Why are medium-priced clothing stores closing? Are students to blame for the rise in fast fashion?

In 2016, BHS closed its doors after 88 years as a high street fashion retailer; in 2020, Debenhams announced it would close in early 2021; and Marks & Spencer closed many of its stores in 2019 too. Whilst this was happening, online fast-fashion retailers like Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing have seen a boom in sales. But why is that? Are students to blame for this?

The idea of fast fashion - the term used to describe clothing designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to meet new trends (Investopedia.com) - is obviously very appealing to anyone low on cash, like students. The idea that you can get catwalk fashion at dirt cheap prices quickly is obviously clever, but let’s not forget the environmental and ethical impact of fast fashion. Clothing is the 2nd largest polluter in the world after oil, as the clothing produced by fast fashion retailers is usually of very poor quality and something even falls apart after a few washes/wears, as they are made usually for no other reason other than to quickly shift a trend out to consumers. These clothes are usually also made by slave labour where workers are paid barely a dollar a day. The quality of the clothing also means that it cannot really be resold, and as charity shops are already overstocked (think about how many people cleared out their house during lockdown) the only other option for a lot of people is to dispose of these items, where they obviously end up in landfill or incinerated and polluting the earth.

A very logical and obvious conclusion that many consumers have come up with is that people should ditch fast fashion retailers for more sustainable clothing. But this is proved to sound easier than it really is for a lot of people, as sustainable fashion brands are often way too expensive for people like students. Also, as more and more middle-priced retailers shut their doors, this is even harder for some people, especially those who don’t want to spend their life shopping. The thing is, the stores where our parents shopped for their clothing are simply no longer appealing, despite the fact that these stores produced high quality clothing at decent prices - neither dirt cheap or exorbitantly priced - and lasted years. The modern-day consumer, especially the younger generation, has swapped quality, higher priced clothing for cheap but low-quality, short shelf-life clothing, and this may have arguably caused the downfall of iconic stores such as M&S and Debenhams.

A lot needs to change here. Although many bloggers and influencers have already dedicated a lot of their time to spreading awareness about the cruel industry of fast fashion, the solution of shopping at higher quality stores is simply too expensive for some people. Another thing that needs to be realised is that social media influencers that push fast fashion onto their followers consistently are simply not good role models for young adults. These influencers, who get paid sometimes thousands for a single photo promoting a brand, often wear an outfit once only, especially if it's for an occasion, and never wear it again. This has reinforced this idea to young people that certain outfits can only be worn once, such as party outfits, in order to avoid being photographed in them again, and so their Instagram accounts are filled with unique new outfits every time. These attitudes certainly need to change in order to combat fast fashion.