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Fast Fashion Overconsumption Solution for the VT Community

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2024-05-01

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Abstract

We researched the growth of the fast fashion industry, as well as the externalities pertaining to fast fashion and overconsumption. Our group defined fast fashion as the mass production of garments using cheap materials and labor to sell articles at lower prices due to increased demand. Both online shopping and social media have an effect on the fast fashion industry. We found that increased demand for fast fashion often stems from social media trends, like influencer culture and increased trend overturn rates. Our group primarily focused on e-commerce, or online shopping, as shopping for fast fashion is more likely to be done online. Online manufacturers are able to more easily keep up with micro-trends and high demand. We identified many externalities associated with the overconsumption of fast fashion garments to keep up with trends. These externalities include the exploitation of workers through unsafe working conditions, transportation and manufacturing emissions, and garment waste. We conducted a survey to assess the knowledge and shopping trends in the Virginia Tech (VT) student community. Our survey revealed that although students buy clothing online via social media, the majority of students are unaware of the harmful effects of fast fashion. We aimed to address the VT student undergraduate community with our final deliverable of an app. We developed a prototype for a buy/sell/rent app for university students. Instead of buying clothing to be worn once from fast fashion companies, we aim to give students a hands-on alternative to buy or rent used clothing articles. We aimed to create a broad model of an app that, once successfully piloted at VT, can be used by campuses nationwide.

Description

This product is a learning artifact from the Spring 2024 semester of the Honors and UAP SuperStudio courses (UH-4504, UAP-4914, and UH-4514). Course instructors: Ralph Hall, Nikki Lewis, Anne-Lise Velez, and Daron Williams.

Keywords

Fashion, Sustainability, Fast Fashion, Consumerism, Overconsumption, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Greenwashing, E-commerce, Externality

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