Everyday we place a piece of clothing on ourselves that has the power to connect us to people and planet. ~ Shamini Dhana

How much do we really know about the making of the clothes we buy? The True Cost of Fashion is a complex web that impacts the workers, consumers and the communities around the world where fashion production and farming takes place. A $2 trillion industry, the fashion, and apparel industry is the second most polluting and the main character of Andrew Morgan’s The True Cost. Unveiling the curtain behind the fashion industry the film depicts how society and economics have allowed a culture within fast fashion that values profit over the wellbeing of people and the planet.

Profits Equate to Success

Within traditional capitalism, a fashion brands model of success is based solely on economics, generating increasing profits quarter after quarter, to satisfy investor and shareholder value. The pressure to maximize quarterly profits fosters an environment where the garment worker and resources within production become disposable to brands looking to produce large volumes of cheap clothes.

In an industry where the desired outcome is towards increasing economies of scale, the tendency is to increase output of product while decreasing cost substantially to secure profits. However, in order for this phenomenon to occur, the fashion industry produces product at the expense of people and planet. Workers are not provided safe environments to work in, health is not a consideration and there is an absence of a voice and input in the process. Factories are often seen dumping hazardous waste into rivers causing pollution resulting in health and diseases, and heavy pesticide and chemical use that pollute the air and soil in agricultural lands. In other words, people and the environment are being exploited in order to satisfy brand’s demand for greater profits.

Influencing Consumers Needs

Over the last twenty years, the price of clothing has steadily decreased to offer consumers a high variety of cheap clothes encouraging consumption without thought as to how and why clothes could be so cheap. In The True Cost, the film addresses how the perception of cheap clothes and marketing tactics of “buying-more-to-feel-good” has encouraged excessive consumption.

By marketing cheap, available clothes all year long, all the people involved don’t value the resources behind the clothes and if they did, they would hesitate in make quick decisions and instead be researching the brands before endorsing them through their decision to purchase a trendy brand or fad. The messaging of fast fashion has promoted the artificial need for wanting more and more clothing without the actual realization of the impact on consumers bottom line, the lives of workers in developing countries and the connection to the overall pollution and waste in the world today.

The Rise of New Business Standards

Through the world of technology, journalism, media and outlets like The True Cost are giving a voice to the unheard worker and raising awareness of the responsibility and impact brands have. This traditional business model is shifting, and capitalistic tendencies are being sidelined due to awareness of current generations interest in what goes on in the making of our clothes.

“Before you solve a problem, you have to admit you got one, and before we’re going to fix an economic system that is working this way…we have to think about alternative systems that might work better”

Richard Wolff, Professor of Economics Emeritus at UMass Amherst. Quote featured in The True Cost

The new standard for success is being driven by consumers who believe that brands need to be environmentally and socially responsible whilst making a profit. Today there are brands who prioritize impact by launching initiatives to satisfy the needs of this new demographic of consumers. These are the brands that offer collections which reflect the values of their customers and communicate the importance of consumer purchasing power.

Originally published at https://www.dhanatribe.com