University of Denver Spring/Summer 2023

Fast fashion typically is produced where labor costs are cheapest.

As a result, many brands now rely heavily on social media influencers to build that trust and reach audiences that are otherwise anti-advertisement. They send clothing to individual influencers, who, in turn, model the items on their platforms and give them a distinct cachet. Following an influencer, Akaka says, “is a way of saying, ‘I don’t like ads, but I still need information. I still need to know which products are best.’” What’s more, influencers often provide audiences with product information and entertainment. Social media influencers have helped fast fashion brands reach their target audience efficiently and sell trendy garments almost instantly. As Akaka notes, the fast fashion industry “is not just the movement of trends and the rapid innovation of style, but also the ability to man ufacture, produce and take to market these specific styles that may not last.” Unfortunately, producing fast fashion is resource inten sive. For example, growing, processing and manufacturing cotton for a single pair of jeans consumes roughly 1,900 gallons of water, according to the United Nations. What’s more, cotton farmers often maximize their yields by using insecticides and pesticides that spread into the surrounding soil and water. Commonly used fertilizers release nitrous ox ide, a greenhouse gas 300 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Many fast fashion garments are made, in part or com pletely, of synthetic fibers such as nylon, spandex and polyester—materials derived from fossil fuels. Drilling and fracking to acquire oil for synthetic textiles can contaminate

drinking water sources and the surrounding air. Producing animal-based textiles also takes a toll on the environment, from deforestation to methane emissions. Later in the pro duction cycle, heavy metals used in the dying and tanning processes expose textile workers to toxic chemicals and contaminate waterways when they are disposed of. Synthetics pose an additional risk—microplastic pollu tion. “Every time you wash clothing, tiny fragments fray off the clothing and that plastic gets washed away,” says Helen Hazen, teaching professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment. The miniscule plastic particles have been found nearly everywhere, from Mount Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and, Hazen notes, inside the human body. While many of the risks associated with natural textiles have been studied for decades, the full scale of microplastics’ impact on health and the environment remains unknown. “We are on the bleeding edge of science with these. We don’t have the data we need. What we do know is that microplas tics are ubiquitous in the environment,” Hazen says. “We know that we’re introducing synthetic substances, but we don’t really have long-term data sets to know what the im pacts are. It’s a huge question.” In fact, some scientists worry that many microplastics may be carcinogens or endocrine disruptors with potential health effects ranging from cancer and diabetes to reproductive and developmental issues. Textile workers face the greatest health and safety risks of all: exposure to toxic chemicals, long hours and unsafe working conditions. In 2012, a fire broke at the Tazreen

20 | UNIVERSITY of DENVER MAGAZINE • SPRING/SUMMER 2023