With low prices and easy access for many shoppers, fast fashion is a cheap way to keep up with the trends.
But there are growing concerns that it comes with a higher price for our health and environment down the road.
Dr. Ellie Jin works at North Carolina State’s College of Textiles. She says there are two huge drivers for consumers.
“Obviously cheap, cheap and trendy items,” Jin said.
Those cheap, trendy items are often made of the same material.
“This [is] looking good, but I can tell that all materials are polyester,” Jin said.
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Polyester is a type of plastic. Some items we found, including a pair of trousers, jacket and vest, are made up of at least 95% of it.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize how bad polyester is,” said Courtney Fountain, who has made a business out of reselling used, higher quality fashion items.
“I’m looking for high quality items like natural fibers or natural fibers or like animal fibers, like silk and cashmere,” she said.
Fountain avoids buying clothes from fast fashion retailers.
“When you wash them, you can get that will that could potentially put microplastics into your like water or like bloodstream,” she said.
According to a 2024 study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 60% of textiles contain microplastics.
“They are mass producing clothing that will sometimes ultimately just end up in a landfill, and that’s just not great for the environment.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 66% of textiles do just that.
A spokesperson for Shein said the company regularly hires third parties to quality check items, testing for tears, piling and even chemicals.
Jin believes people who thrift, like Fountain, helps keep clothing out of landfills. She thinks growing the resale market could reshape the future of fast fashion.
Jin said a big reason for the rise in the resale market is that many consumers, especially younger generations, are thinking more about the environment.
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