Aja Barber

I did that and I was absolutely horrified.

I was horrified because here I was in my parents' basement buying clothing that I didn't need to impress people I didn't even like, you know?

I just knew that that wasn't how I wanted to spend my money.

I think people are leaning into fast fashion because we ultimately feel powerless.

When you get to a point where you're like, okay, I am having a hard time finding steady work.

And I don't think that I'm ever going to be able to own a house in this lifetime.

And I've had to move back in with my parents and the planet is on fire.

But the one thing you can do

is you found this website called Shein where you can buy 100 items of clothing for $200.

So why don't I do that and share it on social media?

I'm doing a lot of field trips where we go to like a workshop of a designer that I know and they could see the clothing in person, putting faces and names to people who make our clothing and understand that no, clothing made in factories isn't made by fairies.

It's made by human hands who need to get paid the same wages that we need to get paid.

When people actually know more of the backstory, I think that it makes a lot more sense that maybe I should actually save for a top from Phoebe English rather than, you know, just buying the same fast fashion stuff that lasts me a year.

I'm someone who has a sewing machine, who knits, who does both of those things badly. So I understand that there is a level of skill that goes into making things. So I started to not be able to understand how H&M could sell a dress for $5 that looked far better than anything I could create with my two hands, especially when I know what fabric costs, what a machine costs, you know?

I'm someone who has a sewing machine, who knits, who does both of those things badly. So I understand that there is a level of skill that goes into making things. So I started to not be able to understand how H&M could sell a dress for $5 that looked far better than anything I could create with my two hands, especially when I know what fabric costs, what a machine costs, you know?

I'm someone who has a sewing machine, who knits, who does both of those things badly. So I understand that there is a level of skill that goes into making things. So I started to not be able to understand how H&M could sell a dress for $5 that looked far better than anything I could create with my two hands, especially when I know what fabric costs, what a machine costs, you know?

And a lot of this never really added up for me personally.

And a lot of this never really added up for me personally.

And a lot of this never really added up for me personally.

No. So I've been talking about, you know, fast fashion for a decade, and it was literally like... telling a bad joke and people throwing tomatoes at you. And I've been in really liberal and lefty spaces, but I began to see that there was some raging hypocrisy surrounding fast fashion because people would be all about the feminism and they would be all about human rights.