Every news website has a token piece on fast fashion these days and lots of people are educated on the ills of actors like Shein and Teemu. This is a good thing. 

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The whole thing is a race to the bottom where there are few winners. That is aside from the very rich people at the top not content with having a billion pounds when they can have two billion. 

Nostalgia makes for bleary-eyed reminiscence when the mind wanders to days when the UK built a world leading reputation from its manufacturing industry. We used to build and make lots of things and we made them well. 

My partner’s dad used to own a foundry in the heart of Huddersfield and he managed to sell up just before all of that work went to China. He knew his days were numbered when more and more clients would land at the yard looking for repairs on goods made abroad as they’d tried to save money on sub-par products. 

Many businesses from all sectors learnt they could make things cheaper abroad and ship them back in. They’d cut costs where they can and in my world that means on things like buttons, linings, leather trims, zips and fabric. The adage lasts that the old ones are the best when it comes to mass produced jackets, and it’s true. I often compare, side by side in the workshop. 

Wax jackets used to be made for hunting, farming, riding motorcycles, exploring and now they’re made to sell. This is where dewy-eyed nostalgia has to be tempered by business and I understand that businesses need to adapt and grow to survive. 

But it now feels like we’re way past that point. The aspiration for quality has been taken over by mass profit. At all costs. 

Where corners can be cut, they are slashed and then some. If 5p can be saved then it MUST be saved. 

Clothing brands used to know their manufacturers. They could pick up the phone or drive an hour to see them. They’d build relationships, they’d keep on top of quality and they’d help employ communities built on the back of industry. 

To use one example today, fabric is made in the north of England, flown to eastern Europe to be made into jackets before being flown back into England to distribute and sell. Very often this stock heads to a warehouse where it’s piled high until mid-season sales are bombarding your inbox, offering over 50% off the RRP listed less than 3 months ago. And they still make a profit. 

It’s important to know that all of the above could be done here in the UK with the same RRP offering brands a profit. But they want more at the cost of much collateral. 

Moving industry abroad has cost jobs, it kills communities, it often diminishes quality, it increases carbon footprint, in some instances (many, in fact) it contravenes human rights (read that again.) 

If you/we as the consumer were getting a better product for these changes, you could argue the point that brands are striving for quality, but they’re not. It’s the exact opposite. It’s all to give the billionaires another pound to sit on their already bursting bank balances. 

It sounds very ‘doom and gloom’ doesn’t it? That’s the sad truth. 

So many manufacturers, brands and businesses have died because of that process above. They can’t survive, let alone compete. We’re left with empty mills and derelict town centres that the discount shops mop up with their garish bright orange and blue signage, selling plastic tat imported from China. 

So how can we change it? 

Many people already are and you’re very likely one of them if you’re reading this. Second hand resale sites have never been more popular and ‘thrifting’ is a sport for many wanting a bargain on labels. Often from a time when labels equated to quality.

There’s a whole other article due on resale sites but I recently collated some research from customers and peers to ask where they went first when it came to buying a new item of clothing. 90% said they found something they liked online and then shopped on Vinted/eBay/Depop for that same or similar item. This was taken from a wide demographic which included people you wouldn’t usually land in the category of secondhand buyers. 

The more we stand against mass-manufacturing cheaper quality goods the more it will make the bigger brands think. They have the money, the market and resources to make the changes but they have to be brave. I genuinely believe that if one does then the rest will follow. 

In all industries I see the independents failing because they can’t compete with money. The big players aren’t just killing the smaller players, they’re erasing them from memory. 

Mrs Atha’s is a coffee shop in my hometown of Leeds that arguably serves one of the best coffees in the north of England. It closes this week as it can’t go on. Local building works and no help from the council have accelerated its demise but you can’t turn a corner in town without bumping into a Starbucks, Costa or Nero. All of which are utter dross. They’re not suffering and we certainly don’t need so many. We need more Mrs Atha’s. 

It won’t be long until city centres are like Lego sets, each with their own Flannels, Zara, Primark, H&M and M&S, a literal real-life build by numbers, all pumping out different flavours of shit from the corporate, mass-manufactured pipe. Sceptical? Don’t be, it’s already happening. 

If you can take one thing away from this article, I would urge you to really consider quality wherever you can. Times are hard and I know that Lidl’s Rich Tea biscuits may save you 50p over McVities, that’s fine. But I am talking about clothing, tools, kitchenware, furniture, so many things. 

You work hard for your money, spend it well and wisely.