By Navya Giraddi 

Abstract

Fast fashion is not just about affordable clothing; it is a global crisis driven by waste, exploitation, and environmental destruction. Brands like Shein, Zara, and H&M flood the market with cheaply made, trendy clothes that quickly end up in landfills, pollute water bodies, and contribute to rising carbon emissions. This industry thrives on overconsumption and exploitative labour, often at the expense of garment workers who are underpaid and overworked. Reliance’s introduction of a fast fashion brand in India raises serious concerns, reinforcing a system that values profit over sustainability. Reliance has a history of environmental mismanagement, from excessive greenhouse gas emissions to hazardous waste production.

Beyond pollution, fast fashion is built on labour exploitation, including child labour and unsafe working conditions. Despite corporate claims of sustainability, real change remains out of reach as regulatory bodies fail to hold companies accountable. The industry thrives on consumer desire, and marketing trends as necessities while avoiding responsibility for its environmental and human costs. As long as profit remains the priority, landfills will grow, rivers will run toxic, and garment workers will continue to suffer. Until consumers and governments demand accountability, this cycle of destruction will continue unchecked. This article aims to reiterate the repercussions of fast fashion brands like Shein while questioning the grounds on which the company Reliance bought back Shein to India.

Introduction

They say clothes make a man, but what if they are found in a dump hill two days after they are worn?  What would this say about the man who wore them?, “Fast fashion” according to the Oxford Dictionary is inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends. Fast fashion is relevant from the minute you  Google any environmental disasters caused by the clothing industry the keywords “fast fashion”, “Shein” “Zara”, and “H&M” will stare back at you. Fast fashion isn’t just about affordability but overflowing landfills, toxic dyes polluting rivers, and microplastics from synthetic fabrics contaminating marine life. It’s not just about pollution, fast fashion thrives on exploitative labour, overuse of natural resources, and an industry that values profit over sustainability. So why is a multi-billion-dollar giant like Reliance introducing an unsustainable brand to India when the world is drowning in textile waste? In a time when environmental consciousness is no longer optional but imperative, such moves underscore the growing disconnect between corporate ambitions and the urgent need for responsible production practices.

Fast fashion and its impacts

 The biggest issue when considering environmental disasters is global warming, and Shein’s rapid retail model has significantly increased carbon emissions. Reports show that the company’s emissions have surged by 176% since 2021. If that’s not enough, their textile waste accumulation in developing countries like Ghana pollutes their rivers and water bodies. Here, synthetic fabrics, which can take centuries to break down, gradually disintegrate into microplastics that contaminate rivers and oceans, ultimately disrupting marine ecosystems and endangering wildlife. The environmental ramifications are profound: water sources are tainted by industrial runoff and chemical residues, local biodiversity is imperilled, and the very health of our planet is compromised by a production model that shows little regard for ecological limits. There are enough clothes on the earth to dress the next six generations and yet we don’t stop making more. The rich sell cheap clothing to the public and once the public has found the clothes “boring”, and “not trendy” they dump them in underdeveloped countries because, according to them, waste they cannot see does not exist.

Reliance’s unsustainable past

Reliance’s environmental mismanagement extends far beyond fast fashion if that isn’t enough. Reliance Industries Limited, for example, has a long documented history of unsustainable practices. Their Jamnagar refinery complex, one of the largest in the world, has been repeatedly criticized for its enormous greenhouse gas emissions, exorbitant water consumption, and hazardous waste generation. Reliance’s own environmental disclosures reveal that its oil-to-chemicals (O2C) operations contribute significantly to issues such as habitat fragmentation, deforestation, and soil erosion. Moreover, Shein’s endorsement doesn’t come with just environmental issues, Shein has been responsible for multiple instances of human exploitation, such as child labour, overworking of workers, forced labour and human rights abuses, and paying them pennies for their work. The same profit-driven system that permits massive industrial pollution also deems labour expendable, reducing human dignity to a secondary concern. 

The overconsumption narrative

Among these challenges, fast fashion continues to rage on unchecked, fueled by corporate greed and consumer apathy. It’s a machine that never stops, a cycle of excess that thrives on the illusion of affordability, convenience and an endless merry-go-round of trends. While some say we’re on the cusp of “transformative change” through circular economies, biodegradable fabrics and ethical sourcing, these half-hearted efforts are just footnotes in an industry built on waste and exploitation. Fashion’s shiny surface masks a brutal reality, where sustainability is just a buzzword spoken at panels while factories keep churning out disposable clothes at an alarming rate. The industry’s recycling initiatives, touted as revolutionary, are just glorified greenwashing campaigns, giving consumers the illusion of guilt without any actual change in corporate behaviour. The economic model that drives fast fashion rewards overproduction, environmental destruction and labour exploitation so true reform is impossible. Regulatory oversight, the supposed safeguard against all this destruction, is a joke and just a formality that can be easily sidestepped by corporations with deep pockets and powerful lawyers. And consumer awareness?  The industry has mastered the art of marketing trends as necessities, manipulating desire with precision and finesse.

Conclusion

Fast fashion, exemplified by Shein and embraced by corporate giants like Reliance, is the ultimate symbol of modern excess. The statistics are staggering: rising carbon emissions, mountains of discarded clothes polluting developing countries, poisoned water supplies and devastated ecosystems. And yet, none of this has been enough to stop companies from chasing higher profits. Reliance has a history of environmental disasters and profit-driven decisions, so it’s no surprise that it’s aligned with a brand that is notorious for ecological destruction and labour exploitation. This isn’t an accident or a mistake, it’s a calculated business decision made with full knowledge that this cycle of devastation will continue. It’s a decision based on deep-rooted confidence that consumers will keep buying, governments will look the other way and the industry will keep thriving unchallenged.

The machines that run these brands work with brutal efficiency, selling dreams made in factories where garment workers work with their heads bowed. They sell the fantasy of effortless glamour while hiding the reality of toxic rivers, overflowing landfills, and workers trapped in a cycle of exploitation that offers no fair pay or safe conditions. They have mastered the art of sustainability reports full of half-truths, performative eco-initiatives that barely scratch the surface of the problems, and collections marketed as “conscious” while production numbers keep climbing. The storyline of progress is a comfortable illusion, one that lets the industry stay status quo while making empty promises of change. There will be no reckoning, no great shift towards sustainability, and no sudden corporate awakening. As long as profit is king, the cycle will continue, landfills will grow, rivers will run toxic, and garment workers will work in silence. The industry can get away with it because regulatory bodies and consumers are failing. If history has taught us anything it’s that corporations will stop at nothing until they’re forced to. And right now, nothing is stopping them.

Author Bio: I’m Navya, a storyteller at heart, fueled by coffee, old books, and the occasional kitchen experiment. I spend my days juggling law, writing, and spontaneous DIYs, usually while running late. Procrastination is my nemesis, but it somehow leads to my best ideas whether in the form of words, art, or a batch of cookies.

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