Are E-commerce Giants Undermining the Fashion Industry?

Unlike before, businesses and their models are evolving. Today, there are many types of businesses within the fashion and apparel industry, including editorial high-fashion houses, the growing and exciting vintage market, streetwear, and independent designers who have built their brands through the rise of social media.

However, as e-commerce fast-fashion giants poach design and creativity from these independent markets, many businesses are feeling the impact, and the environment is also bearing the consequences.

With the growth of fast fashion over the past 20 to 30 years, the industry has become one of the largest employment sectors, with an estimated 430 million people working within textile, fashion, and clothing production (12.6% of the global workforce).

However, the expansion of the fashion industry has also contributed to major environmental issues. Fashion has become the second most polluting industry. There are more landfills now than ever before, all full of clothes made from non-biodegradable materials around the world.

The fashion industry is responsible for 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. This is due to the 'throwaway culture' associated with fast fashion that quick and inexpensively made clothing creates.

The problem with a business model solely driven by economics in the creative world is the cost of achieving such growth. Fashion, as design, is an art form, while apparel serves practical purposes—yet the two often overlap within the industry. This dynamic also encourages us to explore sustainability alongside business in education.

A common fabric used in the fashion industry is polyester, a non-biodegradable material that cannot decompose and contributes to pollution. A 2017 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that 35% of all microplastics—tiny pieces of non-biodegradable plastic—in the ocean come from synthetic textiles like polyester.

Derek D'Monte, a pattern cutter with 50 years of experience in the fashion industry, is one of many who believe that fast fashion has irreversibly changed, and perhaps even ruined, fashion itself. According to him, the mass production of low-quality fabrics and the decline in apparel quality compared to the past have had a negative impact on the industry.

As he recalls working at a factory in London in the 1970s, he reminisces about a time when there was a balance between quality and affordability, setting a standard that is largely absent in today’s fast fashion market.

Derek believes that the garments were "a certain standardized quality of work that you don’t see these days.”

Business will always be an important aspect of fashion brands, and it must be. However, for fashion to be appreciated creatively—as a globally recognized art form that brings a vision to life or serves as an expression of imagination—there may need to be a clear distinction between fashion designers as individuals and fast fashion brands. Designers create, while fast fashion brands either hire talent or, in some cases, "take inspiration" from a designer’s work to help their businesses succeed.

In an interview with the Guardian, when asked whether fashion is a true art form or just for practicality, Zandra Rhodes said: "You could say a painting is designed to go on the wall, but if it were made as a fresco, where it was part of the wall, would you say it was not art because it was practical?".