Cold Spring Challenges Fast Fashion
By Maisy Curto
Cold Spring Community Action is excited to share this piece by Maisy Curto, a local, recent Fashion Institute of Technology grad, and founder of sustainable clothing business Summer Set on how Cold Spring can take action to make positive change towards the dire social, environmental, and ethical implications of the fast fashion industry.
Do you ever find yourself in the mood to take everything out of your closet, with the hope of purging clothes that haven’t been touched in years? To then just make room for new pieces that fit the latest trends, or serve a temporary purpose? This cycle tricks us into thinking we are “doing good” by checking off the anticipated box of spring cleaning. I’d like to share my perspective on why this is not only unproductive, but simply puts a bandaid on the root of the problem; overconsumption from fast-fashion.
A few years ago, with freshman year of college under my belt, I was tackling my typical closet clean-through. I had what some may call an epiphany, but I call a mental breakdown followed by self-doubt and consumer guilt. I created a gigantic pile of cheap cotton t-shirts, tank tops as thin as a handkerchief, and jeans so stretchy they shouldn’t even be considered denim (see Instagram story below). Not one item was without pilling and/or worn out hemlines. My visceral response to this stockpile of cheap clothes flipped a switch and led me to reflect on two things: where did all these clothes come from and why did it take me this long to realize their lack of value and quality?
From 2017 on, I spent the next three years studying Fashion Business Management at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I made a commitment to not only being a more conscious consumer myself, but figuring out where all these clothes were coming from. How are these retail-giants selling clothes at such low prices and what is the true cost of fast-fashion?
While these questions seem both daunting and bigger than something a 20-year-old could handle at the time, it simply boils down to this equation:
Profit = Retail - Cost
I’ve always identified as more of a math brain, so this equation to me sounds pretty straightforward. But big business is never simple and there are many other social, political, and economic variables that factor the equation above. Before I lose you in this article-now-turned boring college lecture, let me provide you with a brief explanation of what I mean.
If an H&M t-shirt costs $8, and the standard markup for private-label retailers is ~60%, the cost of that t-shirt is about $3.20. If you think about what goes into making a t-shirt (materials, the production process and packaging), how much is actually left to pay the humans behind this t-shirt? The answer is very little.
The exploitation of factory workers in the fashion industry has risen due to outsourcing production overseas, an accelerated production cycle, and a demand for cheaper clothes. This brings me to my main point and where you, as a community member of Cold Spring, come in! It’s a question that many of us ask ourselves everyday: Why should I care?
Cold Spring as a community thrives not only financially but emotionally through small businesses. Knowing who and where you buy goods and services from makes it special. Cold Spring is a place where if you need a gift for a friend, you head down to the Country Goose and grab a bag of their locally roasted Cold Spring blend. Or if you need your lawn mower fixed, you call up the Cold Spring Lawn Mower Service. In our town, if you need something you know where to go and who to call. Why should this be different for clothes?
After graduating from FIT in May, I returned back to Cold Spring to live under my parents roof. In some ways, I felt smarter, more compassionate, and less ignorant. But at the same time, my life seemed to mold back into my old routines, like when I used to wake up and get ready to make the 7:35am bell at Haldane. Jobless and grappling with the concept of working in fashion during a global pandemic tested my hustle and work-driven nature. Through hard work and a new perspective on personal expression, I created my own up-cycled clothing business, Summer Set.
Summer Set is on a mission to reduce waste and encourage conscious consumerism in the fashion space. I source my materials secondhand and all pieces that I re-work have had a prior life. Summer Set also gives 10% of our sales to local organizations “doing good” in the community. This venture started as a way to keep myself sane and put my passions and education to the test. Sharing my mission with our community is not only keeping me more connected personally, but also encouraging a localized approach to shopping for our clothing.
Since Summer Set launched, I have reconnected and met so many community members who believe in this mission, but didn’t necessarily know where to begin. What they may not realize is that they have supported this “shop small, shop smart” approach already, by getting their prescriptions at Drug World or buying a dozen apple cider donuts at Vera’s. If this mentality can be applied now, to what we put on our backs everyday, we are one step closer to a more sustainable, human, and planet-friendly fashion industry.