I have debated whether to confess the backstory for this post. I think I just need to own it and admit that I’m not sure how to avoid fast fashion, or whether I can. I shopped this weekend for game day attire. It’s going to be 9000 degrees and there will probably be a mimosa spill or two. It’s going to be a one-and-done outfit. So, I don’t want to spend much money.
Digress--- for my friends outside of the South; yes, we dress up for college football games. Never jean shorts and T-shirts – blasphemy!! I’ll sport a short dress in team colors, nicely styled with jewelry, handbag, and appropriate footwear (for me, Rag& Bone booties). College Football chic.
With my serious limitations (color-specific budget-price) I headed to the boutiques that thrive in an urban college town. As I was perusing, I was acutely aware that the garments that I slid through the rack were pieced together by workers in third-world countries earning near-slave wages. I’ve posted about fast fashion before so I have an awareness of the underside of the industry and I was uncomfortable.
I was also struck by another fact. Fashion is impossibly paced these days. “Fast” is an understatement. I went into a store on Saturday. I went back to the same store on Sunday. There was new inventory! New colors, new styles, new choices. It made me think how fast fashion has impacted contemporary brands, even luxury brands. There is such pressure to put out a new line.
To me, the direct evidence of that is the blur in the fashion calendar. At Fordham, my teacher asked the class, “how many fashion seasons are there?” Hands went up and answers ranged from 2,4,5,6,8,12 to “who knows anymore?” The “who knows” answer is probably right. This is what I know. One, there is a collection of Fall apparel. Ready-to-wear shows are held in February and Couture shows in July. Two, there is a collection of Spring apparel. Ready-to-wear shows are in September and Couture in January. Add, Pre-Fall, ready-to-wear showing in the winter, usually January (fall-weather type styles). And, Resort (aka, cruise or pre-spring) showing in summer, usually June. That’s at least four ready-to-wear collections. Some luxury brands have 4 ready-to-wear collections and 2 couture collections. Add, diffusion lines and collaboration lines, and who knows anymore! The CFDA just announced it will take over management of the fashion calendar. Read more here:
http://cfda.com/the-latest/cfda-fashion-calendar.
The fact that there are full-time employees to manage and streamline the global fashion calendar crystalizes the point. It makes my head spin, all these collections. It also means that new styles are regularly being produced, making their way into the market place. That must put a huge burden on a brand’s creative staff.
I don’t see how fast fashion can’t have had a direct link to a contemporary (or luxury) line’s pressure to put out quarterly (or monthly) collections. I confess that my desire to have something new (when, truth be told, I have things already in my closet that have withstood trends and would be perfectly acceptable, except for the commercialistic, materialistic, impulsive ‘I want something new and fresh’ desire of mine) goes hand in glove with the pressures of a brand to put out a fresh new inventory on a regular basis.
When I was in NYC, I toured Nanette Lepore’s garment district studio. She puts out a new line every month. So does Kate Spade New York and Tory Burch. With a near constant infusion of new garments into the marketplace, it feeds the desires of consumers to sport a new look every week which peer pressures us to keep up and the cycle keeps spinning. For me, commercialism and capitalism won out. I wanted a one-wear, inexpensive new outfit, and I got one. It was easy; I had multiple options and I had to make “hard” choices. Although I’m riding the cycle, I never forget the importance of staple pieces which will be around in my closet long after the game day outfit has been recycled for dust rags.
Digress--- for my friends outside of the South; yes, we dress up for college football games. Never jean shorts and T-shirts – blasphemy!! I’ll sport a short dress in team colors, nicely styled with jewelry, handbag, and appropriate footwear (for me, Rag& Bone booties). College Football chic.
With my serious limitations (color-specific budget-price) I headed to the boutiques that thrive in an urban college town. As I was perusing, I was acutely aware that the garments that I slid through the rack were pieced together by workers in third-world countries earning near-slave wages. I’ve posted about fast fashion before so I have an awareness of the underside of the industry and I was uncomfortable.
I was also struck by another fact. Fashion is impossibly paced these days. “Fast” is an understatement. I went into a store on Saturday. I went back to the same store on Sunday. There was new inventory! New colors, new styles, new choices. It made me think how fast fashion has impacted contemporary brands, even luxury brands. There is such pressure to put out a new line.
To me, the direct evidence of that is the blur in the fashion calendar. At Fordham, my teacher asked the class, “how many fashion seasons are there?” Hands went up and answers ranged from 2,4,5,6,8,12 to “who knows anymore?” The “who knows” answer is probably right. This is what I know. One, there is a collection of Fall apparel. Ready-to-wear shows are held in February and Couture shows in July. Two, there is a collection of Spring apparel. Ready-to-wear shows are in September and Couture in January. Add, Pre-Fall, ready-to-wear showing in the winter, usually January (fall-weather type styles). And, Resort (aka, cruise or pre-spring) showing in summer, usually June. That’s at least four ready-to-wear collections. Some luxury brands have 4 ready-to-wear collections and 2 couture collections. Add, diffusion lines and collaboration lines, and who knows anymore! The CFDA just announced it will take over management of the fashion calendar. Read more here:
http://cfda.com/the-latest/cfda-fashion-calendar.
The fact that there are full-time employees to manage and streamline the global fashion calendar crystalizes the point. It makes my head spin, all these collections. It also means that new styles are regularly being produced, making their way into the market place. That must put a huge burden on a brand’s creative staff.
I don’t see how fast fashion can’t have had a direct link to a contemporary (or luxury) line’s pressure to put out quarterly (or monthly) collections. I confess that my desire to have something new (when, truth be told, I have things already in my closet that have withstood trends and would be perfectly acceptable, except for the commercialistic, materialistic, impulsive ‘I want something new and fresh’ desire of mine) goes hand in glove with the pressures of a brand to put out a fresh new inventory on a regular basis.
When I was in NYC, I toured Nanette Lepore’s garment district studio. She puts out a new line every month. So does Kate Spade New York and Tory Burch. With a near constant infusion of new garments into the marketplace, it feeds the desires of consumers to sport a new look every week which peer pressures us to keep up and the cycle keeps spinning. For me, commercialism and capitalism won out. I wanted a one-wear, inexpensive new outfit, and I got one. It was easy; I had multiple options and I had to make “hard” choices. Although I’m riding the cycle, I never forget the importance of staple pieces which will be around in my closet long after the game day outfit has been recycled for dust rags.