BOSTON—Amid the continued popularity of clothing retailers like Shein and H&M, a new report published Thursday by the Boston University School of Public Health found that nearly 90% of fast fashion items end up wasted on people who can’t pull off the look. “We’re finding that the vast majority of cheap, unsustainably manufactured clothes are destined to be strewn across the body of someone who’s totally kidding themselves if they think they can make it work,” the report read in part, concluding that the immense damage fast fashion inflicts on the environment cannot not be justified when the product almost always winds up in a pile on the floor after the customer realizes they don’t have the body for it. “Although fast fashion is appealing to consumers because of its price and availability, the global population predominantly lacks that ‘it’ factor required to really rock the style. Even when a shopper does achieve the level of conventional attractiveness necessary to look good in one of these garments, it’s only a matter of time before they eat a big bowl of pasta and default back to the one shapeless, oversized T-shirt they feel they can hide inside. For the sake of the planet, our society needs to invest in fashion that looks more or less okay on everyone.” At press time, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions released a policy paper recommending substantial fines for any apparel company that manufactures anything other than a proposed universal sack.
