Is fast fashion immoral? A documentary shown on TV last night accuses Boohoo of treating the people who make its clothes shamefully, despite vowing that it would do better.
Boohoo breaks promises on ethics says BBC
Is fast fashion immoral? A documentary shown on TV last night accuses Boohoo of treating the people who make its clothes shamefully, despite vowing that it would do better.
The programme opens with dramatic music. "I'm undercover at the headquarters of fashion giant Boohoo," says BBC reporter Emma Lowther. "The company's built its reputation on selling cheap, on-trend clothes. Boohoo's been criticised for its pursuit of low prices. It promised to change." Her conclusion? It had not.
In July 2020 The Sunday Times reported that workers in a LeicesterA city in England's East Midlands region. factory making clothes for Boohoo were being paid as little as £3.50 an hour. Asos and Next dropped Boohoo products as a result.
Later that year the company made a promised to pay suppliers fairly. It also promised to give them a reasonable amount of time to produce clothes.
But Emma Lowther found there was constant pressure at Boohoo to drive prices down. This involved lying to suppliers and making them accept less money than originally agreed.
Boohoo had also cut the time it allowed the suppliers to make the clothes, to as little as six weeks.
Boohoo has denied the allegationsClaims of wrongdoing. . But people who believe fast fashion is wrong will see the documentary as ammunition.
One survey1 found that on average fast-fashion clothes were worn only seven times. Another2 found that people on average buy 60% more clothes than 15 years ago. They also bin them twice as quickly.
The industry produces around 10% of global carbon emissionsWhen a gas is let off from something, like a car, it is an emission. Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming..3 It also uses up precious natural resources and causes dangerous pollution.
But in an article for Forbes, Brooke Roberts-Islam argues that expensive brands are trying to put all the blame on cheaper ones. In fact they are equally to blame for all these problems.
And writing in Spiked, James Woodhuysen says that criticism of fast fashion is fuelled by snobberyLooking down on others with a believed lower wealth or social position. . We should welcome the fact that for the first time, billions of people across the world can buy up-to-date clothes cheaply.
<h5 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper" id="question"><strong>Is fast fashion immoral?</strong></h5>
Yes: It is incredibly wasteful and does enormous damage to the environment. The people who work in it are often cruelly exploited, earning low wages and enduring dangerous conditions.
No: It is great that people who could not previously afford fashionable clothes can buy them so cheaply. And the fact that more clothes are being bought creates employment and fuels economic growth.
Or... It is only immoral if you do not wear the clothes you buy or throw them away. Fashion is cyclical, so you should hang on to the ones that you have, knowing that their time will come again.
Leicester - A city in England's East Midlands region.
Allegations - Claims of wrongdoing.
Carbon emissions - When a gas is let off from something, like a car, it is an emission. Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.
Snobbery - Looking down on others with a believed lower wealth or social position.
Boohoo breaks promises on ethics says BBC

Glossary
Leicester - A city in England's East Midlands region.
Allegations - Claims of wrongdoing.
Carbon emissions - When a gas is let off from something, like a car, it is an emission. Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.
Snobbery - Looking down on others with a believed lower wealth or social position.