Fast fashion in China

Fast fashion is a term used to represent cheap, trendy clothing that is made to replicate higher-end fashion trends. In 2019, China was the leading producer of fast fashion clothing. Many sweatshops are located in China; there, workers are underpaid and overworked in unsafe environments. Overall, China produced 65% of the world's clothing in 2021, with a majority of these clothes being labeled as fast fashion. The top 10 competitors in the fast-fashion market made up 29.13% of the whole fashion market in 2020.
Low wages and labor-intensive operations have historically characterized the garment industry. However, since the turn of the twenty-first century, China's globalization has led to the proliferation of the fast fashion industry, appealing to developing nations due to its inexpensive labor and lenient regulations. This has resulted in an industry marked by overconsumption and waste.
In previous years, trendy fashion was a luxury and could only be bought at a high price. But recently, this has changed, as developing countries now race to produce cheap pieces of clothing to satisfy their foreign investors overseas. Its success lies in its broad appeal to various tastes, attracting many consumers. Another key aspect of fast fashion is that it is fast; fast fashion brands produce their garments quickly so that they are sold to the market as soon as possible.
After recent years of tremendous economic growth in China, fast fashion consumption made its way into the lives of not only Chinese people but of people worldwide as well. Brands such as Shein, Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, and Zaful have dominated the fashion world. Residents in populated cities such as Beijing are starting to favor fast fashion brands over big-name brands in order to keep up with changing trends.
In 2021, the fashion industry generated $31 billion globally. China, in particular, accounted for 32% of total brand clothing sales in 2017 alone. The rapid consumption lifestyle that China has taken on has contributed to the increase of fast fashion. The use of inexpensive materials and labor contributes to China's ability to maintain high production levels while keeping their economic debt minimal. By producing more fast fashion pieces, the economy benefits. However, rapid production of fashion comes at a cost of perpetuating the climate crisis, such as through marine pollution, cotton cultivation, and increased carbon emissions.
Fast fashion exists not only because it helps the economy but also because it fulfills a high-consumption lifestyle popular in Western countries. In addition, how fast fashion is marketed contributes to its fast consumption; fast fashion clothing is meant to be worn for the duration of a short-term trend. Once the trend is over, it may be disposed of, and its affordability encourages a lack of guilt over its waste. However, the amount of clothing that is quickly bought and discarded thus increases the amount of waste produced, exacerbating its environmental impact.
Uniqlo, a Japanese-owned brand, was founded in 1974 by Tadashi Yanai. It is known for modern, casual apparel and essential, multi-functional garments. Despite China's anti-Japanese sentiment, Uniqlo secured 1.4% of China's $350 billion apparel market in 2021, which was larger than any other brand that year. Uniqlo was not only a hit in China but the rest of the world as well with 43 stores in the U.S. alone.
The difference between Uniqlo and most other fast fashion brands is that Uniqlo's garments are seen as high-quality while still remaining at an affordable price point. Many Chinese people associate Japanese goods with the highest caliber of quality. Uniqlo's success story has to do with their timing too: Yanai created the brand around when the Chinese middle class was increasing.
In terms of how ethical and environmentally friendly Uniqlo is, however, some have pointed out that it has not made sufficient progress. Like most brands, Uniqlo has set a climate change target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In its 2021 sustainability report, Uniqlo outlined steps to reducing water usage in jeans by 99%, reducing single-use plastic, and educating cotton farmers on agricultural chemicals. In 2020, Uniqlo stores in Japan increased their use of LED lights, leading to a 38.7% decrease of greenhouse gas emissions. While these statistics are on the brand's page, these targets are not accepted in the scientific community as sufficient ways to limit global warming.
The most notable success story is Inditex, which owns companies such as Zara and Bershka. Inditex is a large brand with a net worth of $17.2 billion. Since its opening in 2007, it has opened over 330 stores in China by 2019. In particular, Zara is growing twice as fast as H&M due to its focus on value rather than price. Fast fashion, the term, was specifically coined by The New York Times in the nineties due to Zara's ability to produce a garment from start to finish in less than 20 days.
Inditex has targets to source fabrics more sustainably by 2025 and to have nothing sent to landfills by 2023. It is not uncommon that brands have recycling program policies implemented, but some question whether there's actually any follow-through.
