Did you know that textile manufacturers use materials to make our unsustainable garments? Have you noticed that the T-shirt you bought a few weeks ago is already all distorted after being washed several times? This is called programmed obsolescence. This phenomenon also applies to fashion.

Fast Fashion or the programmed obsolescence of clothing

All the major groups use these methods. Cotton more and more and more, the sole of unsustainable plastic shoe, all our current wardrobe is largely impacted. In the past, when our parents bought a pair of shoes, it was designed to last. Now, if you wear a pair of shoes, after a while, the seams break down, the sole wears up abnormally quickly. The materials used in textile design are simply not made to last. The fabric fibers are getting shorter and the quality of the garments has deteriorated in recent decades. What for? To force us to buy back and follow the fashion. And it works.

Textile waste all over the world is piling up and we are buying twice as much clothing as we did 20 years ago.

Some people will think that it is not that bad, that it allows them to renew their wardrobe more often. They will also think that this is normal given the low price invested in the item at the time of purchase. Except that the one who pays the price for this unconscious consumption: this is our planet.

The textile industry is one of the most polluting in the world. Toxic releases, the use of cotton stuffed with excessive pesticides, the exploited Asian workforce… to meet our growing clothing needs. In addition to this, clothing is also treated with endocrine disrupting chemicals. Here's the picture. Let's not be fashion victims: we need to be aware of our fashion purchases.

How to combat this obsolescence?

There are many ways to fight fast fashion in Mauritius.

First of all at the time of buying the garment, asking questions:

  • Am I going to wear this garment? Do I really need it?
  • Or is it manufactured?
  • What materials are used?
  • Do the seams look solid? Are the finishes correct?
  • Is there an understudy?
  • If you see your hand through a T-shirt for example, you can already tell yourself that this product is not of good quality (matter too thin to last)
  • Is its price abnormally low? If so, it is not necessarily also a guarantee of the quality and durability of the product.

Then, when you wash it, try cold washing instead, which will limit the deformation of the garment. Jeans don't necessarily need to be washed every time you wear it, think before putting everything in your washing machine. If a stain appears on your garment do not wait to moisten it with dishwashing product for example before washing it: otherwise you may not wear it at all.

Sell, buy, trade or just give!

On videtonplacard.com, it's easy to post an ad for a garment you no longer wear. It takes a few minutes.

So you give a second life to clothes, shoes, accessories that you no longer wear. Someone might need it.

To conclude this article, I would like to refer to fur in fashion. Until a few years ago, it was still used on the catwalks. Now we don't see her anymore. Let's hope it's the same for fast-fashion clothes!

See you soon

Elise

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