Article: Fast Fashion Fever: Toxic Jewelry
Fast Fashion Fever: Toxic Jewelry
History & Inspiration
Imitation jewelry is not a new concept; for at least 300 years, the industry has copied trendy jewelry fashions using cheaper materials in order to pander to the lower classes. The increase in manufacturing for these kinds of products began during the Industrial Revolution as the middle class wanted beautiful but affordable jewelry.
As production methods improved, women of all social stations were able to afford and own pieces considered 'Costume Jewelry'. In the mid 20th century, designers like Chanel and Dior began to design their own costume jewelry; popularizing it through their celebrity status. During this time, costume jewelry was becoming more prevalent in movies as well, which increased its desire and popularity.
Throughout the 1940’s and 50’s due to the war, metal materials were scarce, leading to the increase in plastic use. Working women wanted to emulate Hollywood Actresses, so fake jewelry became the most sought after.
Since then, pop culture has had a large influence on the fashion industry. This can be seen mainly through the rise of Hip Hop, where large and flashy jewelry is used as status symbols to showcase wealth. With this materialist-centric lifestyle, imitation jewelry was fueled by music that glorifies jewelry not usually affordable to the every-day consumer.
As the desire to keep up with changing fashion trends increased, people wanted more options for unique and customized costume jewelry. As popular styles and trends in fashion are easily recognizable, cheap imitations of luxury designs are generally well known and sought after. This led to the business model of making more money selling multiple cheap items than one expensive piece.
Despite the rise in fast fashion jewelry, high quality luxury jewelry is still desired. The Hong Kong International Jewellery Show is the largest in the world where the newest designs are showcased. With more than 20,000 exhibitors, and more than 60,000 visitors, investors, and buyers, China is now the largest market for jewelry, and one of the world's largest producers.
Celebrities are still a large part of fashion jewelry inspiration as public figures who influence fashion trends and styles. The Kardashians collaborated with online fashion retailer ASOS to launch their own collection through the site. The point of these collections is that they are limited edition and only available for a short period of time; this scarcity tactic drives demand for the product during availability.
These collaborations use celebrity status to push attention towards the jewelry company, but puts pressure on the industry because it drives everything to happen faster and cheaper; with jewelry that is inexpensive with a fast turnover with highly fashionable styles.
Working Conditions
Around 20 years ago, Bijou Brigitte's CEO allowed reporters into factories in China where their supply chains are located; they found there were extremely low wages, very long working hours, and multiple safety issues. The only response from Bijou Brigitte on these issues stated,
“We source our products mainly from China… for competitive reasons, we do not provide any information on individual producers or suppliers”.
The lack of visibility from these companies stops people from questioning the true nature of their production techniques, allowing them to cut corners without being held accountable.
The working environment in factories that produce imitation jewelry have to be low cost with a high yield. It forces workers to work overtime to get orders through as there is such a large demand. Many companies publish supplier lists (which is now required by law); this has shown that the main market label is made in China.
Despite there being clear laws in regards to labour practices and lower work weeks, very few places follow these. Sometimes the employees go for 75 hour work weeks; essentially 12 hour days. Although a lot of pieces are handmade, due to the low wages, workers are pushed to do overtime; which can equate to only one to two days off a month.
Changan is the birthplace in China for fashion jewelry, while Yiwu is one of the biggest suppliers of fast fashion jewelry for Shien and Temu. Sourcing products from these suppliers means they get products directly from factories as they have few warehouses.
The businesses set sales price parameters which is good for factory operators, but manufacturers don’t get paid until items reach customers with the right quality. This means that if there are defects, suppliers may not make much in terms of profit. This is a large part of why, in order to make up ground, they have to work longer, and produce more.
Market
We all know that imitation jewelry is highly accessible to almost everyone, with a large percentage being sold to younger women who are conscious of fashion trends. Due to fluctuations in prices of precious metals, consumers opt for more affordable alternatives.
The convenience offered by online retailing platforms has also been a significant part of the fast fashion market growth. With the rise of online shopping, consumers can now easily browse and purchase costume jewelry from the comfort of their own homes.
Online craft marketplaces like Etsy, along with the sharing of ideas over social media, means that trends can be spotted and spread quickly to new audiences. This easy access allows larger retailers to imitate the designs of these small crafters. Style bloggers (like those on TikTok) along with celebrity culture also help spread ideas around quickly. All of this fuels the rapid spread of fashion trends that feed fast fashion.
One of the ways in which fast fashion jewelry has become so predominant in the market is due to the fact that small jewelry sections can be added into any type of stores with their compact displays, and tend to be low risk for businesses who only pay for what is sold. Some companies like Beeline and Bijou Brigitte have opened more than 30,000 sales points across drug stores and other stores that can easily fit small accessories; generating turnover in the millions.
