With the development of new technologies and with generational change – fashion has also changed. The way we buy and perceive the fashion industry, trends, and style. And also how clothes are created and sold. Thanks to social media, certain rules and barriers that have prevailed in this industry so far have been broken. Fashion is not so elitist and local. Today a French resident can wear the same thing as an American. Both can dress in the same way as a celebrity they like from London or another part of the world. Thanks to chain stores, styles straight from the catwalks are available to the average consumer at very affordable prices. They are not clothes of such good quality, but they certainly fulfill their main role: they allow consumers to follow trends that change faster and faster.

Dark sides of fashion

Fashion democratization also has its dark sides – for fashion to be available to billions of people around the world – it must be produced faster and cheaper. Textiles, i.e., the materials from which our clothes are made, are often created with the participation of toxic compounds. They have a negative impact on the health of people working in textile factories, but also of consumers. They also negatively affect the natural environment: poisoning air and water in the production and washing processes. In addition to toxic substances, there is still a problem of using cheap labor to produce our clothes – both textiles and final products.

Working for several dozen dollars a month, in often dangerous conditions, is the everyday life of hundreds of thousands of people. The democratization of fashion also affects the consumer, to whom chain stores offer the same clothes, eliminating individuality from the streets and imposing a quick change of wardrobe. Brands invite consumers to keep shopping, thus increasing the amount of clothing thrown away. Young people are increasingly asking the origin of the clothes they wear and whether companies follow the values ​​they proclaim. That is why clothing manufacturers include in their strategies improvement of work quality in factories with which they cooperate, elimination of toxins from fabrics, and recycling.

The Green Peace NGO has created the “Deter my Fashion” program, monitoring the activities of the largest fashion companies in this field. Startups are also emerging, But the growing demands of consumers include not only ethical behavior. Online and offline brands are part of their lifestyle. They expect a shopping experience that will not only be very pleasant but will enrich your life on a spiritual, emotional, intellectual, or physical level. This will justify the money spent on products.