Despite the Industrial Revolution beginning in the 18th century, some of the revolution's influences are still relevant today. Much of the Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes between 1760 and the mid-1800s. The textile industry was greatly affected by this change and growth. The Industrial Revolution obviously inspired some of the modern textile industry, but with technological developments and changes in society's outlook, some modern textile companies are moving away from the typical processes of the Industrial Revolution and redefining their own methods. The benefits of the Industrial Revolution, such as mass production and the first department stores, and how these concepts expanded the textile industry will be explored, as well as the flaws resulting from these key ideas such as poor manufacturing conditions. work of workers. Additionally, the influence of the Industrial Revolution on fast fashion will be highlighted by Australia's largest global retailer, Cotton On Group. On top of that, the way in which even those in the fast fashion industry had to adapt the manufacturing style of the industrial revolution in order to conform to society's new ethical stances and an increasingly more respectful of the environment will be highlighted. Additionally, to demonstrate how the Industrial Revolution did not inspire every clothing company in the industry today but rather how society is progressing beyond these modes of manufacturing, slow fashion brand, Reformation, will be explored in depth to to demonstrate how there are different demands that are now expected to be respected. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Industrial Revolution eventually gave birth to the textile industry and established enduring concepts that still impact society today. Ideas such as mass production and the invention of department stores highlight some of the benefits of the Industrial Revolution, but the system also had many flaws. Mass production was one of the main concepts of the industrial revolution. It involves the production of goods on a large scale with the use of automated mechanical process, it increased efficiency, reduced average costs and made it possible to produce more goods at a rapid speed. . This meant that the textile industry expanded and women no longer needed to use bone and iron needles to slowly sew by hand, thanks to machines that allowed mass production. (Heskett, 1980) One of these revolutionary machines was the sewing machine, an invention of Connecticut native Elias Howe, this invention in 1846 sparked a technological, industrial and social revolution. It imitated the movements of hands sewing using a lockstitch mechanism with a sharp needle, this is the same system that is used today. This accelerated the pace of industrialization, while giving women the opportunity to prove they could operate complex machinery. One of the main benefits of mass production and machine inventions such as the sewing machine is that they made it possible to produce and bring to market clothing at lower prices than the time it took to make the textile being considerably reduced. This idea is commonly used in today's textile industry, cheap clothing is mass produced whileHand-made clothing is associated with a high price tag. Additionally, another defining element of the Industrial Revolution was the invention of department stores. Unlike today's clean, bright department stores and the ability to purchase online, in the past department stores were a novel idea, they were seen as an ideal way for women to touch and feel the fabrics before purchasing them and allowed women to get out and leave. home, this sparked these ideas of fixed prices, credit systems, seasonal sales, more affordable products, a diverse range of goods and standardized products, which is common today, especially in our industry textile. The first department store was opened during the Industrial Revolution, the Grand Fashionable Magazine by Harding, Howell & Co was located in the Pall Mall in the St James area of ​​London and was open from 1809. This store was divided into departments composed of furs and fans, fabrics for dresses. , haberdashery, jewelry and watches, perfumery and headgear. (Glancey, 2015) This concept is very relevant in today's society, not only with department stores such as Myer and David Jones, but as we will see later, Cotton On Group has adopted a similar approach. Although these concepts had a positive impact on the progress of the industrial revolution, the logistics of the textile operation was also fraught with many flaws and problems that saw the modern textile industry move away from certain systems of the industrial revolution. For example, in textile factories, children worked and women and children were forced to work long hours for very low pay. Due to the thousands of workers in the factories and the lack of hygiene and sanitation, disease outbreaks often occurred. Pneumonia was also common when workers moved from the humid conditions inside the textile factory to the cold air outside. Children often had to crawl over the machines to clean it, which was also very dangerous. This type of unethical behavior was common throughout the Industrial Revolution and today's textile industry is held accountable if this occurs due to societal conscience. Ultimately, the Industrial Revolution played an important role in today's textile industry because many of its key concepts are still relevant in modern society. In particular, fast fashion – inexpensive clothing produced quickly by major retailers in response to the latest trends –, a leading idea in today's textile industry, is ultimately inspired by the concept of production of mass that began during the industrial revolution. Fast fashion uses mass production to focus on quantity and speed rather than quality. This is evident through fast fashion brand Cotton On Group. The company as a whole has 7 brands under its name and is present in 18 countries with over 1,400 stores. Cotton On Group works with around 400 different factories, the majority of which are in China, Bangladesh and India. One of Cotton On's suppliers in Bangladesh, called The Renaissance Group, has 10 factories and 20,000 team members spread across several stages of production. (Cotton On Group, 2019) The large number of people in factories and the size of the production process are related to mass production, which obviously highlights how Cotton On Group was influenced by the invention of production mass during the industrial revolution. A specific example of mass production is the “Gina Square Neck Top» from Cotton On, made of 55% cotton and 45% viscose, retailing for just $14.99. The extremely cheap price of the product further highlights Cotton On's embrace of the mass industrial revolution. production as low retail costs were also important during the revolution because if the top was hand made using the pre-revolution system they couldn't afford to sell it as cheaply down. The connection to the relevance of the Industrial Revolution today is further highlighted as this top was made using a sewing machine – although technologically more advanced today – it This is an invention of the industrial revolution highlighted earlier. However, not all of Cotton On's processes are inspired by the industrial revolution. Due to the companies ethical thinking, they have had to adapt their brand to meet these standards and combat the flaws of the industrial revolution processes that negatively impact society. These areas include wages, the reason why companies such as Cotton On as well as industrial revolution factories were able to sell clothing cheaply is due to the low wages their factory workers receive, Cotton We had to address this ethical question in its “rules of commerce” guaranteeing the payment of a minimum wage. Another problem Cotton On Group overcome is that of child labor in the industrial revolution, by banning all child labor and forced labor. Factory conditions must also be safe and hygienic, unlike the unsanitary factories of the Industrial Revolution that caused illness among workers. Working conditions aren't the only thing Cotton On has had to improve since the industrial revolution, but also the sourcing of materials, due to the more eco-friendly mindset of its customers. The company is committed to programs such as the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) as well as the Kenya Sustainable Cotton Program, along with these partnerships, Cotton On aims to use 100% sustainable cotton by 2021 , because the textile industry uses around 378 billion liters of water per year, mainly for cotton production. For example, the top below would use approximately 2,000 liters of water to produce. Mass production is not the only concept that has influenced the structure of the textile industry today. Another aspect of the industrial revolution that was adopted to some extent by the textile industry was the invention of the department store – a large store offering many varieties of products. goods in different departments. This concept can be seen through the Cotton On Group brand to some extent, as they now have Mega Cotton On stores which house up to 3 of their different brands in one store. Delving deeper into how Cotton on Group adopted this concept, one can see through the characteristics that made a department store what it was during the industrial revolution, as noted earlier, such as fixed prices and sales seasonal, which can be used to describe the experience in a Cotton On. store, further highlighting how the impact and influence of the Industrial Revolution is still relevant today. (Glancey, 2015) However, again, to adapt to modern society, Cotton On had to use an online shopping platform in addition to its physical stores to keep up with the technology of today's society . This highlights how much the Industrial Revolution has actually influenced today's textile industry, but also how modern technology hasled companies to explore other sales avenues. Although the industrial revolution still impacts the textile industry today, many companies have adopted the slow fashion style of manufacturing, rejecting industrial revolution processes, raising the question of whether or not society will beyond the ways of the past. Slow fashion is the movement of designing, creating and purchasing clothing for longevity and quality rather than cheapness. It encourages slower production schedules, fair wages, a lower carbon footprint and aims for zero waste. It is ethical and examines the connections between raw materials, the environment and human labor. Reformation is an example of a slow fashion company. This is a Los Angeles-based brand known for its feminine and effortless pieces. The brand promotes sustainability through its clothing by making it from plant-based fibers, for example the 'Nina top' seen in Figure 5 is 53% viscose and 47% rayon, the top has a similar appearance to the Cotton On top, but the Cotton On top instead uses a cotton blend, a fabric that Reformation considers to be one of the most environmentally harmful fabrics. Reformation's commitment to ethical sourcing is reflected in the choice of its fabrics, for example viscose is a synthetic fiber made from wood pulp. They are committed to ensuring that the forests they source from are conserved, protected and restored. To do this, they work with the non-profit group Canopy to contribute to positive change for their forest products, ensuring that all our forest products come from sustainably managed forests. This shows how a slow fashion brand like Reform doesn't follow the practices of the industrial revolution, because during the industrial revolution they didn't care about their environmental or ethical footprint, they just focused on making the greatest number of products possible. Another comparison can be made through the price of the Reformation top, $222 and the Cotton On top, $14.99. This large difference in price despite the stylistically similar style of the two tops, highlights how Reformation rejects the Industrial Revolution's idea of ​​producing things as cheaply as possible. Instead, the company's commitment to better materials, better quality, and ethical practices is reflected in the high price. This leaves consumers today with the choice of supporting traditional manufacturing processes in order to benefit from a cheap price, or thinking ethically and paying more to support this. Reformations' manufacturing process further distinguishes itself from Cotton On because unlike the fast fashion brand, 65% of Reformations' manufacturing is done locally in Los Angeles, which contrasts with Cotton's idea of ​​mass production We - inspired by the industrial revolution - subcontracted to factories. on a global scale, which, although having strict rules, can be difficult to monitor completely. In comparison, Reform keeps the manufacturing process close to home, which is why the price is also high, as the minimum wage in the United States is very different from countries like Bangladesh. However, the top below was made with a sewing machine, an invention of the Industrial Revolution, showing that even slowly, there are still relevant inventions even if the processes around them are very different. The invention of department stores by the Industrial Revolution is another concept that highlights how,.