This week I chose to watch a documentary that would help me gain general knowledge on the main idea of my economics project. The topic of my project is based on how fast fashion works and how it has had an impact on high-end fashion stores. After doing a decent amount of background research on this topic, I decided to take a further step and learn the key concepts of fast fashion to broaden my perspective in the area of fashion economics. The documentary “The True Cost” gives its viewers an insight on the crisis behind fast fashion stores and how it has impacted the lives of people in third world countries. Presenting a series of first-hand experiences we are able to see the “true cost” these workers go through every day in order to satisfy the needs of popular fast fashion stores around the world, giving the audience an idea of the manufacturing process of cheap clothes.
The overall concept of my documentary this semester focuses on the economic effect of fast fashion stores on high quality Peruvian brands. In order to proceed with this project, I first had to deal with the background research, getting a closer glimpse of fast fashion and how it has affected many people around the world. By watching "The True Cost" I was able to gather a lot of information from different professionals and their perspective on fast fashion, this later allowed me to have an idea of how this process works and gave me the ability to delve into the project with greater knowledge.
One particular interview that caught my attention the most was from a sweatshop worker in Bangladesh. This worker, single mother of two, narrated her day-to-day experience in these working environments and shared how it has come to take over her life. The working conditions these women are put into every day is truly horrifying, taking it to the extent of being physically abused. Cheap clothing requires quick and efficient manufacturing, therefore, the workers are expected to work under a fast production environment. If these expectations aren’t met, the women will later pay cruel consequences by their supervisors.
The overall concept of my documentary this semester focuses on the economic effect of fast fashion stores on high quality Peruvian brands. In order to proceed with this project, I first had to deal with the background research, getting a closer glimpse of fast fashion and how it has affected many people around the world. By watching "The True Cost" I was able to gather a lot of information from different professionals and their perspective on fast fashion, this later allowed me to have an idea of how this process works and gave me the ability to delve into the project with greater knowledge.
One particular interview that caught my attention the most was from a sweatshop worker in Bangladesh. This worker, single mother of two, narrated her day-to-day experience in these working environments and shared how it has come to take over her life. The working conditions these women are put into every day is truly horrifying, taking it to the extent of being physically abused. Cheap clothing requires quick and efficient manufacturing, therefore, the workers are expected to work under a fast production environment. If these expectations aren’t met, the women will later pay cruel consequences by their supervisors.
The problem later arises from the lack of help these fast fashion stores give towards changing an issue like this. Brands such as H&M and Walmart are well aware of the poor conditions these women are being put into while manufacturing their products, yet no one is doing anything about it. This documentary introduced me to an entirely new side of fashion, never had it crossed my mind that the making of my own clothes was produced in the hands of a suffering human being.
Initially, I viewed this documentary as just a simple source of information for my project, but it actually left me with completely different vision towards fast fashion stores. I am one that is very knowledgeable about clothing and brands, yet I was never really much aware of what occurred in these sweatshops. Now having the ability to see the true colors of these stores I am able to view them with an entirely new perspective, making me think twice before actually purchasing a product.
Initially, I viewed this documentary as just a simple source of information for my project, but it actually left me with completely different vision towards fast fashion stores. I am one that is very knowledgeable about clothing and brands, yet I was never really much aware of what occurred in these sweatshops. Now having the ability to see the true colors of these stores I am able to view them with an entirely new perspective, making me think twice before actually purchasing a product.