A plaid mini skirt with black tights, a knit turtleneck sweater, and chunky Doc Martens. That is a common fall outfit for the mainstream cute girlies. However, this outfit can be pricey for the average 18-25-year-old, even on Amazon. So we turn to more affordable, but still stylish options. The rise of fast fashion online outlets such as Fashionova and Shein has provided a way for people to keep up with fashion trends while paying a reasonable price.
But what is the cost of the uptick in the fast fashion industry? Where there are cheap prices, there has to be cheap labor. Earlier this summer, there were rumors that workers in Shein factories were using the tags on the clothing they were making to call for help. On these tags, extra words would be added to the care instructions that, when put all together, were cries for help. Do with that information as you would, since the information was not corroborated. The hype soon died off.
Corroborated or not, this should stir up some questions. Simple deductive reasoning and looking at how mass production can be achieved cheaply and in large numbers tells us that something is very off about the fast fashion industry. There are claims that these workers are being paid no more than $20 a week, which makes sense when we look at how ridiculously affordable these clothes are.
There is a human cost to these trends, but if that does not move you, maybe environmental issues will. The cost of modern slavery (because that is what this is) is an environmental one. Another reason for these low prices is that these companies are not disposing of their waste in the right manner. These materials, which are full of harmful chemicals, are discarded haphazardly. An investigation has shown river beds piled high with this waste, the chemicals seeping into the drinking water of millions.
The most comfortable suggestion is to let the government take care of it. There can be sanctions against these large companies and countries. This would reduce the amount of clothing being made, the environmental blunders, and the human slavery. But this is a more personal thing. If you go to YouTube or TikTok and type in “Shein Haul,” millions of videos will pop up with people buying a ridiculous amount of Shien clothing. We are consuming this content and are being influenced into buying. We are telling these people, workers and consumers, that human slavery is okay.
So… stop.
This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group blog. If you are located in Arizona and are seeking legal services, CIMA Law Group specializes in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
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