What is fast fashion?

The term “fast fashion” refers to a phenomenon in the fashion industry whereby production processes are expedited in order to get new trends to the market as quickly as possible. These products are mass-produced using cheap labour with little to no regards for the workers’ safety.

The products are then sold at a profit in comparison to its production costs; the selling price is of course margins away from a proper designer collection’s price tag and therefore seems “affordable”. As a result of this trend, the tradition of introducing new fashion lines on a seasonal basis is being challenged.

Today, it is not uncommon for fast-fashion retailers to introduce “new” products multiple times in a single week. Think about how much a fashionista will spend playing catch-up with trends? The phenomenon has also become associated with ‘disposable fashion’ because it has delivered designer product to a mass market at relatively low prices.