Consumer Economy

Written by Leon Zadok - December 17, 2020

Why do I have all these clothes?

This morning, I opened up my closet and thought, “Why do I have so much stuff - too much stuff?” I hadn’t worn some things. I had rarely worn others. Yet, I had such a volume of cloth spewing about the place.

Americans buy ten times more today from fashion brands than they did twenty years ago…

After the removal of global trade barriers and the introduction of free trade agreements, fashion brands sensed an opportunity. Following rules of economy, the industry looked to manufacture goods as cheaply and effectively as possible. Over time, the big brands had subcontracted the manufacture of all goods to countries like Bangladesh and China, where wages were low and tariffs on imports minimal. By outsourcing production to low-wage economies, the major fashion brands were able to see a swift uptake in their profits. The fashion brands could begin to alter their customers’ relationship with clothing.

Within the fashion industry, there used to be four seasons. There were four moments in the calendar-year that designers and brands showcased new products. These were moments that models paraded the latest ‘looks’ up and down the catwalk for all to wonder at. Four times a year people found themselves out of fashion, in need of a new look. Now, the industry works to a fifty-two season calendar and the fashion-conscious feel uncool, far more often than they ever have.

The aim is simple. To keep consumers consuming. And, the big fashion brands have an established network of subcontractors across the developing world to make the garments for fashion-hungry shoppers quickly and at low cost. We now wear a piece of clothing only seven times, then toss it.

When I looked in my closet this morning I thought, “what is the purpose of having clothes that never see daylight?” Well, the irony is many never do. Today, the average American packs 82 pounds of textile waste off to the landfill each year. To make things worse, more than 50 percent of all the clothes sold in America are polyester, and polyester is a plastic. It is non-biodegradable. So, it's not going anywhere after burial – not before it releases tons of greenhouse gas. This is one of the costs associated with our burgeoning wardrobes.

Arguably, it is not the most pressing…

In returning to buy more and more, we have to think about, not just where clothes end up, but where they began and the hands who crafted them.

In April 2013, a tower block in Bangladesh comprising of five garment factories collapsed on thousands of workers. 1,132 people died and 2,500 were injured. It was not such a surprise that the building fell. Cracks in the supporting wall had been reported to managers, along with other concerns. This disaster at Rana Plaza, Dhaka has forced many factory managers in Bangladesh to reflect on conditions for garment workers across the country. But, major fashion brands need to keep prices low to feed the consumers’ need for cheap clothing in abundance. So, they continue to push subcontractors to keep costs low; This keeps pay low and conditions poor. And, so it continues.

Rana Plaza, or another incident of similar gravity, was always going to happen. In fact, since its fall. More than 491 workers have been injured in incidents in factories. 27 people have died.

Just in Bangladesh, thousands of garment workers have died as a direct consequence of their work over the last ten years. This human cost is all part of feeding the fashion frenzy that so many of us have bought in to. It seems that we buy clothes to look cool, or better, for a brief time. What we are not thinking about is, who is making our clothes, and the conditions in which they exist, and where our purchases will end up. So, “why do we have all this stuff?”