What is Slow Fashion | And Why Do We Need it in 2025?

What is slow fashion?

If you love fashion, you have probably felt the immense pressure our culture puts on us to buy more, keep up on the latest trends, and participate in “Fast Fashion”. It’s exhausting! If you’re like me, “Slow Fashion” sounds more your speed. I’m here to help you learn more about this new fashion movement that’s gaining popularity. 

In its simplest terms, Slow Fashion is a movement that embraces buying less quantity in favor of higher quality. Craftsmanship, design, and ethical manufacturing practices are valued by both the brand and consumer. As a result, Slow Fashion is a more sustainable form of consumerism. 

Let’s go deeper. Why is there Slow and Fast Fashion? What are the harms and benefits of each? How do you make a Slow Fashion Brand? And how can we become Slow Fashion shoppers? 

Slow Fashion is a reaction to Fast Fashion, so first we’re going to take a look at what both terms mean, and how they relate to each other. Then we’ll see how we can adopt a Slow Fashion mindset and its benefits. 

The Fast Fashion Cycle

When you think of Fast Fashion, you probably (rightly) imagine mega corporations that produce cheap, low quality clothing. The “fast” in “fast fashion” refers to the life cycle of the clothing purchased from these brands - how quickly they are made, sold, and, ultimately, end up at the end of their lifecycle, discarded in a landfill. 

Fast Fashion brands value profit above all else. Their money making strategy is to create a huge amount of products for the lowest cost for the consumer possible. You may be wondering, who doesn’t love low prices? Unfortunately, the extreme cost cutting measures of Fast Fashion brands comes with a hidden price. 

Let’s take a look at the Fast Fashion Journey 

Fast Fashion Production:

• Brands cut costs by using low quality materials. Sometimes these materials are made with practicesthat are harmful to the environment or even contain harmful chemicals.
• They use very low paid labor, which could include unethical labor conditions, unfair wages, and
• child labor.
• Designs are stolen from artists and fashion designers to cut development costs.
• Photographs are stolen from fashion brands and make a cheap knock off of
• their product. Ever order a beautiful dress online and received one that barely looks like the picture? They probably stole the picture they advertised to you with. 
• They use fast, low quality craftsmanship.
• Clothing is manufactured in huge bulk quantities, sometimes leading to waste. 
• Cheaper packaging materials that are environmentally harmful are used. 
• They encourage trend chasing, to keep consumers always buying and needing something new.

 Fashion Fashion Consumer:

• They seek out low prices above all else.
• With low prices, they are able to buy in large quantities, sometimes more than they need.
• They are often disappointed with the low quality clothes they receive. For every item that works, they end up throwing away several others due to the clothing falling apart or not fitting right.
• Need to replace clothing items often as they do not last.
• Often don’t realize the unethical labor that went into the production of their clothing.
• Interested in the latest trends and having a steady stream of new clothing.
• Their closet is cluttered. They may have a hard time putting together outfits they love.

For the consumer, it’s easy to see why fast fashion is so attractive on the surface. It’s a cheap way to have heaps of new clothing and chase the latest trends. Most of the downsides, like harm to the environment, waste, and unethical labor practices, are not seen by the consumer. They may be frustrated that a lot of the clothes they get are far lower quality than the pictures online looked, but they may still feel the low prices outweigh the negatives. 

This fast lifecycle of clothing creates a lot of waste, among other negative effects, which has given rise to an opposing philosophy: Slow Fashion. 

The Slow Fashion Cycle

Let’s talk about Slow Fashion now. Slow fashion is marked by a care for quality and craftsmanship. Most of the brands have a larger creative vision and put extra care into their customer’s experience. They likely still make efforts to keep their clothing in a price range customers can afford, but because quality materials and ethical labor was used, they’ll cost more than Fast Fashion. 

The Slow Fashion consumer curates their wardrobe with more care. They can’t order as many new items, and that’s ok with them. The clothing they do purchase is something they really love and will use for years to come. They know it was designed with care. They may supplement their wardrobe with thrifted items as well.

Slow Fashion Producer:

• Quality fabrics that feel good and will last are chosen.
• Fabrics are tested to ensure they are made with safe materials.
• Designers are paid fairly for their work and create unique, innovating clothing.
• The workers who manufacture the clothing are paid a living wage and work in safe conditions.
• Quality craftsmanship goes into each garment.
• Lower quantities are produced, creating less waste.
• The brand may choose to use sustainable packaging.
• The clothing is more likely to be locally produced, reducing the carbon footprint of the brand.
• The brand develops a strong branding with a clear vision.
• The brand puts high effort into customer happiness and retention.
• Their clothing costs more, but is higher quality and lasts longer.

Slow Fashion Consumer:

• They appreciate beautifully made clothing and quality items. 
• They spend time curating their wardrobe with garments they really love.
• They may like researching brands that align with their ideals and aesthetic.
• Instead of buying ten low quality items, they buy a few high quality ones.
• Their closet is less cluttered.
• They mend and repair garments, using them for a long time.
• They might thrift shop as well.
• They value the craftsmanship that went into the items they own.
• Because they get a lot of use out of their garments, it’s worth it to spend money to tailor some of them, getting the perfect git.
• When they are done with a garment, they are likely to donate or recycle it.

