ARGUING “SHOP”
Editor-in-Chief of Reason
ARGUING “STOP”
Former COO of Timberland; Professor at The Fletcher School at Tufts University
MODERATOR
Host and Moderator-in-Chief
This week:
- New episode: What’s the true price of your purchase?
- A closer look at the fast fashion industry’s revenue
- Your Sunday reading list
How many clothes have you bought in the last year? When was the last time you wore them?
There are more opportunities than ever to buy sought-after looks at a reasonable price. In the season of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, many of us are looking for bigger steals at Zara, Shein, Brandi Melville, and other similar brands which are adding new items to their inventory rapidly. But with 92 million tons of textiles thrown away every year, should we slow down on buying fast fashion?
Some say that fast fashion is not worth the price, based on its environmental impact and labor exploitation. Others laud the fact that it provides access to fashion trends that would otherwise be inaccessible since many shoppers can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on clothes.
All of this is debatable in this week’s episode. Arguing we should stop buying fast fashion items is former Timberland COO Kenneth Pucker, who is also a professor at The Fletcher School at Tufts University. Arguing we should keep shopping is Reason magazine’s editor-in-chief Katherine Mangu-Ward, who often writes about capitalism and culture. We were also joined in this discussion by New York Times chief fashion critic and fashion editor Vanessa Friedman, BBC Radio 4 broadcaster James Woudhuysen, and fashion journalist and author of “Fashionopolis” Dana Thomas.
Should we keep shopping from these brands? What are the alternatives? Listen to the debate now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. As always, let us know what you think.
DEBATING THE DATA
The Rapid Rise of The Fast Fashion Market
POINT/COUNTERPOINT
Fast Fashion: Shop or Stop?
SHOP: Katherine Mangu-Ward
“According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American household spent about $1,500 on apparel in 2021, and that goes a lot farther when clothes are cheap. So this not only enables people to save money, it also means that people can move more easily between different socioeconomic classes. I think that can be really under-appreciated… Most clothes, most cheap clothes are made by people who chose those jobs. In Bangladesh, the garment industry employs four million people and they all, as a general matter, get above average wages for their region. They choose these jobs because they are better options. I don’t want to be paternalistic and tell people that they should not be allowed to both create and then take jobs that are better for them.”
STOP: Kenneth Pucker
“The fashion industry now produces between 100 and 150 billion units per year, mostly made from oil, 85 percent of which are landfilled or incinerated. The industry is one of the most pollutive industries in the world, responsible for more than 20 percent of the world’s wastewater, a growing percentage of carbon emissions, and more than 30 percent of all microfiber production. Not to mention chemicals released as effluent into waterways and labor abuses. The fashion industry’s success increasingly comes from privatizing profits while socializing damage. It’s time we do things differently.”
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