By Amber Bogumil
Klarna is a company that provides online financial services to people worldwide through a range of different businesses, in order to give people an easier way to pay for items. Their slogan is ‘shop now, pay later’ – by splitting the payments over a period of time.
However, payment services such as Klarna and Clearpay have sparked a debate about whether they promote fast fashion (‘a term used by fashion retailers to describe inexpensive designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to meet new trends,’ to quote Investopedia) and actually cause more harm than good.
Fast fashion relies upon a staggering amount of mass-produced clothes. Therefore, brands are under more pressure than ever to produce enough clothes for their consumers. It’s the cheap prices that reel in customers, but people are buying clothes they don’t even want as a result.
Not only is fast fashion generating widespread clothes waste, but brands are also cutting corners using cheap, toxic textile dyes; the second-largest polluter of clean water, according to the Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS).
Payment services like Klarna are only encouraging this issue. Most of the prices are already ridiculously cheap, but these services are making clothes even more ‘affordable’. They give people the chance to worry about finances later while still being able to purchase whatever they want, whenever they want. Clothes are more accessible to customers than ever and as a result, companies are having to mass-produce much more, much more quickly.
Such services have also been accused of encouraging students to get into even more debt when shopping online. Websites like Boohoo and Misguided use the service to enable their customers (who are mostly between the ages of 18-24) to think they can afford the clothes they’re buying. With students being on a tight budget, this service only encourages them to contribute to fast fashion, which in effect is damaging the environment.
Every year, global emissions from textile production are equivalent to 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2, a figure that outweighs the carbon footprint of international flights and shipping combined.
Jasmine Chinasamy, Unearthed
In essence, services like Klarna and Clearpay cause more far trouble then they’re worth. While they may be a good idea for those in need who don’t enough cash at the time, you need to be clever with your purchases. Services like this are legitimising something considered as a serious environmental concern.
In order to fight fast fashion, we should make sure we really want or even need the items that we’re ordering. Patience is key. Fast fashion is as expected to get grow, so it’s up to us as consumers to combat this. Let’s invest our money into more sustainable fashion and do our bit to help save the planet.
Featured image: Aaron Shaw ‘Is This Thing On?’ is a unique debut show, a product of the creative collaboration between Ellie Campbell, Megan Keaveney (MissMatch), and the So La Flair theatre company. Following its debut appearance at Contact Theatre, the show promises to be a memorable experience for those attending the tour across Wigan, Leeds,…
Featured image: aAh! In each print issue, aAh! Magazine explores one word which runs as its theme. Next up is The FRESHERS Issue 24/25. aAh! Magazine invites all Manchester Met students interested in journalism, writing, photography and design to pitch ideas to be considered for print publication for the upcoming issue: The FRESHERS Issue 24/25….
Featured image: Seagoth “This album is dedicated to all of the people who can’t take a day off from themselves, to the people who have to face their greatest fears every single day – and to all the pain we feel, may we heal”. – Seagoth on How to Stay Wide Awake. While studying music…
Featured image: So La Flair Theatre Ellie Campbell and Megan Keaveney graduated last year from Manchester Theatre School. The pair met at a house party in their first year, where Ellie was standing on a table singing her heart out to Florence and the Machine. Megan locked eyes with her and knew they would be…
Leave a reply