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WHAT IS FAST FASHION, AND CAN WE
UNFASTEN IT?
FASHION | Written: Ruvarashe Gweredza
15.09.2025
“The Death of Creativity and Fast Fashion”, “The Ban of Fast Fashion in France,” “Sustainability Amidst the Rise of Fast Fashion”. This seems to be the continual rhetoric we see online. Sparking conversations surrounding sustainability, accessibility, and overconsumption as a by-product, I’ve come to wonder: what exactly is fast fashion, and can we unfasten it?
More of a business model than the clothing itself, fast fashion is a system built to make garments cheap, fast, and continuously. Designs are copied and produced to match micro-trends, supply chains are compressed, whilst items are sold at razor-thin prices so consumers can replace wardrobes frequently, resulting in billion-dollar empires(1). Unable to rely on the old narrative that price equals quality, brands partaking in the mass production of units sometimes source from the same factories and fabric mills used by luxury labels.
At times, even when mirroring the blend of luxury items, we often assume that the mere presence of polyester or nylon automatically defines a garment as fast fashion. While it is true that these synthetic fibres cause significant environmental harm, decomposing slowly and leaving traces that enter waterways and food chains, it is not their presence alone that makes fashion “fast.” The use of low-grade quality materials is often intentional. It is when this compromised quality is paired with the high velocity and scale of production that the most harmful environmental, social, and waste impacts emerge, as critics frequently note (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017).
With knowledge of this, brands often hide behind luxury marketing, prioritising keywords such as “timeless garments” and “capsule pieces that last” to trigger consumers into believing their products embody craftsmanship and integrity. Yet luxury houses such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel, once built on prestige, quality, and artisanal heritage, now lean on their reputations to cut corners behind closed doors. Increasingly, consumers are calling this the “premium tax” (Fancombe, 2024).
For consumers, the implication is clear: if durability is the goal, price alone is an unreliable guide. In search of alternatives, many are now commissioning their favourite pieces to be independently replicated using higher-quality materials. This practice has intensified conversations about integrity in fashion and the potential of “dupe culture” as not entirely negative but also both a critique of luxury branding and a possible solution.
It is tempting to assume that fast fashion is simply a poor man’s choice; however, the reality is more complex. Higher disposable income makes it easier to participate in rapid wardrobe turnover. Wealthier shoppers can absorb the costs of frequent purchases and returns, enabling them to chase micro-trends more easily and treat clothing as low-cost experimentation. This has resulted in thousand-dollar Shein hauls.
The conversation about circulation(2) is often overshadowed in debates on fast fashion, which tend to position low-income shoppers as the main culprits. In practice, however, lower-income households, though often limited to clothing made from lower-grade materials, typically extract far more use from each garment, relying on mending and multi-season wear out of necessity (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2019).
Resale and charity shops are powerful tools to extend clothing's life and redirect demand from new production. But thrifting has its own limitations, including unpredictable sizes and colour staples, inaccessibility to underwear/basics, and popular thrift platforms are increasingly crowded by trend hunters and dupers (Fancombe, 2024).
Footnotes:
(1) Zara, Alo Yoga, Lululemon, Brandy Melville, Shein, etc.
(2)In a circular economy for fashion, clothes are used more often, which allows their value to be captured fully. Once clothes cannot be used anymore, recycling them into new clothes allows the value of the materials to be captured at different levels (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2019).
Bibliography:
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Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2017, November 28). A new textiles economy: Redesigning fashion’s future. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/a-new-textiles-economy. Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2019, September 16). Fast Fashion and the Circular Economy. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/fashion-and-the-circular-economy-deep-dive? .
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Francombe, A. (2024, October 13). High-end fashion dupes are soaring where knock-offs never could. WIRED. https://www.wired.com/story/high-end-fashion-dupes-are-soaring-where-knock-offs-never-could/.
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WRAP. (2025, February 27). Fast fashion could be left on the peg as preloved and repair displace new sales (Press release). https://www.wrap.ngo/media-centre/press-releases/fast-fashion-could-be-left-peg-preloved-and-repair-displace-new-sales.