Moda veloce e sostenibilità: un dialogo tra presente e futuro

My dissertation is developed with the aim of analyzing the characteristics of an issue that is particularly relevant today: sustainability in the era of fast fashion. We live in a highly technological age, where the internet and social media play a key role. This is true both for the private lives of individuals, especially for the so-called Generation Z, and for companies carrying on their business. These have the opportunity to make themselves known more easily and quickly, taking advantage of the web advertisements and banners. But the 21st century is also an historical era in which we hear more and more about sustainable development and the need to steer every economic sector towards a development that allows not only economic growth, but also the respect and protection of both man and the environment. It is precisely in contrast to these principles that the fast-fashion industry is taking place.  For this reason, I felt the need to proceed in the writing of my dissertation first by comprehensively analyzing the meaning and implications of sustainability, today focused on its three dimensions, namely the environmental, social and economic one, which are recognised as intrinsic and complementary aspects in its very definition. I then examined a linear economic system typically prevalent in the late 19th and early 20th century, and then looked at a circular-type one, considered more efficient and appropriate today from a sustainability perspective. Businesses play a key role in the transition to a circular economy, and especially at this point in history, transparency is demanded from firms, so that consumers engage in more informed purchases. However, my analysis showed that this is the era of the green dreamers, which also are fast fashion buyers. After describing the fast fashion model, I pointed out how it is capable of making very high profits, while at the same time representing a model of absolute unsustainability, both on an environmental level, generating pollution, squandering of resources and waste, and on a social level, due to serious violations of human rights. The advent of fast fashion has made the pursuit of such a goal as sustainable development even more difficult, and through an analysis of its emergence and characteristics, the reader can understand why all three dimensions of sustainability are simultaneously fundamental, and what are the consequences if any kind of respect for humans and the environment are ignored, with only economic goals being pursued. Finally, I felt it was important to carry out an analysis of a famous Chinese fashion brand, Shein. This, if on the one hand allowed us to understand the advantage of having a sector such as textiles “democratized” through minimized prices, on the other hand made it clear how the low cost of a garment corresponds in almost all cases to a high environmental and social cost.  However, reactions from NGOs and even individuals are leading fast fashion brands and Shein in particular to take small but important steps towards circularity and sustainability. In this context, Europe, individual legislations, and international law play and will always play a primary role in pushing states, individuals, and companies to align themselves with a development that, as the 1987 Brundtland Report emphasized, "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".