What is Fast Fashion?

I was chatting to one of my housemates about fast fashion brands the other day, and she was asking me what brands counted as fast fashion. I gave a pretty general explanation, but because the question caught me off guard I realised afterwards if I'd have done more research myself, I'd probably be able to give a better explanation! Even if you think you know what fast fashion is (like I did), it's worth giving this a read so you can make sure you have a really good idea, so you do a better job of explaining it to others (and avoiding it yourself!).

Definition:

Fast fashion is the process where fashion companies are reproducing clothing created by established designers, to fulfil customers' demands of high fashion and the latest trends for low prices. These production of these clothes has been made to be so cost and time-efficient that the clothes can be made available to consumers with a very quick turnaround, which is why many brands constantly have new items available to purchase. The mindset created by mass-market retailers has created a throwaway culture, in which it has become normalised to buy new and dispose of the old, without considering long-lasting impacts to the planet, workers, and our money.

Warning signs a brand is fast fashion:

- Every time you go instore/ look online, they're boasting about all the new products they have.

- The price of the item does not seem justifiable considering all the costs involved in making clothes, such as resources, worker's wages and transporting goods.

- You're tempted to chuck out items from that brand rather than feel their worthy of repairing/ handing down to a sibling or friend.

- They're a big, well-known chain. Not every fashion brand that's got more than one store is fast fashion, but a lot of the brands found on UK high streets such as H&M, Zara, and Forever 21 are.

- It feels like you can't rewear an outfit more than once, because their advertising/ presence on Social Media suggests you always need to buy new for every occasion.

Sources:

https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-fast-fashion/

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fast-fashion.asp

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/2/3/21080364/fast-fashion-h-and-m-zara

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