Fast Fashion

1. WHEN?

1.1. late 1990s early 2000s: fast fashion took off as the demand for newest styles emerged. companies took runway fashion styles and produced them cheaply and quickly for consumers.

1.1.1. Rauturier, S, 2020

2. WHERE?

2.1. USA: one of the worlds top consumers of fashion industry

2.1.1. Bick, R., Halsey, E., Ekenga, C.C, 2018.

2.2. Most clothing is made in China, Bangladesh, India, Phillipines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka

2.3. UK- 350,000 tonnes of clothing sent to landfill each year

2.3.1. Singh, S., 2019.

3. WHY?

3.1. to meet demands of consumers

3.2. consumers want to keep up to date with current trends, discard unwanted clothing

3.2.1. Idacavage, S, 2018

3.3. Clothing discarded rather than recycled or reused. i.e. given to op shops, used as rags, given away/re-sold/up-cycling

3.4. companies focusing on making a profit and keeping consumers engaged rather than focusing on the environmental impact fast fashion has

4. WHO?

4.1. Zara has around 24 new collections each year. H&M has 12-16 (refreshes weekly)

4.1.1. Remy, N., Speelman, E., Swartz, S, 2016

4.2. Some of the biggest 'Fast Fashion' brands: H&M, Forever 21, Zara, Topshop.

4.2.1. Zamani, B., Sandin, G., Peters, G.M, 2017

4.3. 19.4 billion garments with a retail value of 283.7 billion dollars were sold in 2011 in the USA.

4.3.1. Ahmed, R., 2020

5. WHAT?

5.1. Mass production of clothes to keep up with current trends

5.2. Clothing worn and dumped

5.2.1. Bick, R., Halsey, E., Ekenga, C.C, 2018.

5.3. Allows newest styles to end up on the market quicker

6. HOW?

6.1. Clothing not being recycled although almost 100% of textiles can be recycled

6.1.1. US discarded 13.1 million tonnes of textiles (2010). 11 million tonnes were dumped in landfills.

6.1.1.1. Ahmed, R, 2020

6.2. using non-biodegradable materials such as polyester, nylon, spandex etc.

6.2.1. Degenstein, L., 2018.

6.3. 85% of clothing consumes by the US is sent to landfill

6.3.1. Bick, R., Halsey, E., Ekenga, C.C, 2018.

6.4. non-biodegradable fabrics take 20-200 years to break down

6.4.1. Singh, S., 2019.