How has TikTok influenced Gen Z's consumption of Fast Fashion? by Aylin Baycora

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:10:31 UTC

Industrial Revolution

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:12:09 UTC

Prior to the revolution, artisans and seamstresses were responsible for making clothing and selling them. This was a timely process when the clothing was being stitched by hand. The industrial revolution was a major turning point for the country with new machinery and factories to mass produce products. The creation of the sewing machine was a big step towards producing clothing at a faster rate. At this rate, manufactured products were cheaper and able to make multiple of the same design. This point in history marks the start of mass production which is an environmental issue we now face.

1920's

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:12:39 UTC

Post World War II, the economy spiked with the concept of buy now, pay later. This mentality of his almost careless lifestyle that eventually results in the economic downfall of the Great Depression. This was the first major change in fashion that was considered a bit more “scandalous”. This also meant there needed to be a better standard for clothing production. These mass-produced clothing were much cheaper, allowing people in the middle class to become major consumers.

1960's

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:13:17 UTC

This is the initial start of when fast fashion started to appear in the country. Paper dresses were a short lived trend created from the paper company Scott’s new product Dura-Weave. These dresses allowed people to cut and tape the dresses however they wished. This was an easier option than sewing dresses that may not fit right. This trend eventually died out before the end of the decade.

The Global South

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:13:46 UTC

The Global South is the main source of clothing exporters. It is extremely inexpensive for countries to import products from these countries rather than producing them nationally. The main controversy with this is if it’s worth getting cheaper products if the factories working conditions aren’t ethical. Clothes produced here are cheap for a reason, the quality is usually very poor. As a result, these pieces do not last very long and end up adding to the pollution in the landfills.

Covid-19 Pandemic & TikTok

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:14:06 UTC

One of the major effects of the pandemic locking everyone in their homes is the increased screen time. Being home with nothing to do meant a lot of people spent time on social media, specifically TikTok. With malls being a health risk, online shopping became incredibly prominent. This was the start of crazy shopping hauls being posted and promoting overconsuming clothing from fast fashion companies. Microtrends were showing up left and right, those that don’t even exist anymore.

Definitions

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:18:38 UTC

Gen Z- The generation of individuals born between the late 1990’s and early 2010’s, who were the first to grow up in the era of widely accessible digital technology. This is important because a large number of TikTok users and fast fashion consumers are a part of Gen Z.
Influencers - A person who has become well-known through the use of social media by promoting specific products and brands as a job. Influencers are incredibly important as to the reason why many TikTok users are drawn to buying new products, or mainly clothing that is only a temporary trend.
Trend Cycle - The process of something on social media gaining a lot of activity in a short amount of time. These things will go viral, making people buy them rapidly, and then the trend dies down when there is a new one to take its place. This cycle is basically the reason why fashion is constantly changing. TikTok makes these trends incredibly widespread to individuals, only for them to last for a short amount of time.
Refashioned - To fashion again or differently; basically finding a new purpose to a piece of clothing that is no longer “in style” or worn. The idea of giving clothing a second chance whether it be buying second hand or making modifications to that piece is such an important way of helping reduce the impact of fast fashion.
TikTok - The primary social media platform that promotes fashion trends for Gen Z. TikTok is the most used social media platform this generation uses because of how short the videos are. Many influencers promote products for viewers, who tend to just online shop without much thinking.
Fast Fashion - Inexpensive clothing that is rapidly produced by mass-market retailers in response to a trend. The production of cheap products when there is a new trend is a primary reason why people find hopping on a trend is so easy.
Overconsumption - Consuming at an excess. With how cheap fast fashion is, people tend to want to buy more of it rather than a few items at a higher price point. Overconsumption of these fashion trends is an issue because these clothing pieces are usually poorly made and do not last very long in quality, so they just end up in landfills.

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:20:15 UTC

Baracskai, Sofia. “Letter from Gen Z: TikTok Has a Fast Fashion Problem.” The Drum, The Drum, 13 June 2022, www.thedrum.com/opinion/2022/06/10/letter-gen-z-tiktok-has-fast-fashion-problem.

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:23:38 UTC

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:31:58 UTC

How does the increased use of TikTok by Gen Z reflect on the amount of fast fashion building up in landfills?

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:32:23 UTC

Why are the microtrends being promoted not more long term?

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:32:41 UTC

How can buying second hand clothing influence fast fashion?

Article's Main Argument

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:42:29 UTC

The article talks about the impact of fast fashion trends promoted to Gen Z on TikTok. It talks about how content posted by influencers contributes to the unsustainable consumption in fast fashion and how brands prioritize making money over ethical or environmental issues. As a solution to this issue of over consuming from fast fashion companies, it suggests the use of second hand clothing apps to purchase or sell clothing from.

Pros

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:47:59 UTC

The largest temptations of buying from mass marketing brands such as Shein, H&M, or even the TikTok shop are how affordable and convenient it is. Fast fashion is cheaper to produce therefore cheaper to purchase. This targets those in the lower and middle class to be able to keep up with the latest trends. It is often convenient to purchase from these companies as well because of how easy it is. By shopping online you can expect a package at your doorstep about a week later. It is fast and avoids going into a store physically. Now TikTok is a great platform for promoting a point to a specific audience. Short videos keep viewers attention span longer than it would on YouTube videos. It's great to discover new things and create content with passion behind it, specifically great for Gen Z to advocate and promote topics that are equally important to a majority of the generation. With the constant changing micro-trends, a platform like TikTok is great to promote it to a large and targeted audience. And once a style is no longer preferred by an individual, selling it second hand is a great way to avoid disposing them.

Cons

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 05:55:21 UTC

There are many negatives from over consuming these fast fashion products. The most impactful is the environmental detriments it brings. These clothing pieces are cheap to purchase, meaning it is made of a low quality material that lacks durability. The poor quality means it will have a shorter usage time and end up as disposable fashion. These fabrics cannot break down, so they therefore end up in landfills that pollute chemical dyes into the water, as well as increasing carbon emissions during the production process. Environmental effects aside, there are many ethical concerns with fast fashion. These companies are focused extremely on making profits. Rather than making their own designs, they hop on the latest trends and steal the designs of other brands. During the actual production process, workers are making these orders in poor working conditions. They are exploited, paid extremely low wages, and some companies even have allegations of child labor. The micro-trends ultimately have a larger impact on why fast fashion is so prominent. Ideas are constantly getting disposed, resulting in an extremely short life span of that trend which makes it difficult to sell these pieces on a second-hand clothing platform. Many times, when a person is over a certain style of clothing it means the trend has died down. In this case there will be no one to buy those clothing and they would end up being disposed anyway.

Solution?

ab2688 — 2024-03-28 06:14:15 UTC

At this point, there is not much to do about the damage that has already been done. Gen Z has become what I like to call "screenagers". We are constantly drowning ourselves in a rabbit hole of videos for hours on end. We have seen products we like and want to buy them. There is no way to control everyone's opinions on purchasing an immense amount of cheap clothing when they believe in retail therapy. Over consuming clothing brings some of these people joy. The concept of selling clothing second hand is great and all, if the quality of the clothes is durable. As someone who enjoys a good thrifting moment, I would not willingly buy something from Shein at a place like Goodwill. The quality is usually extremely poor and is not worth even trying to sell. The only real way to stop fast fashion from ending up in landfills is not just something Gen Z can do on their own. The companies that are so focused on making a profit will keep producing unless they have a reason not to.