Fast fashion is clothing that responds to current trends quickly and at a low cost. Though several people contributed to its rise, the current state of the industry is often credited to Amancio Ortega, the founder of Inditex, the parent company of Zara. Ortega understood that having a flexible business model that could change with the incoming trends was a way to keep customers coming back often. In the years since, brands like Shein have modernized that model using technology and social media to recognize trends and bring them to market even faster than before.
"Fast fashion was created with a goal to get us as shoppers buying more, disregarding regularly, and moving onto their next 'trend' continually — without much thought into where and how these garments are made," explains a spokesperson for Fashion Revolution, an organization that seeks to raise awareness about the systemic challenges facing the global fashion industry. "Fast-fashion companies cut corners to try and make more money, and with that, they use cheap-quality fabrics and cheap labor, leading to exploitation of people and the planet."
Fast fashion is cheap and trendy, and it's constantly evolving. To do that, though, labor rights and sustainability are often ignored.
