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Bridget Lehnert

PHI 1700

May 25, 2014

The Costs of...Cost

Cline, author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion says: "The

products are very, very cheap. The design is pretty attractive. And if you walk into the store, I

think, for a lot of consumers, it's virtually impossible to walk out empty-handed."

Welcome to fast fashion -- fast fashion refers to low-cost clothing collections that mimic

current luxury fashion styles. Fast fashion companies such as Forever21, H&M, Zara, just to

name a few, all run on fast cycles: fast prototyping, small batches combined with large variety.

New trends are sourced and purchased on a weekly basis to introduce new items, replenish stock

and most importantly to keep customers coming back.

This might sound very appealing to all of us because who would want to spend $200 on a

dress when you can get a similar one for $30? However, there are many underlying issues and

also ethical concerns that come with this fast fashion phenomenon. And so, in this paper I will be

discussing some of its consequences, issues and ethical concerns from a utilitarian perspective

using three main consequences and driving forces: trends, materialism, and disposability.

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The first consequence and driving force I will be covering is trends. Fast fashion lives off

trends, without them fast fashion wouldn’t survive or even exist. This is because retailers source

new trends in the field, purchase on a weekly basis to introduce new items and replenish stock

(Tokatli and Kizilgun 2009). Because lower manufacturing and labor costs mean lower costs

overall, this leads to lower prices, which lead to higher volume. Retailers now need to ensure the

clothes sell since they are trend based, and probably won’t be on the shelves for too long. They

need to create a type of hype and trends revolving around the items they produced or purchased

with the help of marketing efforts, social media and reduced pricing (promotions). All of this in

turn makes the consumer feel the need to purchase these items, especially the fashionistas who

want to be ahead of the curve. This type of business exploits the young consumers with

disposable income or credit by offering them temporary and immediate gratification, which

keeps evolving. This in turn leads consumers to create temporary identities that follow what

these retailers forecast or set out to be.

How would a Utilitarian argue for trends and Fast Fashion?

Before we can begin discussing if trends and fast Fashion aren’t ethical, we need to establish

what makes something ethical or unethical. Utilitarianism holds that the proper course of action

is the one that maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain. This means that we should choose the

best best consequences to maximize happiness. According to Mill, there are three regions of

liberty: 1. freedom of conscience; 2. freedom of taste and pursuits, 3. freedom of assembly.

How do trends/fast fashion maximize happiness?

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Mill would argue that trends and fast fashion maximize pleasure because it promotes

individuality and expression of one self. Does it matter if a piece costs $10 or $50 if it looks and

gives us the same gratification? Additionally, fast fashion promotes happiness for those who fall

in the lower income bracket and simply can’t afford the higher end clothing. Should these people

deprived of fashion and stylish options because of this? Additionally, trends and fast fashion

helps us project who we are to the world because we now more than ever have more options and

styles to choose from.

Trends can also tell us a lot about a certain type of community, people and even era.

Sometimes, we join a trend bandwagon because we want to associate ourselves with a type of

group of people, or we want to make a statement. Take for example, the hippies, the punks, the

goths, the hipsters -- this in a way is some sort of form of assembly but also expressing what you

believe in.

According to both Bentham and Mill, Utilitarianism is considered to be a hedonistic

approach only if the results of an action do not directly cause a negative impact on others, which

is called the harm principle. In chapter 1 of “On Liberty”, Mill says: “That the only purpose for

which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his

will, is to prevent harm to others.” If we use this as a guiding principle in deciding whether fast

fashion and trends are ethical, Mill would say that it is because it isn’t causing direct harm to any

member of your community. It doesn’t prevent another person from purchasing a higher end

product and it also doesn’t interfere with the lives of those who don’t wish to pursue trends.

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How can Utilitarianism be used to argue against Fast Fashion and trends?

Since fast fashion lives off trends, they need to be sold in a quick matter before the newer

ones replenish the shelves. This in turn leads to a lot of marketing efforts but thanks to social

media, fashionistas and bloggers, this has become all the more easier. This in turn results in

creating a desire, an uncontrollable want or need for things people don’t necessarily really want

or need. Another problem with trends is that it creates always evolving temporary identities.

A utilitarian might argue that it doesn’t really matter, as long as it makes us happy but the

definition of happiness is too broad. There are different definitions of what happiness consists of

and nobody established what happiness means for the Utilitarian.

Additionally, as Mill mentions in “On Liberty” there are different types of pleasures, higher and

lower pleasures and believes there’s a difference between quantity vs. quality. One could argue

that fast fashion clothing might be a lower pleasure and a higher one would be to purchase higher

end clothing, or products you love for the sake of loving it.

There’s also a difference between intrinsic and instrumental value -- do fast fashion consumers

shop for the sake of the product (intrinsic) or do they shop for the sake of simply owning it, or to

post it on their social media sites, or to make a statement?

