Fast fashion is defined as an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers. For many shoppers, it is an irresistible offer: trendy clothes at astonishingly low prices. Picked up by many people around the world this trend has resulted in a new global fashion, fast fashion. The process of fast fashion encourages consumers to buy heaps of items, discard them after a few wears and the come back for another batch of new outfits. Marked by extremely low prices this trend is available to a wider range of people and considering the large amount of resources that go into one piece of clothing being made and transported to consumers closets it presents a global concern for the environment.
Of course, it would be great if people around the world could reduce consumption and eliminate the fast fashion trend. But, how realistic is it to ask people to move away from such a lifestyle? Changing the ideals of people all around the world will be incredibly difficult and take a very long time. If the environmental impact of fast fashion is to be reduced, for now, it is up to larger entities, such as the government and companies to regulate production and produce in a way that is less harmful.
Clearly, fast fashion is inherently contradictory to the conscious consumer, but what if it didn’t have to be?
A notorious giant in the industry, H&M, was one of the first companies to successfully globalize a chain of fast fashion stores. The Swedish company is also making strides towards implementing sustainability into their company. H&M’s Conscious Collection, which debuted in 2011, incorporates organic cotton, linen, hemp and jute and recycled polyester, wool, plastic and other materials. And now, in 2017, they have taken it one step further by utilizing BIONIC—a revolutionary sustainable material manufactured from recycled polyester derived from plastic shoreline waste.
As one of the world’s biggest users of organic cotton, and now creating clothing from recycled plastic H&M is making strides to disrupt their own industry. Will the ideals behind this movement change the fast fashion industry? I think it is a step in the right direction to help consumers understand the growing need to protect the environment. Maybe with this understanding, the fast fashion trend will slowly die out.
kiannab
February 14, 2017 — 5:36 pm
Great post! I’m curious to know more about H&M’s sustainable line of fashion. Does this particular branch of their business match their current “non-sustainable” clothing prices? Do you think eco-fashion has the potential to reach all income level customers?
KatherineApplebaum
February 19, 2017 — 7:40 pm
From my experience, the line is slightly more expensive but I’m not 100% sure on the average difference between its pricing and their normal clothing. I do think eco-fashion has the potential to reach all income level consumers. Clothing today is cheap but it wears out quickly, I think if clothing became more of an investment and you carried your wardrobe with you for years then it would be something reachable to everyone. Unless the price increased drastically, then it would be more difficult. But for the most part, if everything increases about $5 most people would still be able to purchase clothes but they would not be able to have the same quantity.
rachel01tb
March 29, 2017 — 12:23 pm
I just revisited this topic in our Consumer Behavior class after the luxury marketing guest speaker talked about sustainable initiatives within the designer fashion industry. It is my belief that designer fashion is inherently more sustainable due to its higher quality, (mostly) timeless appeal, and lesser mass production unlike Zara or H&M. However, the price point is inaccessible to most.
Yet, retrofitting lower priced, unsustainable companies will only be successful if every industry player joins the cause. Do you see fast-fashion taking this giant leap as an industry? I feel like many “greenwash”, but I am still not convinced it will change purchasing intentions and habits. Thanks for a thought-provoking post!