The Rana Plaza manufacturing accident happened more than ten years ago. In 2013, the eight-story building collapsed, leaving over 2000 people injured and over 1000 dead, the most of them were female textile workers who made clothing for stores in the West. That was the first time the world saw the full cost of our inexpensive clothing and the horrors of fast fashion, reported Preview.
Building safety has improved over the years, but fast fashion is just getting faster and garment workers are still being abused.
Many of us look for methods to oppose these immoral fast fashion firms as conscientious consumers. The formation of organizations like Fashion Revolution is an attempt to bring more transparency to the fashion supply chain. They have not only helped us learn more about the manufacturers and locations of our clothes, but they have also helped us recognize the telltale characteristics of a fast fashion company so we can steer clear of them.
As a general rule, items are considered fast fashion if they are inexpensive, poorly built, mass-manufactured, and appear on the racks nearly every week. There's also a good probability that they were produced in sweatshops like the Rana Plaza garment factory. However, this raises the question of whether luxury clothes is still morally acceptable if inexpensive, fast-fashion apparel is unethical? Given the exorbitant cost of certain clothing items, one would assume that the workers must receive equitable compensation. Unfortunately, that's never the case.