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"About Proposition 65." CA.gov, oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/about-proposition-65#:~:text=Proposition%2065%20requires%20businesses%20to,are%20released%20into%20the%20environment. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

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Davidson, Emma Elizabeth. "Protesters assemble outside Molly-Mae's not so pretty little runway show." Dazed, 17 Feb. 2022, www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/55489/1/protesters-molly-mae-hague-pretty-little-thing-runway-show-boohoo-fast-fashion. Accessed 30 Mar. 2023.

Duncan, Conrad. "Boohoo 'facing modern slavery investigation' after report finds Leicester workers paid as little as £3.50 an hour." Independant, 5 July 2020, www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/boohoo-leicester-factories-modern-slavery-boohoo-leicester-factories-modern-slavery-investigation-coronavirus-coronavirus-fast-fashion-a9602086.html.

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"Pretty Little Thing admit some clothes may contain cancer-causing chemicals." The Tab, thetab.com/uk/2019/09/24/pretty-little-thing-cancer-causing-chemicals-126435#:~:text=Pretty%20Little%20Thing%20warns%20that,on%20California's%20Proposition%2065%20list. Accessed 30 Mar. 2023.

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Graph shows a drop in investors after BooHoo was accused of modern slavery. 

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Extreme discount Black Friday sale worries workers and environmentalists. 

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Pretty Little Thing employees protest for better wages and less negative environmental impacts.

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There are a few fundamental steps that you can take to diminish the negative effects that fast-fashion brands have on us. The first and most obvious one is to stop buying from that brand. If the brand has no consumers and nobody to sell to, then they will eventually stop making money and go out of business. Don’t throw away your clothes when they wear out or get too small, as this can cause excess waste. You can donate them, recycle them, or upcycle them to reduce that waste. If you are about to buy a bunch of clothes from a new brand, do some research to see if they are sustainable. 5 minutes on Google and you can prevent yourself from funding an unsustainable brand. Lastly, don’t buy clothes that you don’t need. This can cause extra waste and fund or promote unsustainable brands. There are also campaigns like Remake that promote the recycling, upcycling, renting, and thrifting of clothes. Remake is doing their best to stop widespread overconsumption of clothes by going on a “fashion diet” and not buying new clothes for at least 90 days. By following these steps and supporting anti fast fashion organizations, you can help reduce their negative effects on us and our environment.

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Fast Fashion's Effects on Polotics and the Economy

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Fast Fashion's Effects on Polotics and the Economy

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Fast-fashion brands like PLT and BooHoo have negative impacts on economies and politics. In November 2020, they had a Black Friday sale that was up to 99% off of most items. With all of the money that they are basically giving away through this sale, they had nothing left to pay their employees. Sales like these often result in workers being paid less. The UK minimum wage is £8.72. The Sunday Times did an investigation and found out that Boohoo was paying its workers as low as £3.50 per hour while working in dangerous conditions. Some workers were being paid less than half of the minimum wage to work in a dangerous environment! The CEO is making millions and the workers are making scraps. According to Priti Patel, former Home Secretary, “the conditions described in Leicester factories were ‘truly appalling’ and added that the government would not tolerate ‘sick criminals forcing innocent people into slave labour and a life of exploitation’”. If government officials that conducted a formal investigation into the Leicester sweatshops found that conditions were that bad, it could cause some negative effects on both the economy and politics. If a government official is seen supporting this brand, then they might not get elected. As shown on the graph, there was an exponential drop in investors in 2020 due to the modern slavery allegations against BooHoo and PLT. That is how fast fashion brands like PLT and BooHoo can change political views and switch up part of the economy.

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Fast Fashion's Impact on Our Environment

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Fast Fashion's Impact on Our Environment

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PLT and BooHoo negatively affect the environment by wasting clothes, encouraging mass purchasing, and using harsh chemicals in their clothes. Some vinyl and faux leather products from PLT contain lead in them, which isn’t good for the environment. Then people might throw these products away into landfills, then it rains, and the lead is washed into rivers. This can cause harm to both plants and animals in the ecosystems that are exposed to lead. According to EPA, “elevated lead in the environment can result in decreased growth and reproduction in plants and animals, and neurological effects in vertebrates.” If there is enough lead poisoning to a specific ecosystem, then that could cause some already endangered species to have decreased reproduction and consequently go extinct. In November, 2020, there was a Black Friday sale where you could get products for up to 99% off. That means that you could buy cute dresses for as low as $0.10! Some consumers might buy clothing just for the sake of buying. If you could get 100 dresses for just $10.00, some people might think “why not?” Low prices like this can initiate mass excess purchasing and therefore cause waste of materials, and sometimes create more lead pollution. Those are some negative effects of brands like BooHoo and PLT on the environment.

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Shopping from PLT and BooHoo has many negative impacts on consumers. It says right in the PLT terms of service that “some of the products in Our Online store from time to time may contain chemicals that are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm and may be included on the Proposition 65 chemical list.” Just using and wearing their shoes, bags, and other vinyl/faux leather products could cause cancer, harm your reproductive system, or have birth defects in your future offspring. Proposition 65 “requires businesses to provide warnings to Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.” PLT isn’t removing those chemicals from the production process, just hiding a disclaimer about them at the bottom of their terms of service. That shows how little PLT cares about its consumers. As stated earlier, BooHoo scored 0-10% on the Fashion Transparency Index. That means that “there’s barely any information about the brand’s supplier policies and audits, and they don’t disclose any information about the practices they put in place – if they do at all – to ensure gender equality and regarding forced labor and freedom of association.” This means that BooHoo and PLT aren’t sharing much about their policies and what happens within their company, consequently meaning that buyers don’t always know how unsustainable they are. Those are some negative effects on the purchasers of BooHoo and PLT products.

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The fast fashion industry has been growing rapidly since the 1800’s. The invention of the sewing machine in 1846 kicked off the rise of the fashion industry. Before the industrial revolution in the 1800’s, people had to do everything by hand. The industrial revolution brought new machines, which made the production of clothing faster. In 1846, the sewing machine was patented. This caused the rate of clothing production to increase, caused the prices to plummet, and enabled clothing lines to keep up with the changing trends. Pretty little thing is an online only store. In 2012, they launched and uploaded their first clothing line. Soon after, sales started to rapidly increase due to the low prices. In 2019, PLT uploaded their first recycled line. This shows that they are attempting to be more sustainable, but that still won’t make up for years of constant waste. Also, because BooHoo (the LLC that owns PLT) got a 0-10% on the Fashion Transparency Index, there isn’t much reliable information about how much of those clothes are actually recycled material. In 2020, BooHoo was accused of modern slavery. BooHoo and PLT paid their workers as little as £3.50 or $4.33 per hour. Since this is less than half of minimum wage in the UK, this is classified as slavery. In November 2020, PLT decided to have a huge Black Friday sale. Products were up to 99% off! This resulted in mass purchasing of products  that the consumers don’t need. This caused massive waste of materials and money. That is how BooHoo, PLT, and the fast fashion industry in general have grown.