The Fast Fashion Industry: The good, the bad and can anything be done to change it?

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3
CHAPTER I THE FAST FASHION INDUSTRY AS A NEW PHENOMENON 6
1.1 The History of the Fast Fashion Industry 8
1.2 The Principals behind the Fast Fashion Industry 10
1.3 Reasons for Fast Fashion Industry’s popularity 21
CHAPTER II THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FAST FASHION INDUSTRY ON MODERN SOCIETY 23
2.1 Economic Impact 23
2.2 Environmental Consequences 26
2.3 Social Effects 28
CHAPTER III POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES TO THE FAST FASHION INDUSTRY 32
3.1 The growing movement of Fair Fashion 35
3.2 The Consumer’s role in the Fashion Industry 39
CONCLUSION 42
BIBLIOGRAPHY 44
APPENDIX 47

INTRODUCTION

The Fast Fashion Industry is one of mass-produced fashion products - often copies of high-end couture designs - that are then produced and retailed using a specific production and sales distribution system. In the Fashion hierarchy, Fast Fashion is positioned at the lower end of the market, after Haute Couture, Prêt-à-porter Fashion and Middle Class Market Fashion. Fast Fashion relies on speed: all the stages of the fashion lifecycle are accelerated, from the globalization of localized mainstream products, their manufacturing and retail (the period from design to delivery can be as short as two weeks!), to the wearing out and discarding of garments by consumers. In this way, Fast Fashion has created today’s new rapid fashion consumers. It has become a model of economic succes s unlike that of the traditional haute couture houses.
This economic success, however, comes at the expense of the surrounding environmental and social systems. The Fast Fashion Industry has an extremely poor environmental track record and is one of the production sectors in which it is common to find catastrophic working conditions and wages below the poverty line. As a reaction to Fast Fashion, the ‘Slow Fashion’ movement is increasingly gaining momentum. Through raising awareness of the realities of Fast Fashion, it challenges both manufacturers and consumers to acknowledge their role in the fashion supply chain and call for higher levels of ethical, social and environmental responsibility.
Fashion is, without a doubt, a means of personal and cultural expression, but above and beyond this it is an industry. The industrial and economic aspects of this sector have been relatively under-researched, except to highlight the fact that the Fast Fashion Industry is fast evolving and has been growing at a remarkable rate. Traditional economic analyses have ignored some of the crucial drivers of change in this sector, missing some of the biggest changes to consumer habits and their effect on industry practices.
Today’s fashion consumers tend to spend a smaller share of their income on fashion than their predecessors, however, they are instead buying fashion products more frequently and in larger numbers than ever before. These changes constitute a challenge for retailers and suppliers because they mean that consumer demand is constantly high but at the same time prices must be kept as low as possible. In order to compete effectively, companies are forced to offer a wide variety of pieces within their collections, particularly in terms of size, color and design, and the turnaround time for new products must be as short as possible in order to maintain customer loyalty.
Meeting the demands and expectations of consumers comes at a heavy price. In addition to questionable labor practices, the Fast Fashion Industry’s practices also have a shocking impact on the environment. The global nature of the industry, as well as the constant need for new products, is a double edged sword: damage is caused before the customer even makes a purchase (transportation from manufacturers to retail stores) and then again after the consumer is finished with a product. Fast Fashion’s negative impact is clearly demonstrable through various data sources. Unfortunately, widely ingrained practices are difficult to change in this industry as Fast Fashion companies need to be constantly creating and delivering new products to survive and customers are unwilling to pay a higher price for clothing.
The object of this study: the principles at work in the Fast Fashion Industry, in particular in relation to the chains Zara and Joe Fresh, and the reasons for their popularity.
The subject of this study: the impacts of the ever growing Fast Fashion Industry on the economy, society, culture and especially with regards to the environment.
The aim of this research is to outline the parameters of the Fast Fashion Industry, its positive and negative impacts, and decide whether this system as a whole is beneficial or whether it should be changed.
In order to do this, the following tasks shall be undertaken:
 To provide a definition of the Fast Fashion Industry as a new phenomenon;
 To study the history of the Fast Fashion Industry;
 To analyze the principles at work in Fast Fashion companies, in particular in relation to the chains Zara and Joe Fresh;
 To examine the reasons for their popularity;
 To study the consequences of the Fast Fashion Industry on modern society;
 To analyze the environmental problems that arise from this industry;
 To give possible alternatives to the Fast Fashion Industry.
For the purposes of this study, exploitation is taken as the neoclassical idea of undertaking hard, physical labor in substandard conditions for unjust wages. Contained in this definition is the idea that exploitation occurs when the value of the wages received by the workers is below that of the marginal product of labor, but this definition goes beyond that of purely monetary abuse as it encompasses both wages and working conditions. Exploitation occurs frequently in the manufacturing sector of the fashion industry: firms exploit vulnerable populations through low wages and inadequate investment in health and safety conditions. Unethical business practices occur during the design phase of the supply chain, as in the case of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh in 2013 in which 1,129 people lost their lives and another 2,500 people were injured. Design piracy, although legal, is an unethical business practice in the fashion industry and profiting off of the designs of others is commonplace. Nevertheless, those who rely on design theft are considered disreputable by other firms.
This study explores the means by which Fast Fashion firms maximize profits through cutting costs at various points in the supply chain:
• The first chapter provides the context and lexicon necessary to understand the broader implications of the Fast Fashion Industry.
• The second chapter examines the unethical and exploitative practices employed by many Fast Fashion firms and their economic, social and environmental impacts.
• The third chapter analyzes the role of the consumer in the Fast Fashion Industry and the rising new alternatives to Fast Fashion.
Each of the chapters of this study intends to build upon a common theme, using the limited range of scholarly articles regarding the Fast Fashion Industry available and applying economic theories and updated information to the original findings. Indeed, many of the academic papers that do exist relating to Fast Fashion do not take into account ethics violations or contain now outdated information given recent changes to the industry. The use of these articles, along with other textbooks, non-fiction, press articles, first-person interviews, and my own knowledge from personal work experience and prior studies in the industry provide further support and evidence for the claims contained in this study. The aim is to provide a new perspective on the profit giants of the Fast Fashion Industry and utilize economic theory to explain current industry behavior and its potential future outcomes.
I shall, therefore, look at the ethical implications of the “Fast Fashion” business model; specifically, human rights and environmental violations committed in the industry. I will first look at the Bangladesh factory collapse, which is a prime example of the results of unacceptable working conditions in factories that manufacture goods for Fast Fashion retailers. I light of these findings, I will then examine companies that operate in the Fast Fashion Industry, such as Zara and Joe Fresh. In conclusion, I will discuss the future of the Fashion Industry and consumers’ role in changing its fate and preventing future manufacturing disasters and their environmental repercussions