Back in the 1990s, when I first entered the stage in the fashion industry, it was amazing to be in the Los Angeles fashion scene. Breaking into the industry is not always about what you know, but instead who you know.
For me, skills and years of experience was extremely helpful once I landed the job. However, if it wasn't by a chance encounter, at a most random place, with a business owner of a small dress manufacturer, perhaps my path would have been quite different.
After the meeting, I was offered an opportunity that launched my career and for that I will be forever grateful.
I worked in the design room, where the process initiates. The whole process was quite impressive. All the moving parts, and it all started from a design, the first pattern, and the first sample. I loved my job, it literally was a dream come true for me. Each person in the process did their best to make the garment as beautiful as possible.
I quickly learned that the fashion business isn't all design and runway shows. It's about taking a design, turning it into a pattern that is cut into fabric, and then having a sample maker understand the cut pieces, and sew it together without any instructions.
Now what about the fit? Does it fit a model who is a standard size in the market you are designing for? How many fittings, how many tries, the cost for the perfect fit. Then adjusting the pattern every tiny fraction of an inch to get it just right. Now, will it appeal to the customer/boutique owner who is ordering a size run for their store...which wouldn't be known for 6 weeks or longer.
Time to make that production pattern in all the sizes 2 - 12. How many pieces per pattern? Sometimes more than 20 when you consider lining and interlining...all need to be graded from a size 8 into the other sizes. Now the Grader grades the perfectly fitting production pattern onto manila paper and sometimes there are hundreds of pieces (for dresses the pieces are quite long, large, and heavy).
After that it goes to a company who makes a marker where all the pattern pieces are laid onto dotted paper that is the width of the fabric that will be cut. Each size is laid out onto the paper, making sure the grainlines are set perfectly, and to have the least amount of fabric waste when the pieces are cut out. These markers give an exact amount of fabric needed per size. The marker then gets photocopied, like a blue print, but its on a role of paper that is 48 - 60" wide and can go on for 20-50 yards. This marker copy is what is used when cutting out the sizes for each style, keeping the original marker for future orders.
When it is time for cutting, the fabric is rolled onto the table, layer upon layer, based on the customer orders and the different colors and sizes that were ordered. The cutter will hand cut or they will use a machine to manually guide a blade that cuts out layers of fabric pieces with great precision. Any imperfect cut can significantly alter the fit of the item when sewn, which would be a huge problem down the line.
After the fabric pieces are cut and placed into very large bags per size, the production team will deliver the cut pieces to the in-house sewers (mainly for very small lots), or to a sewing contractor company who will sew the items. They are given a sample with any pertinent instructions and measurements. We hired sewers or sewing contractors that were experienced in dresses made with fine fabrics, and who understood sewing techniques specific to the industry.
Oftentimes during each delivery season, we would need to have up to 100 garments sewn for about 10 different styles. The sewing contractor would bring a sample of their work, so that we could fit the garment again and make sure everything is in order before they continue to sew the lot. All the thread, zippers, buttons, and any trim is also provided to the sewing contractor and needed to be purchased in advance.
All of our sewing contractors were Los Angeles based. The only thing that was produced overseas was the fabric that was used. We would purchase the greige goods, which was fabric ready for the dying process. Every season, about 5 colors were created to produce the dresses. The fabric was dyed in Los Angeles, to our color standard, which can take weeks to approve. Sometimes the fabric would get delayed for various reasons and then it would be a frantic rush to complete orders before the delivery dates to the clothing boutiques. To see hundreds of dresses come in from the sewing contractors, ready to be tagged and bagged for shipping was a sight to behold.
Everything was made locally within walking distance, or a short drive away. There was quality control at every step...it was all fine handcraftsmanship, every step of the way. Nothing was made by a computer or a machine back then.
****
Then came NAFTA... when much of U.S. manufacturing was sent overseas for cheap labor, and when fast fashion was born. Everything was produced faster, cheaper, unethically, and for mass profit.
For twenty years, I didn't give it much thought, other than seeing how everything in the stores was now made in China or overseas somewhere. Back in the 1990's, we didn't think about putting Made in California on our label. Most of the manufacturing from small and mid-size brands was made locally back then.
While working in Los Angeles, I remember hearing about local factory raids. Inspectors made sure that every single person who worked for the sewing contractors was "legally" able to do so. If not the factory was shut down. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Unethical business practices were not tolerated and were against the law.
So NAFTA took care of that, manufacturing was sent overseas, where there was little oversight, and the fashion-for-profit-only became a big business. Cheaply made clothes, with toxic fabrics, in unsafe factories, shipped to the USA for mass consumption. Clothing that we once appreciated and invested in, now is clothing that doesn't fit and is trashed after one wear or wash. Heaps and heaps of clothing sitting in trash dumps all around the world because of fast fashion. Fast fashion clothing made with non-biodegradable fabrics that will sit forever, breaking down into finer pollutants that gets into our soil, water supply, and into our blood streams. Studies have proven fast-fashion garments are unhealthy to produce and wear, and have forever chemicals in them including lead. Think about how the entire supply chain is affected by this toxic industry, from fabric producers, to sewers, to consumers, from infants to adults. Fast fashion that goes out of fashion so fast that nobody even wants to buy at the Goodwill. Why, because it sucks and its made poorly and falls apart as soon as you touch it.
Think about it.
So 20 years later, fast fashion companies compete with reputable slow fashion and locally made brands. Who prospers from fast fashion?
Those who sell these fast fashion clothes are part of the problem. From conglomerate on-line entities around the world to big box stores to brick and mortar, and even small on-line clothing boutiques are responsible for contributing to the pollution of our environment. Manufacturers around the globe that mass produce their clothes overseas are responsible for contributing to the pollution of our environment. Consumers are also responsible for contributing to the pollution of our environment for purchasing fast fashion.
Instant gratification fashion outfits are cheap and meaningless and a big waste of money. They really bring no sense of value to an ever changing world. Instead fast fashion contributes to the health of our environment in a very bad way.
What about fast fashion today? A human being is still sewing your clothing, only do we know if it's child labor, slave labor, and are they working in safe places, treated ethically and with dignity, and are they being paid a living wage? Upon investigation there are many overseas unethical factories producing fast fashion with workers not getting paid a living wage while working in unsafe places, and sewing with cheap, toxic fabrics.
This is what slow and locally made fashion brands are up against. Slow fashion brands that have ethical practices, who pay their workers a fair living wage, and use natural non-toxic fabrics are competing with fast fashion whether you like it or not. Consumers are more apt to spend less and get a good deal, than invest in timeless pieces that will stay fashionable and are made to last for years to come.
There it is in a nutshell; what fast fashion means to me. Fast fashion has taken over the fashion world, and has given fashion a bad reputation.
Choices can be made however, even if it starts slowly. Slow and steady will win the race, eventually. Slow fashion and locally made products are made with intention to positively impact the consumer and the environment and to bring awareness to the crisis of fast fashion.
All I ask is that you think before you make your next purchase, and look at the label and think about what you are putting on your body and what your are contributing to with your purchase.