Mill also has strong opinions on individuality and says that it is one of the elements of

well-being. One should own a personal opinion, not borrow thoughts/opinions, and create your

own, in part. One could then argue that if you are constantly being forced or brainwashed to

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buying into trends, then you aren’t really forming your own identity, but merely copying and

creating different notions of self. As Binkley (2008:602) argues, the idea of “multiple selves in

evolution” is central to fast fashion lovers.

Lastly, there’s the issue of the marginal utility, meaning where and when do we stop

measuring the consequences, happiness, and pain. If we took Singer’s approach, we would have

to consider not just our community, but the rest of the world. If the entire world consumed to

keep up with trends, traditional attire, culture and identities might disappear completely.

Then there’s the issue of materialism and mass consumption, to which fast fashion is a

contributor of. The definition of consumption in its classical economical context can be summed

up in the saying "supply creates its own demand" (Ekelund & Hébert 1990, pp. 154-157). The

era of mass consumption can be characterized by increase in consumption and birth of fashion.

Fashion has become more than establishing your class, people now acquire goods just to

consume hedonistically.This means, that the consumer is never satisfied, but constantly seeks out

novelties and tries to satisfy the urge to consume. Fast fashion allows people to consume more

because it is cheaper and most of the time they aren’t doing it for the sake of loving the product,

but are constantly seeking out to live a certain lifestyle and to simply consumer more. Again,

happiness hasn’t been defined by the Utilitarian, and so, to say that constantly seeking the new,

the novelties, the luxuries in life makes a person a happy isn’t correct.

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Then there’s the issue of disposability, heritage, quality, beauty and art. Cheap, trend

based clothes have no value or not much at least. Trends are in and then out a few weeks, maybe

months later and they are cheap, so they probably won’t even last that long to begin with. Back

in the day, people used to have a few key items and keep them for years -- I look at my mom’s

closet and see it first hand. However, this disposability cheapens the beauty, art, and craft of

fashion. Hermes is famous for their beautifully crafted pieces because of the skill, craft and

labour that gets put into it. Their customers don’t mind waiting months and even years for a

specific bag. Whereas, fast fashion is made to fade and fall apart after the famous ten washes. It

also cheapens the craft of a well stitched item, the beautiful pattern of a bag, the material and

hard work that gets put into it because fast fashion doesn’t rely on great craftsmanship or art. The

products are produced by factory line workers, with little skill or knowledge on how to make

clothes, with poor conditions (usually). Fast fashion promotes this type of disposability because

they need consumers to keep coming back after ten washes, they need trends and they train

consumers to do so too.

As we can see, the arguments for and against fast fashion from a utilitarian perspective

are equally strong. Since all of our decisions, even ethical ones, are based on the want for

happiness, we need a clear definition of what happiness is. To some it means constantly

searching for the next thing, to others a life needs to be meaningful and to some it means

reaching a state of ataraxia, a state of tranquility, characterized by ongoing freedom from distress

and worry.

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With that said, using my own definition of happiness, I do believe fast fashion is

unethical -- fast fashion as it is defined above, doesn’t promote happiness. It’s intentions aren’t

to promote happiness or individuality even though it may seem that way. Fast fashion’s aim is to

sell and to keep selling.

I don’t, however, believe that luxury or higher end brands are the solution either. I for

sure won’t and also can’t spend a few hundred bucks on a purse for the sake of owning an item. I

do, however, enjoy fashion and the way it makes me feel. There needs to be a middle ground

between fast fashion and luxury brands. There needs to be soul, beauty and craftsmanship behind

the products without the exclusivity. So, yes, I believe in affordable clothing but not the other

costs that come with it.

Sources

Binkley, S. 2008. “Liquid Consumption.” Cultural Studies 22(5): 599–623.

Chan, R. Fast Fashion, Sustainability, and the Ethical Appeal of Luxury Brands. Fashion

Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, 273-296.

Cline, E. L. (2012). Overdressed: the shockingly high cost of cheap fashion. : Penguin.

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Ekelund, Jr., Robert B.; Hébert, Robert F. (1990). A History of Economic Theory and

Method. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company.

Mill, J. S. (199). On liberty. Raleigh, N.C.: Alex Catalogue.

Mill, J. S. (199). Utilitarianism. Raleigh, N.C.: Alex Catalogue.

Tokatli, N. and O. Kizilgun. 2009. “From Manufacturing Garments for Ready to Wear to

Designing Collections: Evidence from Turkey.” Environment and Planning 41: 146–62

Zarroli, J. (n.d.). In Trendy World Of Fast Fashion, Styles Aren't Made To Last. NPR.

Retrieved May 26, 2014, from http://www.npr.org/2013/03/11/174013774/in-trendy-world-of-

fast-fashion-styles-arent-made-to-last