Fast fashion: as bad as fast food?

STYLE

ON A TV chat show, an actress, a former model, when asked how many pairs of shoes she had in her closet, simpered for half a second and said,

"I know it's a lot but I just love shoes and that's why I have 900 of them." The anchor didn't bat an eyelid at that grotesque number. And aspiring actresses aren't the only ones who have that many shoes or, for that matter, clothes in their wardrobes.

As the purchasing power of Indians increases, a sizeable amount of money is being spent on clothes and, often, on clothes that are now referred to as "fast fashion".

This genre is fashion's equivalent of fast food: it's quick, cheap and is now believed to be harmful to the environment. In the West, retailers like H&M, Zara and Primark sell fast fashion, and in India most retailers selling clothes at a low price point can be said to fall in that category.

Though there is a clear backlash against fast fashion in the West, India has its own sets of challenges if it wants to start a debate on this aspect of fashion. First the consuming class here is still the middle class where even though salaries have gone up dramatically, purchasing power is still not on par with the middle classes in Western countries.

For example, if a working woman needed a smart wardrobe for work, she would on her salary still shop at an outlet which sells affordable clothes (roughly in the price range of Rs 300 to Rs 1,000) rather than clothes that cost more than Rs 2,000 a pop. Second, Indian fashion designers are yet to develop a range of ready-to-wear that is both classy and yet affordable.

And third, India is just emerging from years of being deprived of any consumer choice and hence for the average Indian the consumer party has just begun. It's difficult at this stage to talk about ethical issues like over-consumption without being called a party pooper. Bulging wallets leads to consumer arrogance and those who have such wallets don't take too kindly to a lecture.

And yet India doesn't need to make all the fashion mistakes that the West has already made. Instead of letting unbridled fashion consumerism flourish, it would be wise if some relevant voices spoke up (for instance, fashion designers who are taken seriously can speak up; FDCI, the fashion body, could possibly organise a talk on this) and started a debate on this issue.

Even if such a debate is unlikely to stop people from continuing to shop cheaply immediately it would at least raise some awareness and one day people may just think twice before buying clothes, accessories or shoes indiscriminately.

According to TRAID (Textile Recycling For Aid And International Development is a UK-based charity), it is estimated that 900,000 tonnes of shoes and clothing are thrown away annually.

And you know, like with other aspects of fashion, this awareness need not be boring. In the US and Australia and, now, the UK, there are organised swap events where you can bring your fast fashion and swap it with any number of strangers's fast fashion.

You go home happy, armed with clothes that haven't been worn too often (maybe just once or twice) and having gotten rid of your clothes that were bought in a moment of weakness/boredom/desperation and then on would have languished at the back of your wardrobe forever after that.

And for those who may feel icky at the thought of wearing a stranger's clothes, what's a little bit of hygiene between eco-warriors. Saving the planet is all, and if it means tolerating someone else's sweaty armpits then so be it. Being fashionable "" even with an ecological edge to it "" is never going to be easy.