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Falling fast
Forever 21退出中國市場引深思
The evolution of fashion has changed our shopping habits. Fast fashion arrived, making stylish clothes more affordable. Then trend cycles sped up and shopping became a form of entertainment.
時尚的演變改變著人們的購物習慣。快時尚的到來讓更多人買得起時髦的服飾。時尚潮流的周期隨之加快，而購物也成為了一種娛樂的形式。
However, fast fashion now faces a bottleneck. With decreased sales volumes and competition from H&M, Zara and The Gap in the Chinese market, US clothing brand Forever 21 announced it will fully withdraw from China.
但如今，快時尚卻遇到了瓶頸。由于在中國市場的銷量下降，并面臨著來自H&M、Zara、Gap等品牌的競爭，美國服飾品牌Forever 21宣布將完全退出中國市場。
Fast fashion may not be as popular as it once was. Discounts, clearance sales and closures clearly show that demand for fast fashion is getting worse. Research from US-based fashion resale website Thredup points out that one in four women aged 18-25 plans to quit fast fashion in 2019. A major reason is to be more eco-friendly.
快時尚或許已經不復往日的火爆。打折、清倉銷售、歇業等種種跡象表明，人們對快時尚的需求正日漸下降。美國時尚零售網站Thredup的一項調查指出，在18-25歲的女性中，有1/4的人計劃2019年不再購買快時尚單品。一大原因在于她們想要更加環保。
Millennials, who were born between the early 1980s and early 2000s, are now the largest consumer group. Fast fashion, with its cheap and low-quality materials meant to be thrown away the next season, is no longer attractive.
生于1980年代早期至2000年代早期的千禧一代是如今最大的消費者群體。快時尚服飾由于廉價低質，穿過一季便只能被淘汰，已經不再擁有吸引力。
According to Huffpost, because of cyberspace, social media, and e-commerce, the young generation has developed a different idea of value and consumption. Fast fashion brands cannot meet their demands for quality and uniqueness.
據《赫芬頓郵報》報道，受網絡空間、社交媒體以及電子商務的影響，年輕一代形成了不同的價值觀和消費觀。快時尚品牌無法滿足他們對于品質和獨特性的需求。
The other big factor is that fast fashion brings problems to the environment and to public health. On the one hand, the constant demand for clothing puts enormous stress on land and water resources. Farming cotton for clothing ruins the soil, and pesticides are overused. So are harmful dyes. It makes the fashion industry the second largest polluter of clean water.
另一大因素在于快時尚對環境和公眾健康所帶來的問題。一方面，持續不斷的服飾生產需求給土地和水資源造成了巨大的壓力。為生產服飾而進行的棉花種植會破壞土壤，并存在過度使用農藥的現象。有毒有害的染料也令時尚產業成為水資源的第二大污染源。
On the other hand, fast production also means that more clothes are disposed quickly, which creates a huge amount of waste. Old clothes go to landfills, which will further increase the pollution of soil and water.
另一方面，快速生產也意味著更多的衣服會被快速處理掉，從而產生了大量的垃圾。而舊衣服被丟棄到垃圾場，也進一步加劇了土壤和水資源的污染。
Fast fashion also puts incredible stress on workers. More than 1,100 people died in a clothes factory collapse in Bangladesh six years ago. The collapse uncovered the bad situation of the workers. They worked overtime against their will. Some averaged up to 14 hours a day, making only $2 (about 14 yuan). Furthermore, most of them were women with children to feed.
快時尚令工人們也經受著巨大的壓力。6年前，1100多人死于孟加拉國的一場服裝廠倒塌事故。該事故也曝光了工人們惡劣的工作環境。他們被強迫加班，一些人平均每天工作14個小時，卻只能掙到2美元（約14元人民幣）。而且，大多數工人都是需要撫養孩子的女性。
British designer Vivienne Westwood once said, "Buy less, choose well, make it last." Buying is what makes the fashion world go round. It's time to start questioning fast fashion and see the true cost of those cheap T-shirts.
英國設計師維維安·韋斯特伍德曾說：“少買點，買好點，穿久點。”購買是時尚世界運轉的動力。是時候開始質疑快時尚，了解這些廉價T恤背后所付出的真正代價了。
