Lifestyle

Fast fashion trend in Singapore

According to a survey by Channel NewsAsia (Chia, 2016), every 1000 Singaporeans purchase an average of 34 pieces of new clothing and discard 27 pieces of previously-owned clothing each year.

          Fast Fashion refers to the trend of new styles of clothing being mass-manufactured frequently and “meant to be worn less than 1 times” (McAfee et al, 2004). Clothes are designed to be cheaper versions of high-end fashion pieces. As the second consumer demand-heavy country for clothing since 2008 (The German Chamber Network, 2008), Singaporeans have higher tendencies to follow mainstream trends and demand for more clothing products that are set by Fast Fashion (Mallin, 2013). With increasing competition, brands are mass-producing new styles more frequently (Bain, 2015). Fast Fashion has triggered impulse-buying of clothes that are priced at more affordable rates (Baker, 2016). Furthermore, Fast Fashion marketers promote an ideal personality through their clothes (McDowell, 2013), appealing to the Singaporean consumer who wants to highlight his or her individuality. Encouraged to make bulk purchases such as “buy 3 get 1 free” instead of buying what they really need (To, 2016), Singaporean consumers have a tendency to follow the trend, and therefore are encouraged to buy more than what they actually wear.
          Following in-trend fashion styles displayed at shopping malls and the media, young Singaporean consumers are less likely to see that their existing clothes can be adapted to create stylish looks. Instead, they opt to maintain individuality by purchasing more clothes, due to increasing affordability of clothing and perceived convenience of buying them (Morgan & Birtwistle, 2009; Laitala, 2014). As more clothes are ‘created to be replaced’ under the concept of Fast Fashion, the more likely people are to purchase a lot of clothes on impulse, without considering if it is a need or want. With increased apathy towards pre-loved apparels, they can discard unwanted clothes without considering other solutions that prolong their clothing usage.

          Fast Fashion trends in Singapore have increased the convenience for consumers to purchase and wear clothes. However, such Fast Fashion clothing tend to be devalued for its quick wear-and-tear and low adaptability to new fashion trends, thereby increasing the rates of disposal (Morgan & Birtwistle, 2009). The average consumer is now purchasing 60 percent more items of clothing compared to 2000, but each garment is kept half as long.

#mass materialism and consumerism

 

Singaporeans’ low environmental commitment

Research has shown that Singaporeans are still reliant on “stiff penalties” to be personally motivated in environmental commitment (Tan, 2016). Hence, Singaporeans do not prioritise environmentally-friendly options in their clothing choices despite an increasing need for environmentally-friendly labels (Heng, 2016).

Throwaway nation

The dumpster at condominiums are common wardrobes for clothes and shoes that are stowed away hardly worn. Cherryann-Lynn Santos, 36, is a domestic helped who started working for a family in Singapore nine years ago. “We find clothes and shoes that are still brand-new because they still have price tags,” the Filipino maid says.

Fast consumption is not only a problem around clothes, but also other things like toys, bags, household appliances and furniture which are made of lots of textiles as well. In 2015, Singapore generated 7.67 million tonnes of waste – enough to fill 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. This figure is just a little under the record 7.85 million tonnes discarded in 2013. Today, something does not have to be broken for it to be deemed unusable. Old couches, for example, are more often replaced than reupholstered. When something is genuinely damaged or broken, our first instinct is to replace it.  Cast-off clothes tend to form the bulk of the unwanted. The Salvation Army, for instance, receives an average of about 10 tonnes of donated items a day, three in five of which are clothing.

According to the NEA, the increase in total waste produced is “in tandem” with the growing population and its affluence. Victor Chang, deputy director of the Residues and Resource Reclamation Centre at the Nanyang Technological University, says that in general, the richer countries or cities will “generate more municipal waste per capita”. Singapore is not the only country with a low recycling rate for textiles but experts say Singaporeans have some of the highest disposable incomes in South-east Asia and this greater spending power naturally fuels the consumption rate of goods, leading to consumers buying more than they need.

What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on? (Henry David Thoreau, 1982)

The number of things chucked out increases dramatically during festive seasons as people spruce up their homes to welcome the festivals. It is a demonstration of the ritual of throwing out what does not work or is no longer needed. The amount of “donated” stuff left at The Salvation Army goes up three times during peak periods like the month leading up to Christmas or Chinese New Year.

Recycling old clothes is more common now

Swedish fast-fashion chain H&M collected 64 tonnes of unwanted garments in 2016 – about three- fifths the weight of a blue whale. This is almost triple the amount collected in 2015 (22.71 tonnes) and more than five times that collected in 2014 (12.09 tonnes). This year, in 2017, H&M Singapore hopes to bag a record 88 tonnes, adding to the more than 40,000 tonnes of unwanted clothing it has amassed globally so far.

It seems that more people are donating their used clothes and more retailers are accepting them. But recycling is more than just about reducing the amount of clothes headed for the dumpster.