Fast fashion – inexpensive clothing produced and distributed quickly and designed to keep up with the latest trends – remains as popular as ever thanks to brands like Shein, Temu and Forever 21.
But concerns have also been raised about the industry, ranging from environmental impact (excessive waste, pollution resulting from the production process, etc.) to ethical issues including potential exploitation of labor in developing countries.
There can also be a cultural impact, especially in a nation like Japan that has long cherished its rich history and traditions.
That impact is the focus of “Monttainai: Everything in Between” – the 17th documentary produced by Extending the Link (ETL), a nonprofit, student-founded and student-run group at CSB and SJU that makes short documentary films dealing with under-reported global social justice issues.
The just-under-30-minute film, which was produced over the course of the 2024-25 school year and had its premiere on April 30 in SJU’s Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, addresses fast fashion’s impact on traditional Japanese cultural practices and the attempt to preserve that culture with the rise of Westernization and industrialization.
“We knew going in that we probably weren’t going to be able to take our cameras into a factory to examine conditions for workers there,” said CSB senior Lydia Mattern, one of this year’s four co-directors.
“So we took a different approach – looking at how fast fashion impacts a culture. Japan has such a beautiful cultural tradition in art and fashion. But with the rise of this kind of clothing, which is less expensive to buy, people aren’t wearing things like traditional kimonos. The culture is being lost in some ways.”
Members of Extending the Link visited Japan for a week this past January, conducting interviews and spending time in both urban and rural settings.
“We thought a topic like this would be more relatable to the younger generation, and CSB and SJU has a study-abroad program hosted by Bunkyo Gakuin University (in Tokyo), so we had contacts there that made it an easier place for us to go,” said SJU senior Chenxu Yu, another of the ETL co-directors (whose solo films were honored with three separate Broadcast Education Association Awards of Excellence special distinctions earlier this year).
“Most of the documentaries ETL has done have focused on specific personalities that tug at your heart,” Mattern added. “But this one is more focused on culture, which made it really unique and interesting to work on.”
In conjunction with the film, ETL – whose slogan is “Think globally, act locally” – has been working to set up a swap shop on campus where students could drop off or pick up recycled clothing, preventing it from being discarded and filling up landfills.
The organization is working with the CSB and SJU Sustainability Office and the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement. The hope is the shop will open in one of those two locations at the start of the fall semester later this year.
“The idea is that if a student needs a shirt to wear for something, like a job interview, they can come in and pick one out rather than buying a poorly-made, fast-fashion shirt that they might get rid of right after,” said CSB senior Maggie Fallon, another of the co-directors.
“Our goal was to create a place that can be self-sustaining and carry on for years and years after this.”
The documentary’s premiere drew a crowd of just under 400 people, and those involved in its production say they are happy with how it turned out.
“Making a documentary is like solving a puzzle,” Yu said. “You produce all these interviews and all this footage, then you work as a team to try and put it together in a way that makes sense to the most people.”
“I think one of the biggest themes we came away with is the idea of appreciating the things you have and taking care of them,” Fallon added. “That’s a broader concept that can be applied to a lot of different ideas in life. It’s bigger than just a single topic like fast fashion. It has a more universal application.”