Does consumerism feed the fashion industry?


Fashion these days is a really big deal worldwide. As we watch cultures influence the style we wear, we also seem to follow it on a global scale. Things such as New York fashion week, and who wore what dress to the golden globes have become a really large part of mainstream media. However, fashion wasn't always sought after, especially not in the U.S.

Before the 1900's clothing was hand-made. Fashion and clothing as a whole was not an activity in which you could go shopping at the mall for a new look. People made clothes so that they would have something to wear. It was done out of a practical sense. However, by the beginning of the 20th century there was the rise of the Industrial Revolution, and with that thousands of new inventions to make one's life easier. These new technologies, such as the sewing machine, led to the rise of Capitalism in our country. Factories began sprouting up quickly through the country, and assembly lines became more common because people wanted to buy things. Life no longer seemed like something you survived through but was also something of a comfort. As factories increased the number of retail and department stores increased leading to our country's consumer habitats that we now hold today.

After WWII, the U.S. wanted to return to the simpler times when life would feel easy, and with all the new technologies that were popping up such as, increased usage of cars, radios, refrigerators, people bought into this idea of "more stuff = better life". This theme is simply applied to fashion too. To feel comfortable and secure in one's life has more items and things makes one feel like they are not just trying to get buy. Ans business understood this so production has kept rising within our country.

https://www.britannica.com/art/fashion-industry
https://www.historycrunch.com/history-of-consumerism.html
https://www.businessoffashion.com/education/collection/fashion-history

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 26, 2019 at 1:18 AM

    Cool post Kayra! This topic is especially relevant with Earth Day just a few days ago, as fast fashion is one of, if not the most wasteful industries in America. However, I think it's difficult to assess economically on an encompassing scale. I believe that the marginal utilities of clothing is different for each person, and thus results in different levels of consumerism. Overall however, I agree with the overall consensus that production is grossly rising. Maybe more people are getting more utils from fashion now!

    https://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/fashion-clothing-industry/economics-clothing

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 26, 2019 at 2:42 AM

    The fashion industry is indeed extremely wasteful. Many high end brands often throw away or burn left over stock in order to product their product. How does this work? There is a point where consumers do not purchase products because it doesn't satisfy their utility threshold. The left over stock remains untouched unless the price is dropped-- which may incentivize people to purchase it. However, high end brands are reluctant to do this. Dropping the price makes their product seem of lesser value than it originally was priced, which is not what they want to present their products like so. For example, Burberry burnt $38 million dollars worth of product in 2017. Another example is H&M. H&M burned over 60 tons of new and unsold product since 2013.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviapinnock/2018/07/20/no-one-in-fashion-is-surprised-burberry-burnt-28-million-of-stock/#296e747d4793

    ReplyDelete

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