Fast fashion leads to problems such as child labor and human trafficking. Mass consumption has removed this generation almost entirely from the manufacturing process – unlike previous generations, who would either know the tailor or fabric producer responsible for making their clothes, or make clothing themselves.

An unprecedented demand for clothing on a worldwide scale is resulting in global clothing brands’ making use of factory plants that are unethical in creation of their products. The first area that is being affected is the lives and health of the workers in factory plants supplying these retailers. In countries that engage in mass production, little is done to protect workers and underage persons employed by this sector. Women and young workers spend 14 hours a day in sweatshops.

Fast fashion is the process whereby products and designs move quickly from catwalks to stores and retailers. Brands buy material from Asian factories that are guilty of contaminating local rivers with carcinogenic run-off. The dyes used to color the clothing in businesses that specialize in fast fashion usually contain toxic chemicals such as nonylphenol.