So-called “ultra-fast fashion” has won legions of young trend-setting fans who buy relatively cheap clothes online amid rising inflation, but the fast-growing style has deepened environmental problems. Britain’s Boohoo, China’s Sheen and Hong Kong’s Amiol operate the same Internet-based business model – producing items and collections at breakneck speeds and rock-bottom prices.
They are giving intense competition to more well-known “fast fashion” chains with physical stores such as Sweden’s H&M and Spain’s Zara. Young people under the age of 25 – widely known as Generation Z – like to place multiple orders for ultra-fast fashion, which then comes in post.
‘Results for the planet’
However, Greenpeace has dismissed the phenomenon of “throwaway clothes” as gross waste, arguing that it takes 2,700 liters of water to make a T-shirt that is rapidly binned. The Green Pressure Group says, “Many of these cheap fabrics end up… at huge dump sites, on open fires, burned along river banks and washed away in the ocean, with dire consequences for people and the planet.” are.”
Photos of mountains of substandard clothing, returned to the seller or thrown away soon after purchase, have gone viral, exposing the vast amount of waste.
Decades of high inflation have still fueled demand for low-cost clothing, while many Covid-affected high-street shops struggle to compete with high costs.
And it’s wildly popular: Sheen generated $16 billion in global sales last year, Bloomberg says.
miracle of cheapness
Customers buy T-shirts for £4.0 ($4.80), while bikinis and dresses sell for as little as £8.0. For Lola, an 18-year-old French high-school student living in the city of Nancy, sheen shopping has become a cheap hobby.
The brand only allowed her to follow the latest trends “without spending an astronomical amount”, she told AFP, oblivious to the environmental cost.
Lola typically places two to three orders per month on Sheen, with an average combined price of 70 euros ($71) for about 10 items.
Ultra-fast fashion’s younger target demographic — like Lola — has less cash to spend. According to Valerie Gillard, professor of economics at the University of Paris-Dauphiné, those consumers “look for quantity rather than quality” of clothing.
Sheen, which was founded in late 2008, now sells around the world, helped by its huge presence on social media networks.
‘Tote’ Videos
Customers post so-called “tote” videos online—where they open Sheen packages, try on clothes, and review them. This has increased its popularity on TikTok, which is loved by teenagers and young adults, while there are videos on Instagram and YouTube as well.
On TikTok alone, there are 34.4 billion mentions for the hashtag #SHEIN and six billion for #SHEINhaul. Brands increase their reach through low-cost partnerships with large numbers of people on social media to build trust and drive sales.
Irish social-media influencer Marlene Gallagher, 45, who works with Sheen and other firms, praised them for offering a wider size range than regular stores. “They are unmatched when it comes to options for plus-size women,” she told AFP.
climate emergency
Yet the industry has a reputation for wasting valuable resources and harming the environment. Ultra-fast fashion companies have also been plagued by scandals over alleged poor working conditions in their factories.
Swiss-based NGO Public Eye discovered in November 2022 that workers in some sheen factories work up to 75 hours per week in violation of Chinese labor laws.
Britain’s Boohu also faced criticism following media reports that its suppliers were underpaying workers in Pakistan.
Added to the picture, the French Agency for Ecological Transition estimates that fast fashion accounts for a staggering two percent of global greenhouse emissions per year.
It is as much as air transport and sea traffic combined. Meanwhile the style has attracted the ire of climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
Thunberg wrote, “The fashion industry is a huge contributor to the climate and ecological emergency, not to mention its impact on the countless workers and communities that are being exploited around the world, so that few people can enjoy fast fashion.” , which many consider disposable.” Last year, the urge for change.
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