Fast Fashion v/s Slow Fashion

In an age of hashtags and buzz words, two terms have recently seemed to gain a lot of traction within both the eco and fashion community – Fast Fashion and Slow Fashion. 

Fast Fashion has come under the scrutiny of environmental authorities in recent times. Before we dwell deeper we must first try to understand what slow fashion is and what led to the emergence of Fast Fashion as a dominant force in the industry.

Before the industrial revolution, most of the clothes and footwear were made by someone in the family who was well versed with the craft of weaving and stitching. These clothes were often passed down from generation to generation making them the oldest form of slow fashion. Although unintentional to some degree this method proved to be sustainable.

Industrialization made it possible for us to produce goods in massive quantities. Industrialization also created generous employment for the masses, improving their standard of living. Low turnaround time, low prices, high volumes, and easy access to goods really gave a boost to mass-produced goods. But over the years, given the pace at which it works, there are major unethical practices issues, and also unintentionally, this method is not as sustainable.

Fast fashion denotes lower-quality, low-priced, mass-produced and machine-made products that quickly end up in landfills. Slow fashion products  in contrast are made by hand, consume time to produce, use artistic talent, have better quality and are priced higher.

Due to high volumes, unethical practices when it comes to employment and raw materials used – Fast Fashion manages to keep its price tags low. Due to Fast Fashion, the consumers end up buying more products of not-so-good quality and then discard them. Slow fashion aims to decrease the speed of production, consumption and disposing of by placing greater appreciation on one’s purchase. Slow Fashion considers the materials used, how the garment is made and who is making it, in order to be ethical without compromising on quality.

So why shift to slow fashion? Why is it so important?

Slow Fashion advantages – 

• Upcycling
• Ethical working conditions
• Often Handmade 
• Unique
• Minimalism
• Sustainable

At Paaduks,we all vouch for and are a part of the Slow Fashion Industry. We at Paaduks have come up with a novel way of upcycling not just the tyre waste but also myriad discarded industrial parts like conveyor belts and rubber mats by turning them into footwear. We do not skimp on the comfort of our footwear, your feet won’t feel like they paid the price for saving our planet. We also make use of other natural materials like cloth, handloom cotton, jute, etc. Not only do we use vegan raw materials but also make sure we upcycle different materials to make comfortable, beautiful, and stylish footwear for both men and women.

Our shoes are eco-friendly, sustainable, comfortable, stylish, and affordable. Right from our raw materials to our beautiful finished goods, everything is completely Made In India. Supporting locally made products makes a huge difference not only to the environment but also provides employment opportunities to locals. Our footwears are crafted by seasoned veterans of crafting footwear, the cobblers of Kurla, Mumbai.