It’s essential, an essential that we need it. It’s changing with time, it’s cheap, it’s luxurious and it’s fast.
Yes, another blog with another industry.
It’s the fashion industry, an industry that never dies as long as humans exist.
Hey, you beautiful people welcome back, long time, I hope you are doing well and am sending a lot of hugs and positivity to all of you.
We often talk about it, see it in fashion shows, malls, and even in commercials, so why not talk about it as a whole industry.
The fashion industry as we know it today has been there for a very long time.
For a very long time, fashion has played an integral part in humankind.
And had a lot of different purposes right from covering naked bodies to even making a social status and expressing oneself.
But as the world is evolving faster and better with the rise of the internet and has shaped up the way we think, the fashion industry has also shifted its gears and has become a staple.
It has become an important element in our lives.
We are drawn to it that we constantly see fashion in every medium right from ads to social media that just makes us buy more even though we don’t need it.
It has become a ritual.
Social media has not just changed the way we communicate, but also changed the way we think.
The fashion industry has also shaped up with the rise of social media.
And adds fast fashion trends, brands like Zara, H&M use the power of social media to persuade more consumers, eventually leading to generate more sales.
Just like any other industry, the fashion industry is also filled with controversies and scandals.
Marketing and media have been trying to expose the scandals but despite endless efforts, capitalism might win the battle.
Also Read:- How Big Is The Advertising Industry?
Before going on a shopping spree, find out the dirty secrets about the fashion industry as this post is filled with a lot of secrets about the industry.
10 Facts About The Fashion Industry:-
Sit back and relax cause this one will be an interesting ride filled with a lot of secrets and controversies about this fascinating industry, the fashion industry.
Fast fashion brings new trends every week:-
Well, it’s fast for a reason.
Most of the brands such as ASOS, Zara, H&M are leading fast fashion companies and are trendsetters when it comes to street styles.
That’s why most of the people shop at these fast fashion stores cause it’s filled with a lot of clothes at an affordable price and they manage to get your cash and heartbeat over and over again.
These fast fashion brands change their collections almost weekly constantly getting new designs and clothes so that they can grab eyeballs and make people buy more.
And this strategy is known as fast fashion eventually destroying our planet with cheap bad quality clothing made in developing countries at a low cost and sell it at a higher price.
So, keep this in mind before giving them money.
100 billion items of clothing are produced every year:-
This one is shocking.
The fashion industry is a major industry that is causing major environmental problems.
Overproduction and overconsumption are the two worst sides of the fashion industry.
Over the past twenty years, after all, the world is growing at an incredible speed, clothing production and consumption have doubled, yet consumers shop and buy more clothes despite not having a need.
According to a research report, a mind-boggling 100 billion clothing items are produced annually that’s nearly 14 items for every person on this planet.
More and more influencers are starting their fashion brands:-
There’s no doubt that the internet has shaped up the world.
It has paved the way for opportunities and has diversified a new breed of celebrity also known as, “Social media influencers.”
It has bought in the spotlight for a generation of celebrities right from bloggers, vloggers, and social media influencers who have millions of followers and everything they advertise sells out quickly.
Either they can start a political movement or raise their voice on social issues.
But on the side, since they have contacts and networks with the beauty and fashion world as they endorse and buy products often, they have good insights into what people want?
This way more celebrities, influencers, and bloggers can go one step ahead and start their fashion line or even collaborate with fashion companies that are selling like crazy.
Prime examples are Kylie Jenner, Rihanna and we want to look like them and we buy their products to look like them and in false hope.
1 in 6 people in the world works in the fashion industry:-
The fashion industry is huge and complex. It employs 1 in 6 people worldwide which includes some of the highest and lowest paid individuals.
There are key players in the fashion industry such as Bernard Arnault, founder, and CEO of LVMH- the parent company of Louie Vuitton and Amancio Ortego, the founder of Inditex- the parent company of Zara.
These companies are massive in terms of size and net worth.
But on the other spectrum, garment workers and farmers are employed by these companies.
Fast fashion employs millions of people in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and other developing nations and lacks adequate protections for the environment and workers.
It’s estimated that over 80% of the workforce in the fashion industry are women.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shortened the wealth gap in the industry.
Many upcoming orders were canceled and payments were stopped all without taking any responsibility.
According to a report conducted by the Garment worker diaries, only 3% of Bangladeshi workers are eating an adequate amount of food due to less payment and median working hours dropped from over 250 to 43.
93% of brands are not paying their garment workers a living wage:-
Yes, you read that right.
