By Natalia Siewczynski ’28
As we enter the year 2025, there is always so much pressure for new. New clothes. New fashion. New fame. New fortune. Will things ever change?
Each year, fashion and beauty trends reveal themselves. Whether it’s rhinestones or plaid, it’s the new shiny thing that everyone needs. Each trend makes a name for itself, growing over social media platforms everywhere, just to disappear a month later.
Online shopping has made new clothes and various brands so accessible that it’s almost impossible for people to resist. Impulsive buys are almost impossible to hold back from when you don’t even have to get up from the couch. Everything from Nike to Gucci is purchasable from just a click of a finger.
With new fashion trends surfacing every day, the cheap alternative or “dupe” seems like the way to go, right? Sadly, these affordable options are too good to be true.
Fast fashion has named itself the affordable, more reasonable option, but it has caused more damage to the climate than ever imagined. After its abundant use of dyeing and finishing over the years, it has now been named responsible for 20% of global wastewater.
According to a study done by CNN style, brands like Shein have estimated been worn only seven to ten time until they are thrown out.
For every two pounds of clothing produced, one pound is wasted within the same year, excluding the accumulated waste from past years. To put this into perspective, this is equivalent to a trash truck full of clothes dropping off at a landfill every second.
According to a study done by the United Nations, fashion has become the second most polluting industry. It takes responsibility for more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
Although the light at the end of the tunnel begins to dim in fashion, the beauty industry seems to be going in a more positive direction.
People all around the world scavenge to find the next best mascara or eye liner, but this year it’s a little quieter. Although packaging continues to pollute, there has been major improvement. No blush is “to die for” and no mascara is irresistible. This year we are reaching the bottom of the pan.
“Project Pan” is an idea created by young influencers on TikTok to withstand buying any beauty products until the existing ones run out of product. It addresses the polluting industry that is the cosmetic industry.
According to a study done by Fortune, this new trend could reshape U.S consumer’s behavior in 2025. If Project Pan is successful, it will prove society finally acknowledges the effect of pollution.
As efforts are made in the beauty industry to minimize pollution, the future looks bright, but the land of misfit clothes will continue to gain new colors and patterns if changes are not made.
THE BEAR FACTS 