We live in a world where everything needs to be Instagramable, even our clothes. Repeating an outfit is out of fashion, and so every girl looks for clothes that are trendy yet inexpensive.
The growing demand for cheap and trendy clothes has given birth to thousands of fast fashion brands. Fast fashion brands are the ones who copy styles of high-end brands as soon as they hit the ramp.
This means they give you exact copies of the most trendy clothes at unbelievably low prices.
Isn’t that dreamy? Wearing a dress similar to your favorite celebrity? That too, without paying a fortune! It sure is.
That is why many of us are happily buying from these brands and posting chic pictures on Instagram, but what we do not know is the consequences of this trend.
Fast fashion is anything but cheap. Those clothes may not cost you a lot of money, but they are costing you something a lot more precious- your health.
Clothes produced by fast fashion brands are harmful, and destructive even. If you wonder how clothes can harm you or the planet, let us explain it to you. All fast fashion brands carry out dangerous practices such as
- Using cheap fabrics.
Inexpensive clothes mean poor quality and poor fabric. The fast-fashion brands may serve you the best styles but the material they use for it is cheap and harmful.
The three most common fabric materials used by fast fashion brands are polyester, rayon, and nylon. These plastic and petroleum-based artificial fibers are toxic to all living beings.
The biggest concern we face today is that these materials are non-biodegradable. Planet Earth is buried under 269,000 tons of plastic, and producing more of such non-biodegradable material in enormous quantities will make wild and marine life extinct.
When polyester comes in contact with human skin, it releases phthalates that lead to skin problems like eczema, irritation, and psoriasis. Nylon and rayon are carcinogenic and cause disturbances in the nervous system.
- Using inexpensive textile dyes.
Just like cheap clothing materials, fast fashion brands use cheap textile dyes. These dyes contain heavy metals like lead and chromium which are lethal for humans and fish.
When these dyes run into lakes, fish ingest them, and the result is carcinogenic mutations and eventually death. Too much dye, also leads to blockage of sunlight, meaning plants on the sea bed are unable to photosynthesize and die.
- Using animals for faux fur.
Fur never goes out of fashion, hence the reason why it is so expensive. Fast fashion brands have found an alternative to that- it is the hair of animals like dogs, raccoons, and cats. The poor animals are skinned, and their hair is used as a cheap alternative to fur.
- Hiring cheap labor
Fast fashion brands are famous for producing thousands of styles and putting them out as soon as possible. To achieve that goal, these brands set their factories in third-world countries.
Laborers work day and night in those factories and are paid peanuts for their hard work. Most of the time, employees end up with deadly medical conditions because of a poor work environment and a lack of protective gear.
- Promoting the wear and dispose culture.
Fast fashion is all about launching the latest styles in the market at low prices. People see this as an opportunity to wear new clothes every day, and rather than opting for costly but high-quality clothes, they buy cheap, low quality but trendy ones.
These cheap clothes wear out after two or three washes, and people remove them from the closet. Our planet is suffering a lot because of this “wear and dispose” culture, and soon we will be facing terrible consequences.
The awareness programs are slowly making people conscious of their choice,s and they are searching for anti-fast fashion brands.
One brand under the spotlight these days is Earthbound Trading Co. A store that offers its customers trendy clothes at low prices, bath and body cosmetics, home decor, and much more.
Earthbound has been around since 1994. Suzana Gordon, the owner of Earthbound started the business from scratch, but the rock and mineral company soon expanded, and today it’s a lifestyle retailer with 136 stores.
The brand’s clothing range is famous for its chic designs, but one question keeps popping up in people’s minds. Is Earthbound fast fashion?
To answer that, we need to see how many boxes of the “Fast Fashion Brand Practices” checklist do Earthbound ticks.
Does Earthbound offer thousands of clothing styles in different colors?
Yes, Earthbound has numerous designs on its website.
Does Earthbound use Polyester and Rayon as the primary clothing material?
Yes, Polyester and Rayon are their primary fabrics.
Does Earthbound launch all the trendy garments and styles shortly after celebrities wear them?
Yes, the brand launches trendy garments shortly after celebrities wear them.
Does Earthbound have lower prices than pioneers of fashion trends?
Yes, the brand offers chic designs at low prices.
Does Earthbound have factories in third-world countries?
We did not find any information regarding this on their website, but they import all the clothes.
Since the brand carries out all the common fast fashion brand practices, it is safe to say that Earthbound is a fast-fashion brand.
Is Earthbound a good company?
Earthbound is a lifestyle retailer and offers a wide range of products. Their bath and body cosmetics are free vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, and paraben-free. Their candle collection is also vegan.
The Earthbound employees give mixed reviews. While some are happy with the pay and compensations, others complain about the work environment. Overall the company has a rating of 3.8 out of 5.
Sadly, however, Earthbound offers fast fashion. So Earthbound can not get the label of a good company until it changes its policies regarding clothes.
Where does Earthbound get its merchandise?
The brand offers some very unique products that it imports from the world’s most exotic locations and countries such as India, China, and Brazil.
Earthbound doesn’t reveal the exact origin of its stone collection, but all of them undergo polishing in China.
