Consumers are becoming more conscious of how the clothes they are purchasing are produced due to rising costs and environmental concerns, a shift that may push some to look for alternatives.

While American fashion carries international influence, most of the clothing sold domestically is made elsewhere. Many of this clothing is known as fast fashion, low-priced but stylish clothing that moves quickly from design to retail stores to meet and capitalize on trends, according to Tracie Tung, an associate professor of fashion design and merchandising in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at California State University, Northridge.

“These products are made without thinking about the longevity of the product,” Tung said. “The industry’s production processes — the manufacturing techniques of fast fashion, or short-lived clothing — are unsustainable over time.”

While fast fashion is not a new trend, the pandemic increased the number of brands selling cheap goods as online shopping boomed during that period. Brands like Shein and Temu, which make their products overseas, saw a bevy of new customers who took advantage of low-priced clothing that could be bought with just a few clicks.

“These online businesses got super big during the pandemic, and, for Shien, that was great timing,” Tung said. “They didn’t need to spend money to invest in building physical infrastructure, having physical stores. They can just ship their product directly from the factory to US consumers.”

However, Tung has noticed a shift in consumer habits in the years since the pandemic and inflation rose, forcing many to cut back on unnecessary expenses, including clothing. Younger consumers, a target audience for fast fashion brands, have led this change, as many of them become conscience of the clothing they buy, how it is made and where it comes from, Tung said.

“You can never find one single reason to explain this phenomenon but when you look at the macro environment, like politics and economics, those are important. The other reason is the microenvironment, like the personal attitude toward sustainability, company values and business model,” Tung said.

“At the end of the day, the common effect is the consumer, which recognize the sustainability issues in the fashion industry,” she continued. “They want to know if the shirt they buy is doing more harm than good.”

Tung leads CSUN’s Sustainable Fashion Program, which started in 2022 to raise awareness of fashion sustainability issues and to cultivate sustainability-conscious global citizens. Students in the program learn about what Tung calls the “dark side of the fashion industry” and attend interactive workshops and panels about best clothing practices.

As more people become mindful of the clothes they buy, thrifting has become a go-to way of being sustainability-conscious, particularly for Gen-Z, Tung said.

“Consumers are learning more about clothes and are making better purchase decisions in return, and thrifting is one of them,” Tung said. “I want to educate my students so that in the future, when they go into the fashion industry, they become leaders and know how to make the right decision.

“It might take some time to educate consumers, but I’m glad that I see more people starting to pay attention to things like materials, where they are from and other factors like workers being treated like fairly, that is a true conscious consumer.”