Fast Fashion Industry

By: Chloe Ko

Today, most people probably bought products, especially clothes, in brands such as Uniqlo, ZARA or H&M. These are all one of the big 3 “Fast Fashion" brands, also known as the SPA( Specialty retailer of Private label Apparel) brands. 

The previous clothing companies introduce their fashion trends by sending their designers to fashion shows several times a year, and spending months to years to design and produce clothing for the following year. However, the SPA brands have changed their methods of forecasting their fashion, prioritizing their sales and efficiency over anything else. They introduce clothing items that embody, or almost identically copy, the latest trends at affordable prices on a weekly basis. The Big 3 (Zara, Uniqlo, and H&M) companies are constantly competing with one another in the sales, brand recognition, and market share, each employing distinct and unique strategies.

Although these brands may be more appalling to more demographic as they are more accessible at a lower price and new items weekly. It is almost like the fast food industry for fashion. However, as we know that there are cons as much as pros in the fast food industry, the fast fashion industry has some of their drawbacks as well. 

According to the UN, the SPA fast fashion industry has taken 10% of the overall early carbon emissions. This is almost more than the carbon emission caused by air and sea transportation combined. This shows just how enormous the fashion industry’s effect on the environment really is. Most of the pollution and the damage is caused from the resources that are needed to produce the clothes as they overproduce products from synthetic fiber (acryl, polyester, nylon, ect). The synthetic fiber however, as it may be cheap and beneficial for the companies, it is incredibly harmful for the environment in more than half of the world, including soil contamination as well as pollution in the ocean. Especially with the fact that synthetic fiber isn’t recyclable as it is very similar to plastic that is so well known for harming the environment, the companies tend to bury them underground causing more harm. The cheap price of the clothing in SPA brands also makes the customers more reckless. The zero price effect, a psychological and economic phenomenon where consumers disproportionately overvalue items at lower price than a slightly more expensive one although it may be a higher value with a greater quality, explains these trends. The SPA brands use this as their marketing strategy, as people prefer their cheap clothing over clothing made from more sustainably produced brands. However this makes people more reckless of how they treat their clothes, often even purchasing for a one time wear before tossing them in trash. 

These SPA brands may offer convenience and low prices, but its environmental and social costs are too great to ignore. To lessen its harmful impact, both companies and consumers must rethink how clothing is produced, purchased, and valued