Has fast fashion had it’s day?
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With a growing concern from buyers on things like sustainability and ethics, are we seeing the fast fashion brands which ever so recently thrived, now starting to feel the pinch?
By David Pearse
Go back 10 years and fast fashion is at it’s height. Competition is fierce, new brands are popping up on a weekly basis and along with it the rapid turnover of items.
It seems though, as we are well past the mid point of the 2020’s, that this business, much like the items they produce, isn’t built to last.
Since the shift in the decade there seems to have come with it a shift in the audience’s attitude towards how the items they are purchasing are being produced.
You could say the 2010’s was the thriving era for these brands. But what is it, a decade on, that has caused this change in attitude and what does this hold for the future of fast fashion?
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It seems though….this business, much like the items they produce, isn’t built to last.
The big push back appears to be from the obvious- sustainability. This has been a hot topic in fashion over recent years as customers discover more about the negative environmental impact associated with fast fashion.
The fashion industry contributes heavily to waste. Fast fashion items in particular would be purchased by customers, often only with the sole use to be worn once for a party, then discarded into the ever growing pile of waste.
Having seen myself first hand as well, the amount of items photographed on a daily basis was staggering. Huge amounts of items would be shot on a model and then added to the what seemed endless scrolling page of new in items on a brands website.
On top of this, big hitter fast fashion brands have seen their target consumers start to be taken away from them as they are undercut by other brands, producing even cheaper.
This therefore clearly shows that fast fashion hasn’t actually gone away. It has however put the already established fast fashion brands in a bit of a predicament. Do they go even cheaper to compete with the competition, or something else?
We have seen this change, with some brands deciding to rebrand and go into the luxury sector. Easier said then done.
As an established fast fashion brand it can be extremely difficult to remove this stamp you have acquired, especially when moving into such a different area.
So where does this put us in 2026? Well a lot of the fast fashion brands still remain, though there is a clear difference in customers views on the impact it has when they buy an item from these brands.
Whether they continue to produce, or slowly fade out remains to be seen.
