HOST INTRO: As the trend of environmentally conscious apparel sweeps the nation, one industry model has come under fire in recent years. Fast fashion brands like Zara and SHEIN are keeping consumers on their toes with new collections every few months, making them leading contributors to global waste, pollution, and poor working conditions. Baruch Journalist Mira Ciganek met with designer Peggy Chiang to learn what it’s like to work with SHEIN and their reaction to recent criticism of the fast fashion model.
AMBI: Pouring coffee sound fades.
TRACK: I’m sitting here with Peggy Chiang in her Brooklyn apartment. She just finished pouring herself a cup of coffee and is now sitting on a chair shaped and upholstered to look like a red bottom heel. It is evident this is the home of a designer. The 24 year old is an assistant designer for DKNY, but she was recently approached to design a collection for the fashion ecommerce giant SHEIN.
ACT: CHIANG: Recently this year… I received a message from someone at SHEIN.com, and they said that they saw my portfolio and they thought I’d be a really good fit for their designer program called SHEIN X.
TRACK: SHEIN X was created to bring attention to young designers. It is one of the company’s initiatives to garner good press amongst the recent wave of criticism. The program handles the production and sales side of the operation and grants people like Chiang the opportunity to design a collection.
ACT: CHIANG: Basically what I made was something very feminine and floral… Then it’s layers of different types of fabrics and very soft gardeny kind of colors like pink, purple, and green.
TRACK: Chiang describes the experience as a complete deviation from the typical world of corporate fashion she is accustomed to at DKNY.
ACT: CHIANG: It’s just a lot faster than normal and less people are involved. I designed it, they approved it, it went into production, there weren’t ten other people who got to critique or say their opinions.
TRACK: As SHEIN works at a much quicker pace than industry standards, they have become a poster boy for fast fashion. But by keeping up with the latest trends in apparel they are sacrificing sustainable practices. Anna Cortese, an associate designer for One Step Up, discusses the controversy surrounding fast fashion.
ACT: CORTESE: Fast fashion could be defined as clothing produced at faulty speed to meet consumer demand. Fast fashion will soon surpass food as the world’s leading industry in waste. The more demand for fast fashion from the consumer shopping at Zara, H&M, SHEIN, Forever 21, and so on, the more waste is produced.
TRACK: But the fast fashion model isn’t the only culprit in unsustainable practices. The fashion industry as a whole is one of the leading contributors to pollution and waste worldwide. BBC explains the industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of wastewater.
ACT: CHIANG: The reason why there is an environmental impact is because fashion as a whole is a huge environmental impact. The only reason why fast fashion is considered worse than the regular one is because you can make more, making more uses more energy.
TRACK: Immediate change is being called for, starting at the top. Corporations hold a lot of the responsibility in ensuring ethical and environmentally conscious practices.
ACT: CHIANG: You can do fast fashion with really good factories that use clean water than don’t dump waste into the water system. And you can work with factories that turn off their lights for a certain percentage to save electricity.
TRACK: There is certainly personal responsibility as the consumer, as well.
ACT: CORTESE: If we can switch gears and realize the value of high quality well made garments, maybe we can slow down the build up of waste. Finding an alternative to fast fashion doesn’t just mean buying only new luxury pieces. It also includes more affordable options like vintage shopping, participating in clothing swaps, and upcycling.
TRACK: And for those whose only viable option is to buy fast fashion, either for financial or practical reasons, there are ways to go about it that leaves less of an environmental impact.
ACT: PEGGY: You buying one shirt from a fast fashion place and wearing it over and over again is still going to be more sustainable than you buying ten to twenty shirts from a really reputable, sustainable brand. Taking care of your own goods, and not creating your own waste, is more of an impact than only shopping sustainable brands.
TRACK: While SHEIN is one of the leading contributors to the fast fashion industry, they are attempting to make strides in the right direction. Their SHEIN X program is opening up the stage to young designers and adapting more ethical working conditions. Hopefully, environmental awareness is next up on the docket. For Baruch College, I’m Mira Ciganek.