It may sound like an exaggeration, but Americans’ relationship with fast fashion is nothing short of addictive.
A House of Representatives report on fast fashion released last year estimated that 30% of packages shipped to the US under the demi-minimum clause (those valued at less than $800 and therefore not subject to import duties) likely came from Shein and Temu, two big-box stores that sell cheap, disposable clothing in bulk.
In a shrinking shopping hub where everything can be had for $10 or $1,000, clothes sold by online retailers and mall regulars like Forever 21, Brandy Melville and Zara have become a reliably cheap thrill buy.But like any addiction, mountains of information about the environmental, health and human rights dangers of these clothes don’t seem to deter consumers.
In the European Union, especially in France, leaders have introduced legislation to encourage fashion brands to adopt sustainable practices and encourage consumers to do the same. But in the U.S., such regulatory action seems like a distant dream. The closest we’ve come is a bipartisan effort to exclude China from de minimis trade, which would make Shein’s prices significantly higher. It’s part of a larger effort to scrutinize Chinese-owned companies operating in the U.S., such as TikTok, and some critics have charged it as Sinophobia.
It seems Congress is now poised to act. The Slow Fashion Caucus, announced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) in partnership with Patagonia and ThredUp, is dedicated to spreading awareness and creating legislation that will move us towards more sustainable and thoughtful ways of shopping and dressing.
“Let’s be honest, climate change is an abstract concept for people, and it’s often confusing, and there’s a lot of misinformation and disinformation out there,” Pingree said in a phone interview this week. “So people are often confused about what to believe. We’re using fashion to [it].”
She spoke about the caucus’s goals, why the issue deserves government support, and what she thinks about her colleagues’ efforts to curb Shain’s influence in America’s closet.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What does slow fashion mean to you? Your site contains information about fast fashion and its destructive power on the environment. Is slow fashion just the opposite of fast fashion or is it something broader?
I think the level of awareness towards all of this is important, which means using more sustainable fibres that last longer or are recyclable, and sometimes that even translates to sustainable agriculture, growing more fibres that are becoming harder to come by in this country, like wool, cotton and linen.
We also support a whole network of recycling and recycle options, whether that be online, at thrift stores, or even [reselling] More expensive clothing and work clothes [these are] Those ways of recycling and reusing. Repair is a big part of it. Treating clothes so that they last a lifetime, or a long time. In the old days, people repaired shoes, they repaired clothes. And there’s more interest in that, and more interest in the fashionability of having repaired clothes, and the small businesses that do that.
The entire recycling system in this country is broken. But fabric is one of the hardest things to recycle. [recycle] Because it’s hard to make the next fibers. In fact, so much of the fast fashion out there is literally fossil fuel-based. So even if you’re a young person who cares about climate change and uses reusable straws and believes in solar power, the clothes you wear and throw away can end up in the ocean as plastic or in a landfill as methane gas.
Why do you think so many people feel such a disconnect?
To be honest, climate change is an abstract concept for people, it is often confusing, there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation, and people are often confused about what to believe. [it]We all know that it’s better to have a water bottle than to reuse plastic bottles. There are many people who have never looked at the labels on their clothes and realized that they are wearing clothes made from plastic, or who have never thought about the fact that the things they may have taken to the thrift store bin were actually useless in the end. [sold]In many places, a lot of donated clothing ends up in landfills or is sent to other countries to end up in their own landfills or as toxic waste. Most people don’t think about the fact that if they buy polyester clothing, it could turn into plastic fragments and end up in the ocean if they throw it away.
It’s easier to adjust your food behavior or how you dispose of household waste than to say, “I need to be more careful about T-shirts and miniskirts.”
Maybe fashion is so tied to our self-image and how we look. I think there are all kinds of external factors involved. And the fact is, thrift stores have become more common, so if you love shopping and want to find that perfect outfit, you might still be able to find it at a thrift store or an online source that sells repurposed or reusable clothing. So, it’s still possible. That’s not to say you shouldn’t have fun with fashion.
We got caught up in [pull of]Instead of saying, “Oh, I got a bargain. I found this shirt for $6, or, oh, look at this super cheap outfit I just found,” say, “Oh, look at this great, durable blazer. I could own this and wear it to work for 10 years.”
What do you think about the Congressional effort to block clothing imports from Shein?
I’m the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee’s Interior Subcommittee, so I know a lot about recycling in this country. I’m also on the Agriculture Subcommittee, so I’m interested in the sustainable fabrics side of things. But we’re trying to work with our colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee over time. We’re looking at the little loopholes that Shein is taking advantage of. There are some people who are really interested in the importation of clothing that is made by child labor and exploitative labor. And I think these are all elements of this problem. This is not just a simple solution.
If we hadn’t fixed this tiny loophole, would Shein have had the opportunity to ship goods into our country in a way that really undermines not only American-made goods, but the entire textile and fashion industry?
What do you think it will take for people to break their addiction to fast fashion?
There are many things like this, but it’s important to start by raising awareness. Plastic straws are one example. I never thought that getting rid of plastic straws would reduce the real impact of climate change. But it’s interesting that as soon as it became a topic of conversation, people quickly switched to paper straws or reusable straws.
Fashion is a bit like that. They’re putting pressure on companies. They’re getting them to talk about where the fibers come from, who’s making these clothes, how they dispose of them, etc. We’ve been looking a lot at European legislation. It’s work in the EU and the UK. France is obviously one of the countries at the heart of the fashion world. They’re very much about the circular economy, and they have a lot of policies that say if you make these things, you should be responsible for what happens to your clothes when you no longer use them. They have a very innovative law where you literally get credits when you send your clothes in for repairs.
If you could be the first to push for one piece of legislation that would have a major impact on fast fashion, what would it be?
The biggest impact we can make is certainly to strengthen producer responsibility, as in a bill like the circular economy. This is very difficult because there is always pushback from industry. But ultimately, the way to solve the problem is to say this is not a consumer problem. This is a problem with companies that don’t feel responsible for how their products are disposed of.
And, and this is not my bill, I believe that this little loophole has opened a huge door for cheap synthetic-based fashion to come into this country on a scale that is unimaginable, especially with internet shopping and the way people access products these days.
Last question: What are you wearing today?
That’s a good question. You know, it’s too hot, but I took the photo wearing a wool blazer. [to wear outside]But I wanted to show off that I have a beautiful wool blazer that I’ve had the frayed elbows repaired, and now it looks almost new and no one will notice. Underneath is a cotton shirt I bought at ThredUp.
I could wear patched jeans and it was fine, but now I just wear black pants.
Did you patch it yourself?
I love mending. My daughter’s friends often ask me if I can mend their clothes. I like to make visible repairs, so they can kind of tell that I did it. I used to knit and crochet. I don’t have as much time now, but I always find time to mend things.