In 2022, the global jewelry market was valued at $33 million, while in 2023, the costume jewelry market size was $29.1 billion and has only increased as more people rely on cheap jewelry with short product lives.
Some places sell across multiple platforms at different price points (Amazon vs Temu) but the prices are unstable and full of risks for suppliers. A large inventory doesn’t always sell, despite some companies demanding a large backlog of items for faster bulk sales.
Business platforms like Temu and Shein use pressure tactics like countdowns and time delays, as well as constant "vouchers" to make people feel like they are getting a deal and need to buy more. The deciding factor comes down to price. It is typical that the suppliers must be flexible, as this model is based on speed and a vast range of products.
This business model ensures everything is optimized to keep prices as low as possible, meaning that suppliers may need to cut corners in order to keep up with product demand. Cheap prices produce less products, so huge quantities have to be sold in order to make a profit; therefore, cheap fashion jewelry does not guarantee quality.
Materials
Jewelry making is an art form that takes time and involves designing, crafting, and using materials that can involve techniques such as filing, welding, and mounting. Despite all the work and effort that goes into jewelry making, it is not a fast way to make products as they take a lot of time to develop.
When cutting corners to speed up production time, the easiest way to do so is with materials. Materials in cheap jewelry are alloys like copper, nickel, and zinc that don’t cost as much to produce. When the base substance (that takes up most of the material volume) is cheap, it’s easy to process; if the overlay is brass, it looks “like gold”.
Fast fashion jewelry is the cheap and easy way to own something stylish. Younger generations don’t generally care as much about the materials of these items, as it’s more about the style and look/design. One of the biggest issues for this oversight, is that the materials can include heavy metals which are extremely dangerous.
Cadmium is one such heavy metal that is found to be carcinogenic, while lead has also been found in contaminated jewelry. Laws have been set to monitor these products for heavy metals, but so much goes through due to randomized testing. Despite special testing, some companies like Bijou Brigitte do their own testing and find "contrary" results, allowing the contaminated items to remain in circulation (while other companies like Shein and Ali Express when notified, have removed those product lines).
Health Impacts
It’s not uncommon for retailers to recall jewelry items due to high levels of cadmium. Cadmium can have serious health risks after chronic exposure. It can accumulate in bones and organs causing liver, kidney, and bone damage, various cancers, and neurological injury in children. Cadmium is a transition metal, which cannot be converted into a nontoxic form or easily excreted from the body.
Due to its similarity to zinc, cadmium can interfere with zinc-specific metabolic reactions. In the body, toxicity is prevented by the binding of cadmium to metallothionein --small metal-binding proteins-- which can be stored in cells; causing cadmium to accumulate in the body and manifest toxic effects years after initial exposure.
Despite the problems posed by inexpensive, high‑cadmium jewelry, results show that such jewelry remains available, with cadmium detected in 40% of items purchased at a discount jewelry store, and 25% of items exceeding the 300mg/kg threshold for migration testing. It was also found that damaged jewelry released more cadmium for most items, with one ring yielding an average of 10,600 micrograms. Simulated mouthing of intact items released up to 5,310 micrograms of cadmium, and simulated ingestion of damaged items released up to 63,100 micrograms.
Environmental Impacts
There are many negative environmental impacts found with the production and discarding of fast fashion jewelry. When you buy cheap jewelry with poor quality and a short product life, these items are more likely to break sooner; causing them to be discarded more frequently.
Cheap fashion jewelry = Poor quality = Short product life = More waste
Through human activity, more carbon dioxide has been released into the atmosphere than natural processes can remove, causing the amount in the atmosphere to increase. The global average carbon dioxide set a new record high in 2023: 419.3 parts per million. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is now 50% higher than it was before the Industrial Revolution.
The annual rate of increase in atmospheric carbo dioxide over the past 60 years is about 100x's faster than previous natural increases. Without carbon dioxide, Earth’s natural greenhouse effect would be too weak to keep the average global surface temperature above freezing. But by adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, people are supercharging the natural greenhouse effect, causing global temperature to rise (Global Warming).
The ocean has absorbed enough carbon dioxide to lower its pH by 0.1 units, a 30% increase in acidity. This increase impedes many species who require shells (like mollusks) to decrease their calcification; leading to potential job and food instability for many places that rely on ocean life.
In Brazil, it was found that the outsourcing of informal home practices adopted in jewelry and fashion jewelry chains can cause toxic substances to enter the sewage systems. Cadmium, nickel, copper, and zinc were found to either exceed or were close to legal limits within sewage sludge despite high concentrations of metals like copper and zinc requiring controlled disposal to ensure environmental safety.
The long-term environmental effects of fast fashion jewelry are as toxic as the heavy metals they produce. It isn’t just consumers who are at risk, but nature’s plants and animals from jewelry production and disposal, as well as the workers who produce and interact with these materials and are in consistent contact with them.