As you can see, slow fashion is a very different mindset than fast fashion. Fast fashion values quantity and having more, whereas slow fashion values quality and only owning garments you really love. 

To have a fashion cycle, it takes two parties: the producer and the consumer.

Breaking this cycle is easy. All you have to do, as the consumer, is choose what kind of shopper you want to be. By adopting a Slow Fashion mindset, you can support ethical businesses that align with your own ideals. 

Is Slow Fashion Expensive? 

It depends on how you shop and how much you buy.

From the outside, it can seem more expensive. For example, instead of buying a $10 dress, you could buy a $100 dress. However, that $10 dress might last less than a year, or not fit very well, leading you to buy more dresses. Meanwhile the $100 dress, with proper care, could last for years. 

If you buy from expensive luxury brands or buy often, slow fashion can become expensive, but here are some ways to keep costs reasonable:

• Don’t overbuy. The purpose of slow fashion is to consume less and value the items you have.
• Buy items you’ll love for many years. This doesn’t mean you need to buy only basics or classic pieces. But you may have to give up a mindset of always needing a new outfit for every occasion. 
• Mend and repair garments instead of tossing them.
• Get creative. Find new outfit combinations and ways to up-cycle what you have.
• Supplement your wardrobe with thrifted items for a low cost, ethical way to
• have more in your closet.
• Choose to support ethical businesses, local businesses, and artisans, so you feel good about what you spend.
• Host a thrift swap party with friends.
• Some brands have take back programs, where you can donate used garments in return for store credit.

The Benefits of Slow Fashion

There are so many benefits to slow fashion. If you’re not convinced, here’s a list:

• Less wardrobe clutter.
• Valuing the items you have.
• Making memories in your favorite outfits.
• Easier to put together outfits when your wardrobe is more curated and your clothing is higher quality.
• Since the clothing lasts longer, tailoring is worth it. Your clothes will fit you better.
• You’ll feel better about where your money is going.
• Support ethical businesses, artists, and designers.
• Reduce waste.

Why Aren’t There More Slow Fashion Brands? 

While there are a growing number of Slow Fashion brands, the market is still dominated by Fast Fashion. Many very large brands have found great financial success in selling a high number of products at a low quantity. There is great consumer demand for low prices. 

Before I became a fashion designer and brand owner, I did not realize how much work went into making clothing. Making it ethically is even harder work. Here is why: 

• Producing high quality clothing is expensive. It requires a greater financial investment to develop and manufacture. 
• Higher production costs mean higher risk. If the products don’t sell, you’ve lost a lot of money. 
• Many customers complain about high prices. It’s hard to compete in the fashion industry unless you can show the value for your products. 
• It takes time to source quality fabrics, they cost more, and the market is oversaturated with environmentally harmful polyester. When trying to avoid polyester, I was surprised to face pushback from textile distributors, fabric printers, and even my sales rep. 
• Environmentally friendly packaging costs more and there are less options available on the market. 

Making Fast Fashion is easier, and a lot of people would rather do what’s easy than what’s right. Creating an ethical brand was tremendously challenging and there were times I almost gave up. That said, I believe my efforts to make Sun & Sanctuary as ethical as I can are worth it. If I can’t run my business in a way that I believe creates a positive benefit in the world, then I’d rather work in another industry.

Is Slow Fashion Ethical?

Slow fashion is clearly more ethical than fast fashion. But is it 100% ethical?

As mentioned above, participating in Slow Fashion reduces waste, harm on the environment, and ensures workers are being paid and treated fairly. Fast

fashion does the opposite, and, while they may produce cheaper clothing, their negative impact on the environment is huge. Not to mention the human suffering they cause with unethical labor practices. 

Slow fashion may do away with these concerns, but you might have noticed the following. Producing clothing at all still produces some amount of waste. Organic fibers, like cotton, may biodegrade, but producing them does have an environmental impact. And not everything you buy may be made locally.

This reminds me of the show “The Good Place”. In the show, characters in the afterlife can only go to the Good Place if they earn a high score by not doing bad things. However, no one has gotten into the Good Place in hundreds of years because it’s so hard. Every innocent choice they make may have a harmful side effect that they don’t know about. For example, they might have lost points for eating an apple that was not ethically grown and harvested. 

Fashion, and many aspects of our consumer culture, are similar. Unless you thrift all your clothes, and not too many of them, and use them for as long as possible, or perhaps make them yourself, it’s very hard to have zero impact on the environment. If we all did the above, there would quickly be no fashion. Fashion is an exchange of ideas, a celebration of culture, and an expression of self. For designers, workers, and brands, it’s an art form and a way to earn a living. It’s up to each Shopper to decide on their own what they feel is ethical and to what degree they believe it’s worth it to participate in fashion. Many people find Slow Fashion a more mindful way to shop. 

Have questions about Slow Fashion? Email us at info@sunandsanctuary.com!