THRIFT-SHOPPING

Having addressed all the environmental and social effects of fast fashion, it is vital that immediate actions be made.  There are several different approaches to this problem, and thrift-shopping is one of those. Besides from traditional second-hand stores like Goodwill, Buffalo Exchange or Value Village, consumers now have the online shopping platform catering such as Depop, Poshmark, or Ebay just for selective vintage or used clothes. Being involved in the thrift-shopping movement means you are helping the environment by either buying an used item that you like at an extremely cheap price instead of purchasing a brand new item that you might throw out in after a few washes or selling your no-longer-wanted clothes to someone who will appreciate it like you used to and still be able to earn some pocket money.  It is a win-win situation during which no negative externality is produced. As far as the notion of thrift-shopping offering uniqueness and being economical, it only mostly attracts people who are willing to spend more time and patience in shopping and willing to pay for used clothes.

REGULATIONS/CONTROL FROM THE GOVERNMENT

Meanwhile, the mass-scale effect of fast-fashion yields for a similar-scale solution, such as regulations from the government itself. Since most of the problems lie in the stages of production, giving fast fashion firms negative incentives is one possible resolution. Closely monitoring and imposing bigger fines on companies whose factory infrastructure falls below the safety standard can obligate them to improve the working conditions. At the same time, funding labor rights advocation programs gives workers access to the knowledge of the benefits they should have and provides them with protection when needed. However, a nation-wide decision might take a long time to become fully effective and be in practice in every region. Another answer to how should we face fast-fashion as an ever-expanding issue is restrictions on mainstream advertisements. Strategic marketing is the demand-side core of every fast fashion company when they want to create an appealing image to a crowd. With that in mind, less media exposure is equivalent to fewer times that companies can try to evoke your inner desire to shop and also lesser the urge to go buy something that you thought you needed because they have implicitly told you too. Ways to prevent the attack of fast fashion advertisements are either establishing on-screen time limits or levying taxes on advertisements. While that’s happening, it can be useful to introduce more media literacy courses for students and even adults. That way, people as customers can be in more control of their own demands and effectively filter information given by advertisements. On the other hand, these companies can try to break out of the traditional method of advertisements and create unconventional pathways to draw customers attention that the government cannot have control over.    

SLOW FASHION

Considering the hype over growth-based fashion, the movement emergence endorsing slow fashion has proven to be necessary and effective. The label “slow” fashion might be misleading because people often interpret it as a speed descriptor. In fact, slow fashion refers to a different world in which fashion-related activities are capable of promoting diversity, pleasure and cultural significance of fashion within biophysical limits (Fletcher 2010). It is undeniable that the factor of time still has a role in this movement, since slower approaches often create longer-term relationships, therefore experiences and values are better recognized, although speed is not the determining element among other mechanisms that encourage variety, satisfaction and condition. Nowadays, slow fashion is supported by the idea of sustainability that pays close attention to human wellbeing, environmental wellbeing and economic wellbeing. In other words, slow fashion meets the basic needs of human, contributes to people’s personal development and to a well-balanced society while doing its best saving natural resources, preserving climate and energy and still prepares for the future and economy. Small-scale production, traditional craft technique, local material and businesses, eco-friendly supply chain and ethical consumers are all examples of modern slow fashion (Fletcher 2010). These methods help set out the questions that challenge every fast-fashion companies: Whether the financial benefits outweigh the sociocultural and ecological consequences. Not only that, slow culture invites us, as consumers and citizens of the earth, to wonder what kind of apparel system would best serve our needs and have the least negative impact environmentally and socially. The ever-existing emphasis on appearance, novelty and globalization is challenged and slow fashion can now gradually set grounds for true industrial priorities: maintaining garments and active making. During which process, design, resource, workers, communities and ecosystem awareness is heightened. Most importantly, it offers fashion democratization by offering consumers more control over institutions and technologies that either directly or indirectly affect their lives (Fletcher 2010). At the same time, a slow fashion firm or business with sustainable production will likely reach a wider range of ethical consumes and gain competitive advantage as its brand image is automatically enhanced by it truly caring about the society and environment (Shen 2014).