Hope Munzesheimer 

Wicked Problems 

DHM 1101 

Aditya Jayadas 

How Wicked is the World?

          As a fashion merchandising major, I have come to realize how big of a role clothes and styles are incorporated in our everyday life. The initial purpose of clothing was to protect an individual from the elements, such as cold weather clothing protecting from hyperthermia or hot weather clothing that keeps you from overheating or being sunburned. With the rapid growth in the fashion industry and the production of products clothing isn’t only made for protection but it helps identify and express the person you are. With the fast fashion industry clothing is being made faster and cheaper becoming more disposable causing a waste of nonrenewable resources and providing poor working conditions and wages for workers. 

      A solution for this problem would be to thrift shop clothing items. In my personal experience I tend to thrift shop more than shop at retail stores because of the lower costs and the unique quality of the products. You never know what you are going to find, so the thrill of the search is more rewarding than buying something online or in a store. This solution helps the environment because when someone gives away the clothes, they do not go to waste they are put toward another purpose. 

              Fast Fashion isn’t seen as an immediate problem that needs to be solved but eventually there will be more clothes at thrifts stores than those being produced. Overall clothing that is going to be given away doesn’t mean that it cannot serve a purpose anymore, even if the clothing is ruined it can be repurposed into something else. For example, I own this jean rug that is made all from name brand jean back pockets, even if the jeans were no longer wearable, they all serve as a one of a kind rug. 

Nguyen, Y. (n.d.). Fast fashion – A wicked problem. Retrieved from http://sites.gsu.edu/ynguyen21/