Fast fashion news and archive

Podcast: Should resale websites ban fast fashion?

On second-hand clothing platforms, there are not many rules. While most platforms now have rules addressing fake products, there are no restrictions on the brands a consumer can offer. Should resale websites ban fast fashion? Source: Conscious Style Podcast

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Despite environmental damage, Gen Z has taken a shine to ultra-fast fashion

So-called "ultra-fast fashion" has won legions of young fans who are able to snap up relatively cheap clothes online, but campaigners say the trend masks darker environmental problems. Britain's Boohoo, China's SHEIN and Hong Kong's Emmiol are the main players in a sector that produces items and collections at breakneck speed and rock-bottom...

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Fast fashion's disastrous effect on Chilean environment

A mountain of discarded clothing including Christmas sweaters and ski boots cuts a strange sight in Chile's Atacama, the driest desert in the world, which is increasingly suffering from pollution created by fast fashion. The social impact of rampant consumerism in the clothing industry -- such as child labor in factories or derisory wages -- is...

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UK fast fashion: Half of top brands’ clothes made entirely from virgin plastic

A study looking into the use of plastics in the UK’s fast fashion industry has found that 49 percent of the clothing from four top brands is made entirely using virgin plastics. Boohoo was the biggest culprit with 67 percent of its fashion made entirely from fabrics derived from petrochemicals such as polyester, acrylic, nylon and polyamide....

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Frugal shoppers are buying less, putting sales volumes under pressure

Buy less, buy better, once the mantra of elite sustainability campaigners, has swept the world to become a global mindset, defining a post-pandemic reality. Rail upon rail of cheap clothing is no longer an appealing retail formula as consumers shift away from fast fashion to mindful shopping. Inexpensive short lifespan garments, embedded in the...

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Secondhand clothing sales are booming – and may help solve the sustainability crisis in the fashion industry

A massive force is reshaping the fashion industry: secondhand clothing. According to a new report, the U.S. secondhand clothing market is projected to more than triple in value in the next 10 years – from 28 billion dollars in 2019 to 80 billion dollars in 2029 – in a U.S. market currently worth 379 billion dollars. In 2019, secondhand clothing...

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What Lidl's 12.99 euro sneaker says about fast fashion's progress

Lidl has launched a pair of sneakers costing just 12.99 euros in some markets. Demand for the brightly-coloured trainers is so high that stock shortages and Lidl-mania have prompted its re-sale value to somewhere near 450 pounds, according to the Mirror. The phenomenon in question should not be the challenge of getting one’s hands on a pair, but...

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Coronavirus takes fast fashion's foot off the gas

Zara, H&M and Gap may be slowly reopening their stores but the coronavirus epidemic has had a devastating financial impact on the fast fashion sector, which needs a radical overhaul if it is to recover, experts say. Nearly 40 percent of businesses in the sector are expecting the impact to be "much worse" than that of the 2008 financial crisis, a...

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First hand fast-fashion nightmare for Bangladeshi clothing makers

One day Parvin was toiling to meet the fast-fashion demands of European capitals, the next she was among hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi clothes workers made instantly jobless as the coronavirus pandemic struck. Big-name international brands have cancelled billions of dollars in orders because of the pandemic, decimating Bangladesh's most...

Fashion

PrettyLittleThing Instagram followers to shop Little Mix collection first

Fast-fashion e-tailer PrettyLittleThing has announced that its Instagram followers will be able to shop the upcoming Little Mix collection before anyone else, as it gives it social media followers the VIP treatment. The partywear collection with British girl group Little Mix was announced last month and is described as a “collection of cohesive...

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PrettyLittleThing teaming up with Little Mix

Fast-fashion e-tailer PrettyLittleThing, which last month made its fashion week debut in New York, has announced a collaboration with British girl-band, Little Mix. In a short statement, PrettyLittleThing said that the Little Mix collection, launching on November 7, will be a “collection of cohesive stories that reflect each of the girl’s...

BusinessFeatured

Can the fast fashion business model embrace sustainability?

We all know the trademarks of the fast fashion industry, the negative impact it leaves on the environment, the throwaway culture it breeds to satisfy the need for the new, and the waste is causes when unsold clothes end up in landfill. But by-product aside, the fast fashion business model may in fact have the answer that can circumvent...