Morality of Fast Fashion

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What do you think about buying clothes from fast fashion companies (such as Forever21, H&M, Shein, etc)? Companies that sell the majority of their clothes for $5-$30 can’t possibly be paying their employees enough. I think it’s obvious that these brands use sweatshops and most likely mistreat their employees.

I’ve been trying to find some modest, affordable dresses for Mass recently and the best ones are always from these fast fashion companies. Do you think it would be immoral to buy from these places? I don’t want to support brands that probably mistreat their employees but I also want nice clothes to wear to mass!
What are your thoughts on this?? Thanks for your replies 🙂
 
More than 90% of my clothes are thrift shop/yard sale finds.

That being said, you’re not the only person who has these concerns.
Working conditions in these third world sweat shops are despicable.
At the same time, Americans who haven’t caught on to thrifting or on limited income may feel like cheap clothes are the only way they can afford their clothing budget.
 
rose.gold said:
Companies that sell the majority of their clothes for $5-$30 can’t possibly be paying their employees enough.
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In the US, people are free to not take jobs if they don’t think they pay enough.

The idea of clothes sourced ethically is good, just, do not jump to rash judgement.

ETA. It is better to buy more expensive quality clothes and have fewer than to have a closet full of cheaply made things.

Thrifting is really great. I bought an Oscar de la Renta dress for 10 bucks!! Find the good stores
 
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I love to find bargains at Goodwill, or Savers, or Thrift King! Lots of good finds!
 
I think of it the same as I think of cobalt in tech products, or immigrants picking my food, or animals dying due to deforestation: it is remote, I will pray for them, boycotts of these things don’t help, if I can ever materially help them I will. I don’t think God requires any action for things that far from you but only things where direct action is possible (for example: helping improve conditions of workers in farms in your state near you, or helping conservation near your area)
 
Have you tried sewing your own clothes? You might like it more. You can choose the fabric, the fit, the style and really figure out what works for you.
 
rose.gold said:
What do you think about buying clothes from fast fashion companies (such as Forever21, H&M, Shein, etc)? Companies that sell the majority of their clothes for $5-$30 can’t possibly be paying their employees enough. I think it’s obvious that these brands use sweatshops and most likely mistreat their employees.

I’ve been trying to find some modest, affordable dresses for Mass recently and the best ones are always from these fast fashion companies. Do you think it would be immoral to buy from these places? I don’t want to support brands that probably mistreat their employees but I also want nice clothes to wear to mass!
What are your thoughts on this?? Thanks for your replies
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What is fast fashion?
 
You know Depeche Mode, new wave synth superstars of the 80s?

That’s their name in English.
 
Wow–choosing ethically-sourced clothing is equivalent to murdering families? Disgusting!
 
Yes, the story is utterly horrid, but utterly within the realm of possibility, even probability.

Everything we do ripples across society. It may not harm anyone, or, as in the case of Covid-19, it may harm almost everyone in the world. That’s a lot of people.

When we bring about the demise of a company, each of those company employees must find another job, especially if there are no temporary helplines in existence. Unfortunately, in many poor countries, such helplines are nonexistent.

What seems like small-potatoes wages to us in the US and in other thriving countries can be the difference between eating or starving in poor countries.
 
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There are labor laws in these United States and elsewhere which came about as a result of the Industrial Revolution. There are labor laws which came about even earlier than that point in time. There are trade unions which, like labor laws, protect workers by means of collective bargaining and political leverage.

If employees (or let’s call them slaves or indentured servants) are suffering because of their employment, then they are in unjust working conditions and nobody has a moral imperative to support such injustice. It is well-documented that sweatshops and other types of dangerous workplaces are harmful to the health and safety of the worker. They do not need to risk life and limb to simply earn a living. Let them lose those horrible jobs, and let them agitate for unionization and better labor laws to protect themselves and others from injustice.

But to insist that I murdered a large family because I refused to purchase Nikes is calumny and beyond the pale.
 
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A story, especially when “You” is used, unless it’s “This Is Your Life,” normally denotes fiction.

Manufacturing in some of the extremely poor rural countries is a far cry from the news story above, and many are yet untouched by all the Industrial Revolution laws throughout “Western” countries.
 
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Minks said:
A story, especially when “You” is used, unless it’s “This Is Your Life,” normally denotes fiction.
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No, it’s not fiction, it’s a parable, apparently designed by you to morally shame economic boycotters for making ethically responsible decisions.
 
I was trying to shame no one. We keep hearing all the self-righteous anger in such threads, as though those viewpoints are the only ones. I was merely showing another angle, from the viewpoint of those who are glad for small wages, as opposed to receiving none.

Covering differing viewpoints does not equate to shaming. I can’t imagine how such a conclusion is reached.

Lol! And, no, I don’t write parables! 😃
 
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Good intentions… the great poison of economic growth.

Ironically, it could be better to give more business… to drive up demand and then eventually competition in the labor market. If I can get $5/day at Nike, but Adidas has a new factory paying $6, guess what happens?
 
Another concern with fast fashion is the horrendous waste that goes into them at every stage, and the amount of clothing that gets thrown out because the next style comes in. I don’t know how much we can do about it, I try to buy used or go in on the sales when they try to clear things out.
 
I was feeling like a real teen of the 80s because that was the first thing that came to mind when I read the thread title 🤣
 
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