Xinjiang, a province in Northwest China, is strategically important for China; not only is it the largest region there, but it's also a central hub for trading. While it's one of their poorest communities, it has high economic development. Additionally, it has an abundance of natural resources, as well as the Silk Road Economic Belt Project.
Xinjiang also sources nearly 90% of China's cotton, outputting over 5.2 million tonnes. However, China also engages in detrimental human rights violations against the Muslim minority in Xinjiang. Due to this, other entities have started to target this region; the United States, for example, has imposed sanction on companies that are sourced from Xinjiang. Companies that have cut ties include H&M, Nike, and Zara. Celebrities have also openly cut off connections with these companies.
In particular, H&M faced a huge boycott from Western apparel brands because they have not taken action against the allegations. The actor Huang Xuan, a brand ambassador for H&M in 2020, told CNN that they would never work with the company again due to the recent allegations. Beijing sent out a statement that these allegations are false and that the West is spreading lies. Nonetheless, many H&M shops in China have been forced to close despite protests to the allegations.
As with many other industries in their peak, COVID put a pause on the textile industry, and China, in particular, implemented a Zero-COVID policy in August 2021. This reduced the amount of goods that could be shipped into China during a period of time. The policy negatively impacted fashion brands because it slowed down their production and reduced their shipments, but COVID-19 didn't stop fast fashion altogether.
Zara's sales in 2020 made less than half of Shein's sales, threatening Zara's continued popularity. Meanwhile, Shein doubled its sales during 2020, with 35% of those sales accounting for Western clients. The reason for Shein's success, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, was due to their incredibly inexpensive clothing that remained affordable even amid crisis.
Despite the economic boost that the textile industry has provided, it also contributes negatively to the growing climate crisis. In recent years, fast fashion has majorly contributed to more plastic entering the ocean, overconsumption of goods, and increasing carbon emissions; in 2020, it was reported that the fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In 2018, more than 10 different UN organizations pledged to establish a UN Alliance on Sustainable Fashion.
In 2022, the fashion industry was the second most water-intensive industry worldwide. Around 90 billion cubic meters of water are used every year for the fashion industry. Most of the clothing pieces made come from cotton, and cotton requires more water for production than any other crop. In China specifically, water usage accounts for 6% of all carbon dioxide emissions.
On average, between the years 2000 to 2014, people worldwide have bought 60% more clothes than before, and much of this growth was driven by China's desire to keep up with cheap new trends. Additionally, polyester, a common material used in clothing manufacturing, sheds thousands of microfibers with every wash, leading to a total of 500,000 tons of microfibers, equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles, dumped into the ocean each year. It is estimated that one load of laundry produces up to 700,000 microfibers and other microscopic forms of plastic. A large portion of these plastics ends up on the ocean floor and does not decompose. Instead, they are consumed by fish and other marine species, allowing them to enter into the food chain. This not only causes harm to marine life but also poisons the food that people rely on as well.
To produce 1 kilogram of cotton, nearly 15,000 liters of water are required. Since not all cotton is grown in rain-fed areas, it requires additional irrigation, which also adds to carbon dioxide emissions on top of water usage. More than 60% of all cotton production comes from irrigated farms. Additionally, places where cotton is grown in rain-fed areas also become areas that face drought issues. After clothing is made from cotton, it needs to be dyed, which takes in a lot of heat and releases harmful chemicals into surrounding waters and air.
Viscose is marketed as a sustainable alternative to cotton polyester. As it is made from trees, it isn't inherently toxic to the environment. However, because of the mass amount of viscose needed for the growing fast fashion industry, it remains manufactured cheaply.
Viscose is mainly manufactured in Southeast Asia, with China representing 66% of production in 2015. These manufacturers also dump untreated wastewater containing a multitude of chemicals; one major chemical is carbon disulphide, a solvent that is linked to severe medical conditions. Upon touch, it can burn through skin and cause severe eye damage.
The wood pulp that viscose is made out of also raises high concerns for the environmental committee, as dissolving this material wastes 70% of a tree. This production has been linked to deforestation, specifically in the Indonesia rainforests.
