Who Fast Fashion Is Really Exploiting
Who Fast Fashion Is Really Exploiting
Growing up in Brooklyn, I was introduced to fast fashion via shopping centers like Fulton Mall and Liberty Avenue. Most blocks had a Rainbow, Strawberry, Pretty Girl, or Dr. Jays’—stores geared towards women wanting something really fly, on the fly, and for the low. These were not stores affiliated with high profile names nor did they have commercials playing on every channel you turned to. Even with cute and trendy looks available, merchandise from these shops was considered to be “ghetto” and lower than low-end fashion. At the same time, we knew what we were getting ourselves into with the likes of a Rainbow. You knew that the stitching on those jeggings was off but it’s only $7, why argue? Shitty policies like: “store credit/exchange only” that basically punked you of your hard-earned dollar dollar bills, didn’t offend us. We’d take it home and be back in 7 days or less if need be; you were always bound to find something you wanted. Representation came in the form of the employees— they looked, spoke, and shopped like the consumers. Engaging physically with people who reflect the community they serve, seemed to pay off more than any “inclusive” marketing campaign could.
The likes of businesses such as Rainbow and its counterparts created the blueprint that new brands like Fashion Nova or Dolls Kills follow and the alleged word on the street is that MANY of these fast fashion brands (new or old) may share manufactures as well. The only true difference is pricing and social media power. We have seen an emergence in online boutiques that basically serve you up the same formula: spit out appealing low-quality “looks” daily, make sure an Insta hottie is wearing and tagging the brand, attach flashing sale signs, rinse and repeat. There is a lot to unpack in the problematic world of fast fashion from their horrible business practices to their contribution to global environmental waste to how ridiculous their sizing system is. While I could go in on any number of issues these brands possess, the one that is most tangible for me, the one that exists on my timeline and in the side panels of my web browser is their lack of inclusion and diversity.
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In a time where we are demanding and advocating for more representation in politics and on the silver screen; as consumers, however, we seem to be okay with not expecting this in the other heavily populated white spaces. Fast fashion has managed to hook, line, and sinker us— all with our consent. As Kanye West would say “How Sway?” No, really how? If you ask me it’s because many of the faces attached to these brands we admire and feel aligned with. That glimmer of representation that we’re offered through familiar faces or desired bodies, makes us think “This cannot be as bad as they say if [insert favorite celebrity’s name here] is wearing, doing, saying, and associating with it.” Take Cardi B for example, she has been stanning for Fashion Nova before she got a bag and fixed her teeth. Her love for the brand didn’t wane once she became a household name and she continued to encourage her many fans to invest their coins into Fashion Nova. “It's kind of like this ripple effect,” said CEO and founder of Fashion Nova, Richard Saghian, in a Vice interview. “The more people shout us out, the more their fans shout us out. Kind of like a viral Youtube video. We're a viral store.”
Saghian is right. When Cardi’s Fashion Nova line dropped in 2018, the entire collection sold out in a few short hours because who doesn’t want to be a bad bish like Bardi? She’s a girl from the hood with money to throw in Saks but she just like us, wants the $20 jeans and $40 bodycon outfit. The majority of the styles these brands produce are either stolen looks from other companies or their imitation of what “urban apparel” looks like. They seem to want to appeal the most to women of color- our dancers, our rappers, our models- yet their “Big Brother is watching you” ads fail to include REAL women of color. As Revelist writer Marquaysa Battle mentioned in her 2019 article, “I actually had to go in and count 69 photos before I got to a model who could be considered dark-skinned on the Fashion Nova Instagram page.” When I checked on February 1st the brand posted 166 photos within a 5-day span and there was only one dark-skinned model highlighted on their page. Let’s not just give Fashion Nova all the smoke. The slim thick, showered in bronzer, 3a curl pattern, ethnically ambiguous model is the image most of these brands prefer to feature on their pages.
To be clear, I know that there are more than 50 Shades of brown but I am also aware of the colorism embedded in so many of us due to systemic racism and oppression. The specific shade of brown these companies idolize makes them feel safe and is probably comforting to their white demographic, you know to be down like the Blacks without having to deal with them. Even their pages for plus-size bodies can be absent of color. So Tabria Majors is the only black plus-sized model in all the galaxy? Was Roseline Lawrence too busy? Major eye roll. Then you have this disillusioned sizing chart for 1x and up. What some of these brands consider plus size is some over-exaggerated body built in the operating room. The nerve of a company to not only make money off of imitating Black fashion and acquiring room in Black spaces but to neglect certain types of Black bodies because it doesn’t fit their “ambiance”. WHACK!
Jackie Aina, one of the most booked and busy beauty influencers, called out Fashion Nova and their cohorts for their lack of diversity and inclusion. Jackie even declined to partner with them because of this and was anything done? You guessed it NOT A DAMN THING! Why? We don’t care enough to really do something. We forget that without the consumer there is no demand for supply. Shoppers don’t have to subjugate themselves to over-priced polyester that’ll shrivel up in the wash; or return shipping fees that you could have avoided if you understood their ridiculous sizing chart. We deserve better than this yet cancel culture hasn’t picked up on this so I guess it is fine for now. Remember when Gucci made that ridiculous sweater in 2019, around the time when other big fashion house names were making similar faux pas with racist ass-looking designs? Ooh, we were mad as hell, for like a week. In no time we went right back to clicking “add to cart”. Those hashtagging these brands with the power to speak up and change the tide, don’t care enough either. Thus the wheel of microaggressions keeps turning, while these companies keep making bank.
There are some companies such as Savage X Fenty that have made great efforts to provide content for their consumers, content to engage with that feels more realistic to what they see in the mirror every day. To be quite deadass, a good portion of white currency and generational wealth has been and still is being made off of the labor of Black and brown bodies. Seeing tabs pop up on websites intended to lure me with pro-Black designs and statements, it’s definitely a no for me dawg. I need more than the superficial “I stand with you” attempts that every non-POC tries to force down our throats. Give me something to really bite into. When my Nana would take me shopping, she would often pick up a coat or pair of shoes and say “This can take you into next year.” Her take on clothes, food, careers, and well, men-- was based on the idea that anything you invest in, their purpose should serve you. If these companies want our big face Franklins, they need to truly serve us instead of siphoning our cool and trying to sell it back to us wrapped in a “Yellow Bone is what he wants” package.
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