Fast Fashion vs. Slow Fashion
With the following discussion questions, your students will be prompted to critically examine the phenomena of fast and slow fashion. They’ll learn to draft pro and con lists and to debate about complex subjects.
Grade 7-9
Duration : 1 or 2 period(s)
Objective
Get students to reflect on the true costs of fast fashion and to learn more about the slow fashion movement.
Guidelines
Watch ”HOTELMOTEL – Présentation” (English subtitles)
Optional: To better understand this subject, we also recommend screening the suggested documentary. Instead of watching the whole thing, the teacher can also give a summary presentation.
Ask the following discussion questions.
Debate as a class.
Material
Additional documentary:
The True Cost: Who Pays the Real Price for YOUR Clothes | Investigative Documentary
(TRIGGER WARNING: Contains descriptions of violence against workers)
Steps
1
As a group, consider the following questions:
- What are the environmental, ethical, and financial impacts of fast fashion?
- Does fast fashion have any benefits?
- What are the alternative options offered to consumers who don’t want to contribute to fast fashion?
- Is slow fashion accessible for all?
- Make a list of the differences in working conditions between the HOTELMOTEL atelier and the workshops seen in the documentary. What do these differences tell us?
- Is our desire for excess caused by materialism, or is it because we’re addicted to always having something new? Could it be both?
- What actions can we take to improve the fashion industry?
- What role do you think slow fashion retailers will play in the future?
- Do you make any of your own clothes or accessories? Are there any techniques you want to learn?
Food for Thought
Finding solutions to the many problems posed by fast fashion is not an easy task. If slow fashion is inaccessible for you at the moment, consider thrifting your clothes and repairing them yourself if they get damaged. If you do have to shop fast fashion, try to reduce the number of articles that you buy.
