Why you really, really, shouldn't buy crochet in fast fashion

From funky summer tops to eclectic patterned hats, crochet is all the rage right now. It’s fun, pretty and always makes a statement. Celebrities like Kendall Jenner have been spotted wearing it while British diving heartthrob Tom Daley even has a crochet Instagram account.

Crochet has rapidly risen in popularity over the past year, due to the rise of #selfcare routines — falling into the repetitive motion can be rather soothing — and surprisingly easy DIY crochet tutorials surfacing online.

To start crocheting, a few tools are needed, but most importantly, you need to prepare to set aside hours of your time to complete a piece such as a halter top, with the time needed going into the tens of hours as the crocheted piece becomes more complicated.

So if you don’t have time to spare, you’re probably looking to purchase a ready-made crocheted product instead. But beware where you buy crochet from though, because you may inadvertently be supporting exploitative labour.

Unethical working conditions in fast fashion retailers’ factories

It’s no secret that fast fashion retailers such as Zara and Shein (who both sell crochet apparel and accessories) aren’t transparent about their factories’ labour conditions. This means that their employees work in atrocious conditions, where the working hours are long, and they’re paid way below minimum wage.

This isn’t just hearsay — French prosecutors have opened an investigation into four fashion companies, including Zara, over suspicions of slave labour in its garment factories in Xinjiang, China.

As for Shein, they are infamous, to say the least. On numerous occasions, customers have reported seeing messages asking for help sewn into their clothing tags. The extent of Shein’s exploitation was also recently uncovered in a British documentary, Untold: Inside the Shein Machine where an undercover worker was sent into two Shein garment factories. 

Their findings were horrendous — they witnessed firsthand how workers toiled up to 18 hours each day and only had one day off per month. Workers were also paid close to nothing for each garment produced. They each made about 500 pieces daily and earned 4,000 yuan monthly, working out to about four cents per item. That’s right, four cents.

And when you think about crocheted products and how these workers are painstakingly crocheting by hand, it’s even worse. Unlike other processes like knitting or regular sewing, which can be done with a machine, crochet can only be handmade. This requires the worker to pay great attention to detail, something that is undoubtedly difficult when you work 18-hour shifts.

One search of the keyword ‘crochet’ on one of these retailers’ sites will reveal pages after pages of crocheted products, all retailing for eye-bulging low prices — crocheted tops sell for as little as $7.

But wait, there’s more.

Stolen crochet designs

Large fast fashion brands also have a tendency to steal designs from small fashion designers and businesses, even being so bold as to completely copy the entire design. Crochet is no exception, with multiple instances of creators speaking up about how a large brand has stolen their design.

“Two of my designs have now been copied by Shein,” said Flo, a Brussels-based fashion designer and avid crocheter. “I’m frustrated, feeling powerless, and totally fed up. How can small creators put any originality in their work if they are going to be copied and sold by massive brands for pennies?”

Flo also attached two side-by-side comparisons of her wearing her designs alongside screenshots from Shein’s official website. At just one glance, it’s clear that Shein’s designs are a spitting image of Flo’s.

Elexiay, an indie crochet fashion brand from Nigeria, has also had their designs stolen by Shein. The brand’s founder, Elyon Adede, took to social media to speak up. “We feel crushed, Shein has stolen our Amelia sweater design. We’re a small Black-owned independent sustainable business. Before this sweater was brought to life, we spent hours designing and brainstorming both colour ways and structure. After which, our patterns were created.”

“Our artisans, all women in Nigeria, spend four to five days crocheting such a beautiful piece of art. It’s quite disheartening to see such talent and hard work reduced to a machine-made copy,” she continued. (Shein ripped off the crochet design, but used a different knitting method to produce their sweaters.)

Unsurprisingly, Shein has also ripped off crochet designs from another indie designer, Bailey Prado. They’ve also simplified Prado’s intricate designs such that they can be machine-made instead, but the leftover similarities are still numerous enough that it’s obvious the designs originated from Prado.

Fast fashion retailers like Shein are able to produce these items faster and on a larger scale than small businesses (who are often a one-man show), meaning that these brands are able to push out these copied designs to stores so fast and price them so low that they totally eclipse the original designer. Customers purchase from these large brands, unaware that it was a stolen design.

Additionally, when consumers get used to seeing such low prices associated with crocheted products, it devalues the entire product, and people become less willing to fork out the deservedly high prices for crochet products made ethically by small businesses.

With these ethical issues, it’s clear to see that crochet has never been meant for fast fashion — where the racks are updated almost weekly and clothes are trendy, rather than classic.

What if I can’t afford an expensive crocheted product?

Admittedly, not everyone can afford a $300 crocheted sweater from a small business. But perhaps, instead of turning to fast fashion to purchase a similar design, you can try crocheting it yourself — there’s an abundance of detailed tutorials online. This way, the finished product will be even more special, as you’ve put your heart and soul into creating it.

But if you are willing to fork out to get a quality crocheted piece (or purchase a pattern to try crocheting) and support a small business while you’re at it, these five local designers have you covered.