Consumer complaints in the UK surrounding poorly made clothing increased by 22% in 2008, according to this article by The Independent. The article cites a report by Consumer Direct released today. It claims that the biggest consumer complaint amongst females came from ‘defective goods’, at 34%.
According to the article, “[i]n the past five years, with the rise of “value” retailers, the price of clothing has fallen by as much as 25 per cent, while shoppers have bought almost 40 per cent more garments. This suggests fast fashion may be behind the increase in problem items.”
The article also cites statistics from another report, released by Global Cool, stating that female shoppers spent £11 billion on clothes that were never worn last year.
Fast fashion has created systems that cycle through clothing at a speed impossible for consumers to keep up with, and impossible to produce proper value items.
What an incredible waste.
Mary has a PhD in Sociology from University of Edinburgh, researching responsible fashion and transnational labour rights activism in the wake of the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh.
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