our clothes as we purchase one good quality item for the long term instead of multiple similar-looking items, with relatively low quality for the short term.
A capsule wardrobe enables an individual to filter out the distractions caused by changing trends in fast fashion and in this way, avoid the need for impulsive shopping, over-consumption, and fashion waste.
Lastly, it reduces our cost per wear or CPW which is equal to the cost of the item divided by the number of times you wear it. Thus, encouraging you to make smarter purchases.
Hence, making our life more sustainable while also being cost-effective.
Will you make changes in your shopping pattern and try creating a capsule wardrobe? Let us know in the comment section.
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: The New York Times, Glamour, ET Retail.com
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