"Life moves fast. Fashion moves faster."
The hidden cost of our habitual consumption behavior
We buy new clothes, are trapped in a short moment of excitement, then wear them a couple of times until we realize that they are falling apart or suddenly came out of season. Trends come and go, but the garments we purchase stay, creating an abundance of fashion pieces in our closet that are merely ever worn. Compared to 15 years ago, one person buys about 60% more garments and wears them only half as long .
Hence, various grand issues arise: an immense amount of textile garbage overfilling landfills, plastic fibres which are polluting oceans and the depletion of natural resources - leaving the societal aspect of fast fashion at this point aside. The Ellen Macarthur Foundation - focusing on facilitating a circular economy - even estimated that each second a truckload of textile waste is disposed in a landfill or incinerated.

These metrics leave us behind with the blunt truth of our habitual shopping behavior. The fashion industry represents one of the world's largest economies, being gauged to be worth
$ 2.4 trillion in 2016. Considering the environmental impact, the textile industry causes, and the societal inequity, fast fashion retailers keep on fostering, the necessity for a major shift in the fashion industry grows rapidly - not only forcing fashion brands, but also us - as consumers - to rethink.
If we want to make a change, the first step we should take is to scrutinize our consumption behavior as it has a major societal and environmental impact. Therefore, it's the right time to question the presence of trends.
Trends seem to have a special kind of allure to us. They connect, give rise to the joy of trying something new and exhilarate the willingness to experiment. Somehow, they truly seem to encompass the possibility of ultimately be seen as voguish.
Thus, it's the perfect moment for me to say that you don't have to follow a certain trend - that might even arose out of nowhere - in order to be seen (as trendy). Instead, your attire should reflect who you are and where you want to go. It should underline your self confidence and make you feel comfortable. Fashion is about much more than wearing "trendy" clothes - namely: about highlighting your individual personality and creativity and wearing your favorite striped cardigan over and over again, setting your own statement.
Don't get me wrong, trends can for sure be great as they uphold the possibility to inspire and spark creativity. Yet, there will definitely be trends that don't match your typical style and only maintain the appearance of being interesting. At this point you should bear in mind that you will probably wear this fashion piece only a few times until it ends up forgotten in the far corners of your closet.
So in conclusion: "Fashion has to reflect who you are, what you feel at the moment, where you're going" (Pharrell Williams) and not about what others advertise as the must-have item.
Made on
Tilda