Pesticides pose a major problem to crops, and cotton is among the most sprayed crops. Due to this heavy amount of chemicals, cotton production requires massive amounts of freshwater to wash it out.
In addition, most cotton that is grown is genetically modified to pests which lead to the problem of super weeds later on; these weeds need to be treated with even more pesticides, thus exacerbating harm to living organisms.
Global consumption of apparel has risen to around 62 million tonnes per year. Due to the cheap production of clothes, they are worn only a few times before they are tossed, and nearly 85% of textiles end up in landfills every year. This is opposed to clothing that is made sustainably with better materials and thus can be worn for years and cycled through various owners.
For brands to keep up with current trends and thus continue competing in the fashion market, it is economically profitable for them to fulfill consumer demand with a constant cycle of overconsumption of goods. Especially in recent years, the time it takes for a trend to go out of style has decreased, leading to an increase in clothes being thrown out.
Carbon dioxide emissions are a huge contributor to climate change, and China emits 13% of total emissions globally, estimating around 7.7 tons per person. China, however, participates in the Paris Agreement, a pledge for countries to achieve their peak emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions before 2060. On estimation, if China were to continue emitting carbon dioxide levels at its current rate, they would use a lot of their carbon budget by 2050.
The fashion industry has been responsible for 10% of annual global carbon dioxide emissions. This percentage equates to total amount of emissions used for the entire economy of France, United Kingdom, and Germany combined. The reason for this ties into the speed at which clothes from fast fashion brands are made. They are made in factories that have little to no safety regulations and push out clothes at an unbelievable pace. In 2018, the fashion industry was specifically responsible for 2.1 billion metric tons of emissions.
In China, the highest emitter regions also happen to be the richest regions, such as Beijing and Shanghai; both these provinces are also the leading fashion hubs in China. Additionally, Beijing and Shanghai make up almost 50 million people.
While not all fast fashion brands produce their clothing in China to make a piece of clothing, materials can come from all over the world; this requires the transportation of goods. Transportation has accounted for roughly 15–20% of the total percent of emissions each year.
China did not have labor laws until 1994, when it was established that workers could only work 44 hours a week with no more than 36 hours of overtime per month. However, these laws are regularly violated as many factories in China have shadow factories where workers are paid daily if they work overtime. These shadow factories are unknown to the government and are thus able to bypass rules.
Many factory workers' lives end in premature death due to their prolonged exposure to not only dangerous chemicals but also other health issues that come with being overworked. In 2008, more than 200 million workers in 16 million companies were exposed to harmful chemicals that led to conditions such as black lung and silicosis. However, workers are not the only ones exposed to these chemicals; consumers are too. Dermal absorption, a natural body process that allows the skin to absorb over 50% of chemicals, is an additional consequence of these products.
Uyghurs are predominately Muslim people found in the city of Xinjiang. Xinjiang has imprisoned over 1 million Muslims in internment camps, and the rest are subjected to everyday surveillance. Since 2014, Uyghurs have long faced discrimination for their Islamic beliefs. General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping, too, has destroyed many mosques and ruined many neighborhoods that house predominately Uyghur people.
Concerning fast fashion in Xinjiang, as many as one in five cotton products are products of human rights violations. Some of the world's biggest fast fashion brands are complicit with the human right's violations done on the Uyghurs; up to 1.8 million Uyghur and other Muslim people are forced into working for sweatshop factories. Since China is the number one producer of cotton, countless pieces of clothing have required forced, unethical labor.
In 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden signed into agreement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act that ensures products that are produced with forced labor are not allowed to be exported to the United States. However, the Chinese government has found ways around it.
In 2017, the United Nations' member states came together to create 17 sustainable development goals to be achieved by 2030. These include reducing poverty, gender inequality, and climate change.
Goal 13 outlines steps for climate action. As the fashion industry uses mass amounts of fossil fuels to produce their garments, in order to reduce the warming of the planet, brands have implemented steps to achieve this SDG.
Goal 14 speaks on ways to improve the quality of water. Wastewater treatments are planned to be 65% to 90% effective at filtering out microfibers. It's estimated that the textile industry produces 0.12 million metric tons of microfibers per year.