According to a survey conducted by Fashion Checker, 93% of the brands aren’t paying their garment workers a living wage.
And only 5 of the 250 biggest brands surveyed in the 2020 Fashion Transparency Index, “publish a time-bound, measurable roadmap, or strategy for how they’ll achieve a proper living wage for all the workers across their supply chains.”
Well, a living wage is important.
Earning a sufficient amount of living wage for living and affording a decent life is a basic right.
It’s recognized by the UN as a fundamental basic right.
The fashion industry is criticized a lot for not paying their wages a decent amount of money.
A lot of models died due to starving themselves into 90-60-90 measurement:-
Shocking!!
It seems a dream job, being a model.
Tall height, good looks, chiseled body, walking on the ramp, wearing designers clothes every day.
We see models every day in magazines, fashion shows, and on social media.
But what people don’t see is the reality.
Becoming a model is not easy as it requires following extreme dieting, a lot of workouts, and extreme dedication to get chosen.
A few models have collapsed on the runway, and even from malnutrition dehydration, and exhaustion during months of constant working.
And this is the dark phase and reality of the modeling and glamour world.
Looks shiny from the outside, from the inside it’s filled with dark secrets.
But still, big fashion brands select features and extremely skinny girls which eventually makes body shaming a real problem of our century.
The fashion industry is responsible for serious environmental damage:-
There’s no doubt that the fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries.
According to a report conducted by the UN, fashion was responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions in 2019, which is more than all the international flights and maritime shipping combined.
Plus the textile industry is also responsible for 24% of insecticide use and 11% of pesticide use.
By 2030, the apparel industry’s climate impact will increase by 49% which means that the fashion industry alone will emit 4.9 metrics of gigatons of CO2 which is nearly equal to today’s annual US greenhouse emissions.
The fashion industry is seriously causing environmental damage.
3D printing technology is the future of the fashion industry:-
Technology has helped a lot of industries to change and become fast.
Become more productive right from machines that self embroidery clothing to ironing or securing buttons eventually saving a lot of time and manual work.
One such innovation is 3D printing as it’s just nailing the world and various industries.
Even the fashion industry is adopting the technology as these machines can use plastic and other materials to shape up almost anything to everything such as creating a new field for the fashion industry and allowing them to use cutting edge technology.
It’s already catching the trend if this technology is implemented properly with the right guidance then this will help the fashion industry a lot as we’ll wear clothes made out the technology and will cause less pollution.
The hashtag OOTD is the most used in fashion:-
The rise of social media and the internet, in general, has pushed the boundaries for various industries.
The fashion industry goes hand in hand. It’s like a married couple, always together.
We see it daily, bloggers and vloggers promoting fashion brands.
You can’t browse the web without being targeted by some company that wants to sell you something.
So, for all the fashionistas and fashion enthusiasts out there, there’s a special place where you can find inspiration and be discovered.
That place is the OOTD hashtag.
This is a particular hashtag where you can find a curated collection of outfits from people across the globe.
OOTD stands for Outfit of the day.
People feel like models by showing their day-to-day outfits.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain will shape up the fashion industry:-
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies are just starting as they are just changing the way we think about financial transactions.
We are starting to gain awareness.
Despite scams and fear of governments, this technology is storming and yes, it’s the future of everything and will cover major industries as they offer transparency and are decentralized.
In the fashion industry, blockchain can be used to track every move and process right from the production of clothing to distribution.
Tags from items could be scanned to pull out the history of the supply chain behind each item including names and profile pictures of specific products whose coats were sheared to each clothing item.
CSI style tracking and could help in abolishing modern-day slavery and will help in finding flaws in the system that are difficult to track at this time.
Check out my blog post on cryptocurrencies to know more about this mind-blowing technology by clicking on the link below.
Also Read:- Cryptocurrency:- Is this the future of the Internet or basically everything
So, that’s a wrap, 10 facts about the fashion industry. Questions,
What’s your favorite brand?
How many clothes do you buy?
Let me know in the comments below.
And I have been active on Instagram where I am writing and sharing my thoughts and stories. Do catch me on Instagram(@pranayrankawriter)
Oh!! You’re still here of course you do. So, here’s a,
Bonus:-
*Jeans are made out of water:-
Shocking!! The denim we wear is made out of water. Around 7000 gallons of water are used to make perfect jeans. This is causing water scarcity as so much water is used just to make a pair of jeans. The fashion industry is ruining the environment and is making the world waterless.
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