Fast fashion, a term coined in recent decades, aims to make fashion accessible to all through low prices. This is achieved by rapidly changing fashion trends, which leads to increased consumption, which means quickly producing and delivering clothes to shops to keep up with the latest fashion trends. The industry maintains low prices by making clothes in high volumes.
With such large volumes, we now see the same assortment in chain stores across Stockholm, New York, and Tokyo. Additionally, there’s a tendency to prioritise quantity over quality. As a result, consumers quickly adapt to rapid trends, fostering a throw-away culture where old garments are quickly discarded in favour of new ones.
Low prices often come at the expense of human rights throughout the production cycle, from cultivation to garment making. Much of today’s textile production takes place in low-wage countries with inadequate laws and supervision regarding labour conditions and environmental issues. The textile industry has a high environmental impact at the production stage, and the more garments produced in a shorter time, the greater the impact.
More recently, the term ‘ultra-fast fashion’ has also been introduced. It precisely encapsulates what it sounds like—an even faster production rate with lower prices and quicker collections. Goods are often marketed with computer-generated images so the production place can sew garments as orders come in.
The term ‘fast fashion’ has come to symbolise fashion, but it also applies to interior design and other consumer goods, often with a short lifespan. The opposite of fast fashion is ‘slow fashion’ or sustainable fashion, which instead means choosing high-quality clothes that will last longer.
Sources
Johanna Leymann – This is how the textile industry works 
Naturskyddsföreningen – What is ultra fast fashion?
April 2024, TÄNKOM | Revised May 2024 RETHINK
