Hi everyone! To get us started, this week’s post focuses on the definition, characteristics and origins of the fast fashion industry.
What is fast fashion?
Fast fashion can refer to affordable clothes that mimic current luxury fashion trends. Some characteristics of fast fashion include
- Fast manufacturing/production – new collections are produced quickly and sometimes in limited quantity (remember those “limited edition” collections?). At the time of writing, ultra-fast fashion brand, SHEIN, has 3380 new items launched in their “daily drops” category. Turnover rates are high and while high fashion and designer labels used to release four collections annually, this has increased to more than 20 unique releases within the same period (Noyes, 2021).
- Fast use – a piece of clothing is worn only an average of 14 times (Crumbie, 2021) Just imagine wearing the same shirt for two weeks before throwing it out…
- Cheap – probably one of the biggest appeals of fast fashion…In the 20th century, a dress would cost more than $70 in today’s dollars but now, we can grab a dress for only $10-$15 at H&M or Cotton On.
Before we take a deeper look into fast fashion, it is worthwhile to look at the origins of the fast fashion industry.
How did fast fashion come about?
This 6.5-minute video gives a good illustration of Zara’s history and origins from 1950, founded by Amancio Ortega.
While the fast fashion industry is fairly new, “fast fashion” describes an evolving production system that started in the 1800s.
Before the 1800s:
Fashion was really slow – people had to source their materials such as leather and wool, before weaving them into clothes. With the Industrial Revolution, the process was expedited with textile and sewing machines. Clothes were cheaper and a lot faster to manufacture as dressmaking shops and garment factories opened (Idacavage, 2018).
In the 1900s:
Post World War II, limitations in textiles and fabrics, coupled with the demand for more practical styles propelled a standardized production system for clothes, leading to the mass production of clothes.
By the 1990s and 2000s,
Fast fashion morphed into a booming industry – retailers such as Zara, H&M and Topshop that started in Europe and had successfully infiltrated the American market and beyond, although the pioneer of the industry is unclear. The globalization of fast fashion has also been referred to as “McFashion” (Joy et al., 2012).
Top fashion retailer, Zara, was able to put new clothes on the racks just 15 days after they were first conceptualized by the designer (Idacavage, 2018).
However, beyond the dictionary definition of fast fashion, the term has also been associated with environmental damages, exploitation, wastage, and a whole host of ethical issues. It is critical to acknowledge that there are problems with the fashion industry and fast fashion business models. As a response, in the 21st century, we have seen brands turn to “sustainable fashion”, “slow fashion” models and alternatives such as thrifting and clothes exchange. For example, Zara announced that it will only produce clothes from “sustainable, organic or recycled materials” by 2025, although this has been met with much criticism and scepticism (Nguyen, 2020). The problems and responses will be covered in greater detail in Chapter 2 and 3 respectively, but until then, let’s keep running away from fast fashion!!
Cheers,
Chermaine
References
Crumbie, A. (2021). What is fast fashion and why is it a problem? Ethical Consumer. https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/fashion-clothing/what-fast-fashion-why-it-problem
Idacavage, S. (2018). Fashion History Lesson: The Origins of Fast Fashion. Fashionista. https://fashionista.com/2016/06/what-is-fast-fashion
Joy, A., Sherry, J. F., Venkatesh, A., Wang, J., & Chan, R. (2012). Fast Fashion, Sustainability, and the Ethical Appeal of Luxury Brands. Fashion Theory, 16(3), 273–295. https://doi.org/10.2752/175174112X13340749707123
Nguyen, T. (2020). Fast fashion, explained. Vox. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/2/3/21080364/fast-fashion-h-and-m-zara
Noyes, L. (2021). Fast Fashion 101: Everything You Need to Know. EcoWatch. https://www.ecowatch.com/fast-fashion-guide-2655084121.html