Consumers growing expectations and demands for the latest and hottest fashion trends have contributed to one of the largest and most profitable paradigm shifts the retail industry has ever seen. But at what cost?
Storified by hrsiegal ·
Sun, Apr 10 2016 05:13:48
"Fast fashion" is a contemporary term that has emerged in twenty years to describe the expedient manner in which the latest fashions and styles from the runway are reproduced by companies for mass consumption. And in a dramatic shift from previous years, this production trend has proven to be incredibly successful among both retailers and consumers alike. While fast fashion companies, such as H&M, Zara, and Forever 21, now dominate the industry and have become increasingly profitable from this business model, their fashion-forward customers are also routinely gratified by the luxury of almost instant access to the trends they love at affordable prices. Particularly in this way, fast fashion is somewhat able to function positively as a societal equalizer - unlike generations past, style is not limited by socioeconomic status, and shoppers no longer need to spend exorbitant amounts of money on exclusive, designer clothes in order to dress themselves in the current fashions. Yet, whereas the low prices of these fast fashion garments may be inherently appealing, many customers remain ignorant as to how these items are produced and what their global impact is. In their efforts to design, manufacture, and sell products as quickly and cheaply as possible, fast fashion companies are only able to profit through outsourcing their manufacturing, and taking advantage of low-wage workers in countries like Bangladesh, India, and China. Additionally, because of the poor quality and lifespan of their cheap clothing, fast fashion companies are now also coming under scrutiny for the overwhelming amount of waste that accumulates in landfills.
Fast Fashion
Ifirst section, explain what fast fashion is and why it's so popular/successful. why people continue to buy it; j
In their academic article published in 2008,
Fast Fashion and In-Store Hoarding: The Drivers, Moderator, and Consequences, authors Sang-Eun Byun and Brenda Sternquist define "fast fashion" as a ‘marketing approach to respond to the latest trends by turning the inventory at a rapid rate’.
From Daria Kalinin thesis '
Do Fast Fashion Retailers have to be Alert to Changing Customer Values?': "The business model consists of certain characteristics: permanent assortment rotation, limited supply, low prices, an efficient and agile supply chain, and short lead times."
Fast fashion retailers are now omnipresent and it is hard to spot a person on the streets who does not wear at least one fast fashion item. “Moreover, the success of the fast fashion influenced industry is so far that retailers are forced to adapt to the speed of fast fashion retailers by introducing more seasons and update their assortments with the latest trends" "The fast, permanent assortment rotation represents a big deviation to the traditional fashion business model where collections used to be updated semi-annually"
“[F]ashion also satisfies the need for differentiation through novel designs as well as the difference of fashions between classes.” -“According to Simmel, fashion results from class division. Hence, fashion can differentiate in social groups; it holds groups together and distinct them from other social groups.[…]
According to Professor Martinez de Albinez Margalef in his 2009 video
According to
Professor Martinez de Albinez Margalef in his 2009 video,
The Faster, the Better. “The so called fast fashion model has its name since the 1990s and builds on the idea of quick response."
At Zara, for instance, new products arrive every week. In addition to that, the display of the clothes is changed on a weekly or even daily basis (Martinez de Albeniz Margalef, 2009).”
Instead, fast fashion retailers such as H&M and Zara update their collections on an ongoing basis. (Martinez de Albeniz Margalef, 2009).”
In fact, Martinez de Albeniz Margalef (2009) states that fast fashion consumers frequent the stores more often and are more likely to buy impulsively.“In order to deliver the high variety of products and in order to respond to the latest fashion trends, fast fashion retailers need a high control of their supply chain. At the same time it is vital that the supply chain is very agile (Martinez de Albeniz Margalef, 2009). Lead times within the fast fashion segment for individual products can be as short as just ten days (Martinez de Albeniz Margalef, 2011). The short lead times allow fast fashion retailers to imitate the newest trends on high fashion catwalks or the fashion pieces worn by, for instance, celebrities.” “The permanent assortment rotation provides fast fashion retailers with a competitive edge over retailers with a more traditional approach. According to Martinez de Albeniz Margalef (2009), customers will rather go to the retailers who employ permanent assortment rotation as they will expect to find new products.“ (Sull and Turconi, 2008). .” - Daria Killini
‘massclusivity’ from '
Fast Fashion, Sustainability, and the Ethical Appeal of Luxury Brands' by Annamma Joy, John F. Sherry, Jr, Alladi Venkatesh, Jeff Wang, and Ricky Chan- is created and is driving demand.
