Fast Fashion

What is Fast Fashion?

Fast fashion is the term used to describe clothing designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to take advantage of trends. Fast fashion became common because of cheaper, speedier manufacturing and shipping methods, an increase in consumers' appetite for up-to-the-minute styles, and the increase in consumer purchasing power—especially among young people—to win the race of having acquired the trendiest clothes first. Because of all this, fast fashion is challenging the established clothing labels' tradition of introducing new collections and lines on an orderly, seasonal basis.

If you’ve bought clothes in the past decade, odds are that at least one item came from a fast-fashion brand. Stores like Zara and H&M, two of the largest retailers in the world, still hold a stronghold over most people’s shopping habits, even with the rise of online shopping brands. These big, brightly lit stores seemed to pop up in malls overnight sometime in the late 2000s, carrying everything from skinny jeans to work blouses to cocktail dresses, often for significantly less money than stores like Gap or Nordstrom.

As for advantages for the consumer, fast fashion has enabled people to get the clothes they want when they want them. Also, it's made clothing more affordable—and not just any clothing, but innovative, imaginative, stylish clothing. No longer is the latest look or being "well-dressed," or having a large wardrobe the province of the rich and famous. Despite the advantages for customers, fast fashion has also been criticized because it encourages a “throw-away” attitude. That's why it's also called disposable fashion. Many fast fashionistas in their teens and early twenties—the age group the industry targets—admit they're only wearing their purchases once or twice.

A 2020 article on the Global Edge, a Michigan State University business reference site stated, "Fast fashion creates a host of issues that make it more problematic than it is beneficial…This industry contributes to climate change, pesticide pollution, and enormous amounts of waste." And also, the article noted, the exploitation of and danger to workers, promulgated by the need for speed and cost efficiencies that is fast fashion's whole raison d'être.

Whether fast fashion's downsides outweigh its upsides is a debatable question, though. And the debate is likely to continue, as long as people love being able to buy high styles at low prices.