The world is addicted to cheap, crappy clothes. Thanks to low-wage manufacturing in poor countries and the rise of fast fashion, clothes have morphed from being valuable possessions to disposable items that we chuck out at the end of the season. And, as I recently described in a recent essay , this never-ending cycle of consumption is killing people and the planet. Brands across the fashion industry learned how to make and sell products at rock bottom prices. The cost of apparel has been spiraling downward for decades now . Fast-fashion labels like H&M and Zara set new lows for the industry with their model of selling inexpensive, on-trend items that consumers would only wear a few times before tossing out. And retailers like Walmart and Target have had to play into this model to keep up with customers’ expectations. But when you consider the terrible environmental and human impact of manufacturing such cheap clothes, it’s clear that the price tag only tells one small part of story. The main way to reduce the cost of manufacturing is to use cheap labor, which often means relying on factories in developing countries, where working conditions are often less regulated. Seventy […]
Click here to view original web page at A complete guide to buying ethical clothes on a budget