Consumers believe that they have to buy a product straight away (Byun and Sternquist, 2011) or the ‘will not be able to get it later’ (Lynn cited in Joy et al., 2012, p.282). A very good example is the Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M. The retailer regularly features collections which have been designed in cooperation with celebrities or famous designers, such as Madonna or Karl Lagerfeld. Customers are rushing to buy the limited products which sold out stocks within a few days.”-Daria Kalinin
“Low prices are ensured by high production volumes and low textile and stitching quality. On average, fast fashion products are made to last ten washings (Joy et al., 2012) - fast fashion is made to be disposable. Both factors together once again shorten the replacement cycle and consequently enforce consumers’ drive to frequent the retail outlets more often and to buy more often (Byun and Sternquist, 2011; Joy et al., 2012). In face, Martinez de Albeniz Margalef (2009) states that fast fashion consumers frequent the stores more often and are more likely to buy impulsively.
- Daria Killinin
“The permanent assortment rotation provides fast fashion retailers with a competitive edge over retailers with a more traditional approach. According to Martinez de Albeniz Margalef (2009), customers will rather go to the retailers who employ permanent assortment rotation as they will expect to find new products. Consequently, the fast fashion model influenced the entire fashion industry: traditional fashion retailers attempted to compete on the basis of prices, which in long term led to the bankruptcy of many retailers, leaving a highly consolidated fashion industry consisting of basically only very high priced and very low priced clothing (Cline, 2012).” - Daria Killini
“While the current fast fashion business model ensures high margins and worldwide success, fast fashion retailers face two major concerns. The consumers who grew up with fast fashion, the so called Generation Y (Bhardwaj and Fairhurst (2010), are growing older and becoming richer (Sull and Turconi, 2008).” - Daria Kalinin
People have come to expect novelty out of retailers - “Campbell (1994) explains that individuals desire novel products based on their imagined emotions associated with the imagined acquisition; daydreaming about these pleasurable emotions leads to actual desire for the acquisition of the product in question with the aim to experience to experience the pleasurable emotions which the individual experienced imaginatively (Campbell, 1994).” - Daria Kalinin
Lower social groups strive towards higher strata that in turn strive for novelty as soon as the lower groups achieve imitation. This longing of the lower strata for imitation of higher strata which in turn strive to differentiate from the lower ones is most easily played out in areas which are subject to fashion (Simmel in Frisby and Featherstone, 1997).” -Daria Killinin
“Fast fashion has been defined by Byun and Sternquist (2008) as a ‘marketing approach to respond to the latest trends by turning the inventory at a rapid rate’.”“Within fast fashion consumption, individuals have to compromise on quality and ethical performance. Nevertheless, fast fashion business’ success is continuing." - Daria Kalinin
“Given the current understanding of appropriate pricing and the connected understanding of relative quality it is unlikely that vast numbers of consumers would turn their back on fast fashion as this would include a reduction in clothing item purchases; unimaginable in a consumerist society where shopping is a popular pastime and where fast shifting trends make individuals who do not keep up with the newest fashions instantly visible. Especially those consumers who hold an affluent identity are unlikely to change consumption patterns.” ( Daria Kalinin)
“Alternatives to fast fashion are rather limited since the middle-priced fashion market is virtually non-existent, high fashion products are as expensive as never before, and, at the same time, fast fashion is ubiquitous.” (Daria Kalinin)
