Escaping fast fashion: How Minnesotans can shop sustainably

Everyone’s been there: Staring at a closet full of clothes but still having nothing to wear.

That universal feeling is a product of a first-world problem that has become prevalent in recent years: fast fashion.

Gone are the days of purchasing — or even hand-making — clothing that will last years or even decades with a little tailoring or mending. Clothing retailers are now designing, producing and selling new styles at a rapid pace to feed shoppers’ desire to stay on trend.

But that leads to a lot of problems beyond just finding an outfit, from low wages for workers making the clothes to environmental damage.

The clothing market is more saturated than ever before, said University of Minnesota apparel design professor Missy Bye, adding that as trend cycles continue to shorten, it becomes more tempting to buy more clothes than needed. She said the average person only wears about 20% of his or her wardrobe regularly, meaning at least once a month.

“When you have too many clothes, you get overwhelmed with decisions,” said fellow U apparel design professor Lucy Dunne. “So your brain actually takes shortcuts so that you will default to the things that you can think of easily, which you get bored with quickly.”

Here are some ways to escape the fast-fashion cycle while still keeping a budget.

Fast fashion originated when brands started moving away from releasing new styles on a seasonal basis to a much shorter timeframe, with sometimes just a week between new releases, Bye said.

The fabrics used in fast fashion can be quick to damage, Bye said.

“Fast fashion primarily uses manufactured fibers like polyester and rayon. They don’t have the performance characteristics that you would expect to see in a garment that you want to keep for a long time,” Bye said. “They might be kind of thin. They might pill. They might stretch. They might be not as opaque as you would like them to be.”

Clothes from fast fashion brands like H&M, Zara, Forever 21 and Shein tend to have a much shorter lifecycle than those from sustainable brands or made from more durable fabrics, Bye said. Most stores you’ll find in the mall have shifted to a fast-fashion business model.

Because fast fashion is not made with high-quality materials, it tends to cost less, said Kathryn Reiley, an apparel design professor at the University of Minnesota, said. A black T-shirt from the brand Tentree, which sells clothing made from recycled materials, retails for $40. A similar black T-shirt from H&M costs $9.99.

“I don’t think people are realizing that you’re not really saving money if every week you’re buying more clothing, even though it’s less expensive,” Reiley said.

The real winners in fast fashion are the stores. For example, H&M, the second-largest international clothing retailer, posted an operating profit of 17.3 billion Swedish krona, or $1.57 billion, in 2024.

Though it is more expensive up front, purchasing clothes made out of higher quality materials is better because they will last longer.

“You want to start to invest in some good pieces that you can wear in many different ways and have for a long, long time,” Bye said. “Cost per wear is huge. If I buy something fast fashion, and it’s $30, but I only wear it once, it’s $30. If I buy something that’s $60, and I wear it 60 times, it’s only $1 per wear.”

Buying secondhand, either from thrift or vintage stores, is a great way to find durable clothing.

Jordan Ransom, an employee at Smile Back Vintage in Minneapolis, said vintage clothing tends to last longer than clothes made today.

“We have stuff from the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. The material they used back then is way more high quality than stuff that’s being made now. That’s why it’s lasting as long as it is. That stuff’s going to be around years and years in the future as well,” Ransom said.

Vintage shop owners will curate the clothing they sell by going to estate sales and other secondhand retailers to find rare or trendy pieces, said Molly Johnson, store manager at Rewind in northeast Minneapolis. Vintage sellers also often mend and dry clean clothing they find to ensure it is high quality before someone buys it.

“We make sure that they’re in good condition coming out to the sales floor and ready for someone to wear,” Johnson said.

Clothing donated to consignment stores often ends up in landfills or in markets in sub-Saharan Africa, which does not have the same waste management infrastructure the United States has, Dunne said. This harms the environment.

To combat this, Bye recommended trading clothing with your friends and family, either by organizing a clothing swap or offering them a piece you think they might enjoy.

“I always tell people, ‘Whenever you’re ready to get rid of that, I’d love to take it,’” Bye said.

Shopping your own closet is another way to avoid buying new clothes, Bye said.

“I love going into the back of my closet and finding something I haven’t worn for a while, and I wear it out, and I get all kinds of compliments on it,” Bye said. “The most sustainable clothing that we can buy is the clothing that we already own.”

Todd Tanner, the program coordinator of the University of Minnesota ReUse Center, said when shopping, it is important to think of multiple ways you can style a piece instead of buying it with one outfit in mind.

“If you buy an article of clothing to go with this other piece, and it’s a set, then they’re kind of tied together, and you have to wear all this together,” Tanner said. “You can find other articles of clothing that maybe you can mix and match, like it will work well with this pair of trousers or this pair of jeans, and then you have options.”

Trends tend to come back every few years, Bye said, so older clothes you’ve kept might come back in style eventually.

“Trends cycle. They don’t always come back exactly the same way, but, for example, skinny jeans were out all of a sudden, and now they’re back again,” Bye said. “So you might still have things in your closet that you can update and re-wear,”

Because trends change, investing in high-quality basics, like a black T-shirt or trench coat, can help create a solid base in your wardrobe, Bye said. Adding accessories to an outfit with more simple pieces can elevate the look.

“Maybe you buy jewelry, shoes, handbags, those things,” Bye said. “Oftentimes, you can update your classic look with something that’s maybe a little more current. But even if you’re dropping a lot of money on a handbag, you want to wear it and use it for a long time.”

Nancy Dilts, a Twin Cities-based wardrobe consultant, said it is important to find basics that suit your personal life and make you feel good. A good rule of thumb is to have a blazer or jacket, dark wash jeans in a style you like, versatile plain T-shirts, a pair of dress shoes and nice sneakers. When deciding how many of each piece you need, think of how many items you bring on vacation, like three to four pairs of pants and five to six shirts, Dilts said.

Shopping for a higher-quality wardrobe that’s new, you can expect to spend between $1,000 and $2,000, Dilts said. Shopping at consignment stores for the same pieces can save you a substantial amount of money — costing between $500 to $600 for quality clothing that lasts longer than fast-fashion brands.

Rachel Hoppe is a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment for the Minnesota Star Tribune. Her email is rachel.hoppe@startribune.com.