Amid Julia Weinstock’s TikTok feed, between “no bones day” videos and reactions to Taylor Swift’s All Too Well: The Short Film, fast fashion hauls are the most upsetting. A hand-me-down wearer, Weinstock ‘24 views users showing off huge boxes from brands like SHEIN and dumping them out to show off hundreds to thousands of dollars worth of poor quality garments.

Experts agree that social media fuels the fast fashion industry through sneaky influencer sponsorships that boost unsustainable brands, in exchange for cash and free clothes. “It's unethical, but influencers know who their consumer base is,” says Siobhán O’Brien ‘24, who thrifts most of her clothes.“ Their followers will listen to them and buy into those brands.”

The pandemic is also to blame for the rise in mindless overconsumption. Carina Pray ‘23, marketing director for Emerson Fashion Society, says lockdown caused people to lean on retail therapy and keep up with new trends, worsening the vicious cycle of disposable clothing.

Consumers buying into fast fashion is part of the problem, but brands must also adopt sustainable production. Luke Tadashi, founder and creative director of Bristol Studios, an LA-based “basketball-lifestyle” brand, explains that his awareness of unsustainable fashion transfers to aspects of his brand. Tadashi looks into the fabric used for his brand’s athleisure clothing and its environmental footprint. “I do try as much as possible to reuse leftover fabric that we have so that we minimize our waste,” he says. Many of Bristol Studio’s clothing pieces are also reversible, giving them a longer lifetime as two pieces in one.

Ideally, everyone would shop sustainably, but the sad reality is that it can be costly. “I try [to be sustainable] in little ways, but it is hard because it’s not always attainable for a college student,” says Olivia Weiss ‘24, who has a mostly-thrifted wardrobe. “It doesn't hurt to try a little bit because that's better than not doing anything at all, right?”

Staple fast fashion pieces don’t necessarily have to live a short life as long as they are taken care of. Weinstock still wears a Forever 21 turtleneck from middle school, for example, and says people don’t have to swear off fast fashion completely.

Pray buys much of her clothes from Depop and invests in higher quality clothing that she will wear forever. She finds items that can be worn for different occasions to maximize their use. “A wardrobe is supposed to be timeless. What I like to do is the 80/20 rule where 80% of my clothing is your essentials – things that you're going to wear forever,” she says. She’s had most of her clothes for four or five years and will only add to her collection if she loves a piece.

“It's really up to our generation to move away from fast fashion, because there's no way that it’s sustainable, at the current level,” Tadashi says. “There's an opportunity to innovate around fashion, where, as technology continues to develop, perhaps there are new ways that we can produce clothing that is more carbon neutral and less wasteful.”

Combating the Overconsumption of Fast Fashion