What is That New Style of Jeans Worth to You?

From the first steps such as obtaining the materials to seeing the clothing in the store, the economics of fashion is a large part of the industry. When we walk into a clothing store today, we are usually looking for something specific with a certain type of fabric, specific size, and sometimes color or pattern. We aren’t typically thinking about how that item was made and the long process it had to go through to make it onto that clothing rack. These products are made nationwide and then are shipped out to stores in the U.S because they’re cheaper to produce or order from elsewhere or overseas. The fashion industry has generated many jobs and large amounts of money.

Employment Rises Due to the Fashion Industry

The fashion industry takes a lot to function, which is why many people now are involved in it. As more people get employed in the industry, the more profits the economy can make which we like as consumers. There is a wide range of jobs in the fashion industry such as the designer, the producer, the seller, and many more. Each person that works in the industry plays a very important role in it. The employees that work in specific stores usually get access to special promotions or discounts in exchange for working in that store. In 2021, the revenue generated by the industry was at $1.7 trillion dollars and “Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the fashion industry was estimated between $1.7 trillion and $2.5 trillion” (Euromonitor International, 2022 & McKinsey, 2019)

The Impact of Fast Fashion

In today’s world, it is common to order from fast fashion websites such as SHEIN . As soon as you enter the SHEIN website, you’re immediately greeted with a ton of sales and markdowns, and this is their way of marketing to us as consumers. Many consumers are attracted to those low prices, even if it means you need to wait a little longer to receive the products. Fast fashion has made a huge impact on the industry, specifically the apparel industry. Covid-19 also caused a spike in fast fashion because many people lost their jobs and weren’t having a consistent income and therefore had to buy cheaper clothes. These people also didn’t necessarily care about the quality of their clothes but just needed some new clothes that were inexpensive and easy to get. Fast fashion isn’t sustainable, but it has made a very positive impact on the economy as consumers love the idea of fast fashion. Some top fast fashion brands are:

• SHEIN
• Forever 21
• Primark

Sustainability in the Economy of Fashion

Sustainability is very important in the economy of the fashion industry. It is hard for companies to make clothes that are economically friendly while using the normal fabrics that they typically use. It would have to cost more to make those products because they would have to obtain all new materials to make the clothes that they don’t normally use and have mass produced. Companies like Rent the Runway offer a wide variety of dresses that you could easily rent and just send back. These types of companies benefit our economy since we can keep reusing the same product instead of producing more dresses, but this will never be the reality of clothing and consumption for clothes.?

How We Can Help Conserve the Fashion Industry

There are many different sites that you can visit online or stores that you can purchase from to help the economy. As consumers, we like to stay with our usual brands or stores that we purchase from but we should learn to be more economically friendly, even if this means purchasing from stores that we wouldn’t ordinarily purchase from.?

• Reconsider buying products from fast fashion websites or stores and look into stores like T.J. Maxx or Marshalls that offer nice clothes at a more affordable price.
• You could go into the nicer thrift stores and you might get lucky finding nice clothing and you could just wash it and it’s almost brand new.

References:

Global Fashion Industry Statistics. FashionUnited. (n.d.). https://fashionunited.com/global-fashion-industry-statistics ?

The economic impact of the Fashion Industry. Fashinnovation. (2021, June 10). https://fashinnovation.nyc/the-economic-impact-of-the-fashion-industry/