It’s ok to love a fast fashion item…

We’ve all had that moment.

We read the latest headline lambasting a high street fashion brand for underpaying its workers or sourcing clothes from factories with unacceptable working conditions. And we feel guilty.

Even if we haven’t bought from that brand in years, we’ve all played a part in the system.

The scale of the abuses in the fashion industry can feel so vast, and our power as individual consumers so small, that we give up hope that the sector can really be different.

But today we’re telling you something you won’t often hear; it’s ok to love a fast fashion item.

This statement may sound hypocritical. Transform Trade has been a harsh critic of the fashion industry, and fast fashion brands specifically for good reason; the sector is rife with exploitation and reports of unfair purchasing practices.

But the true picture is complicated. Loving a fast fashion item is not as bad as it may seem.

Here’s why…

Let’s start with a simple point: it’s good to love clothes. If you love them, you will wear them, look after them and appreciate the skill, effort and resources that went into making them. Loving clothes is a good first step to reducing how much you buy.

It’s also worth considering that even premium clothing has issues. Some of the more expensive brands commit the same bad practices as more budget-friendly offerings.

The next point is obvious but important - fashion can provide a good wage for many millions of people under the right conditions. There is huge potential for the fashion industry to reduce poverty and improve lives.

All these points add up to a complicated picture. It’s an industry that employees hundreds of millions of people – they rely on it. But it needs to change.

The worst consequences of the fashion industry – exploitation, unsafe conditions, low pay, environmental damage – they aren’t your fault.

If you change your own buying practices, that’s a great thing, but the problems continue because the whole sector is broken. The issue is not that you bought a cheap pair of jeans – it’s that terrible things are allowed to happen as brands and decision makers look the other way.

Conscientious purchasing is one solution. But what if we could do better than that?

There’s one change the UK Government could make that would be a brilliant first step. It would mirror regulation that exists for supermarkets and has improved things dramatically, but is currently non-existent for the fashion industry.

UK supermarkets have a watchdog to hold them accountable for how they purchase and how they behave to their suppliers. We need the same for fashion.

MPs are waking up to this idea and starting to offer their support, but we need more. You can email your MP about this today.