Slow Fashion May Be a Thing

May the trend be contagious.

Photo by S kelly on Unsplash

One of the main parts of the human experience that degrowth can address is overconsumption. We currently use too much of the earth's bounty. We don’t live in a sustainable way. If we want to survive and thrive we need to start collecting less shit in our closets and in our homes.

With that said, I came across a very interesting story last week that I thought was worth sharing. The story is about the fashion industry, an industry that thrives on our overconsumption and our fear of not having the newest best thing.

All the credit goes to three women writing about this. I’m just trying to spread the word.  Rachel Cernansky at Vogue Business, wrote the article: TikToks anti-consumption movement is a wake-up call for brands. The Post Growth Fashion Substack of Katia Dayan Vladimirova is also a great resource. They go into more depth than I can here, so please explore their work if you want to know more.  Boutayna Chokrane’s article; What is Deinfluencing? Unpacking TikTok’s Unlikeliest Shopping Trend, dives into the movement on TikTok to tamp down a culture of overconsumption.

Degrowth and Fashion

There's a burgeoning culture on TikTok pushing back against overconsumption.

In 2022, 28% of surveyed TikTok users reported making purchases based on influencer endorsements.  A response to this culture of overconsumption has emerged, with the hashtag #Deinfluencing, which now has over a billion views on TikTok. These de-influencers discourage their audiences from overconsuming, a welcome development in a global culture that has historically overconsumed resources.  

The Rule of 5 pledge, (the pledge to only make 5 new garment person purchases a year) was launched by fashion editor Tiffanie Darke in January 2023. The idea has caught on. Just google the “rule of 5 pledge”. I’ll see you on the other side of that rabbit hole when you are done.

But think of the brands. Oh, God, the brands!

A culture of consumers who are not too keen on over-consuming anymore can pose a real problem for companies whose reason for being is selling us more and more stuff.  

A more circular economy may play a role, but According to the recently published,  Circularity Gap Report 2024, the share of secondary materials consumed by the global economy has decreased from 9.1% in 2018 to 7.2% in 2023; or a 21% drop in the last five years. That means the rate we are “re-using” has dropped in the last five years, from a relatively low rate to begin with.

Vladimirova points out a way that fashion brands may have to adjust as the generations turned off by overconsumption age into the “responsibility” of consuming to drive the global economy. Companies may have to start offering services beyond just concentrating on more and more consumption. She sees a world where only 40 percent of shopper’s money goes towards acquiring new clothing; where 30 percent would go to “fashion experiences” such as rental or digital fashion, with another 30 percent earmarked for “maintenance and improvement”, such as repairs or repurposing of clothing.

Could other industries adopt this model?

It doesn't take much imagination to picture a world in which a lower consumption model could take hold. Yes, companies who sell us their stuff wouldn't be too happy and they will lobby hard against it but these nascent anti-consumer rumblings in the fashion industry show us that this could be a way forward, especially among young people.

Companies that focus on more than just selling a product, and in addition make services and repurposing part of their business models; may be getting ahead of the game.

Planned obsolescence, or companies ensuring their products only last a short time so we need to go out and buy new ones, adds to the problem. Think appliances and smartphones. In 2015, France became the first country in the world to define and outlaw planned obsolescence. The law reads: “Planned obsolescence means the techniques by which a manufacturer aims to deliberately reduce the life of a product to increase its replacement rate. It is punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a fine of €300,000.”

Now, I haven’t seen anyone going to jail over planned obsolescence, but a law on the books may focus the minds of executives at companies who don’t want to risk paying a fine or trying on an orange jumpsuit.

We currently consume about 1.6 Earths worth of resources in a year and if you are in a more developed market that's likely 3 or 4 Earths worth of resources in a year. Not using those resources in the first place or reusing those resources can get us to a better place.

The fashion industry may be setting a trend that will just become the way business is done in the future. If you use your imagination, it isn't hard to imagine a reduce, reuse, and recycle model catching on in other industries from consumer goods, cars, and basically anything we keep in and around our homes.

I'm not cool enough to be on TikTok. If you are, please spread the word.