By now it is prominent, that fashion is an art form used to express one's self-identity and creativity. It is a platform people use to invent and inspire, but the world of fashion is dominated by fast fashion brands. What these brands do is essentially give people the means to express themselves at a cheap price. This cheap price equates to poor-quality clothing that lasts up to 10 months at the very most.
Fast fashion is a term used to detail the fast trends in the fashion community that come to pass as quickly as they came, this is part of the reason why the quality of fast fashion garments is so low. These clothes are only meant to last as long as they trend, which isn’t a considerably long amount of time. Because of this, out of the 100 billion garments produced, 92 million tonnes end up in landfills yearly. Fast fashion contributes to 20% of the world’s water waste, 10% of microplastics in our waters, and is set to increase 50% of global emissions in 2030.
So, the question now is “How can we fix this growing problem?” and the answer to that would be through eco-fashion. Eco-fashion or sustainable fashion refers to the collective efforts of the fashion community to decrease the negative impact this supposed art form has had on our planet. This term could also be used to refer to the manufacturing process of a garment, in the case that it was made with the environment and worker conditions kept in mind.
Indonesia, or Jakarta to be more specific, embraces eco-fashion through the use of its various local or smaller clothing brands. Online shopping is prominent within Indonesia with 230 million people out of its 270 million population being avid internet users, and small businesses very frequently take advantage of this by establishing their shops on apps such as Shoppee and Tokopedia instead of having a physical shop.
Indonesia’s small businesses -much like other smaller brands- are considerably more sustainable than fast fashion giants such as Shein or H&M. Smaller clothing brands are more likely to ethically produce their garments in smaller quantities due to the sheer size of their business. Production in smaller quantities reduces waste as it reduces the risk of overstocking which also contributes to the problem.
Another way Indonesia embraces sustainable fashion is through the growing popularity of thrifting. The younger generation seems to be the ones leading this trend in the fashion community. Thrifted clothes have become more popular arguably due to their Westernization. This authentic vintage 2000s clothing style has become the recent trend, and because the trend lies within the authenticity of its time, fast fashion simply cannot replicate it.
The rise of thrifting in Indonesia stems from 2000s clothing but has since grown to replace the uniformity that Indonesian teens and others all around the world once followed. Thrifting allows individuals to have that sense of individuality emanate simply from the clothes they wear, this personality which was diminished the moment fast fashion gradually began to take over. But with thrifting, we can gain that personality back through the interesting and creative garments made in the 2000s, these pieces do not have the same exact style, and the personalities of these garments vary drastically, unlike most fast fashion clothing items. And unlike fast fashion garments, thrifted clothing or vintage clothing was made to last. This is because, during the period these older garments were made, manufacturers actually focused on the quality of their clothing. Meaning, that these older pieces were made out of natural fibers instead of synthetic fibers which is considerably cheaper but lasts a shorter amount of time.
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