Ultra-fast fashion is taking over – and using every trick in the book to get us
addicted
Fashion retail sites such as Shein constantly add new styles at incredibly cheap
prices, normalising overconsumption
High street brands such as H&M and Zara have been accelerating the pace of fast
fashion for years, but the 4,414 new styles H&M added to its US website this year
isn’t even the worst of it – enter ultra-fast fashion.
The Chinese fashion retail website Shein was recently valued at $100bn and has
added almost 315,000 styles to its website this year alone. At the time of writing,
Shein UK has 4,029 items in the under £5 section, with several crop tops and
miniskirts priced at an alarming £1.99.
Fashion, especially the cheap kind, is addictive. That’s why ultra-fast fashion
brands such as Shein keep increasing the array of styles on offer, while social
media ads and customer-generated content such as “haul videos” ensure that
fashion addicts never forget about their drug. Some of these videos are
sponsored by the brands, but the personable, chatty style helps viewers forget
that they are in fact watching ads. Wealthy YouTubers disguised as average
shoppers normalise the idea of ordering bags full of clothes every single week.
My friend Toni Murphy, a 25-year-old content creator from London, was previously
addicted to Shein. She started overconsuming fast fashion when her student
grant and loan gave her access to more cash than ever before. Sceptical of
Shein’s low prices she avoided it at first, but eventually gave in. “[My addiction]
kind of just started during the pandemic. And that was because I was getting
these ads about it,” says Murphy. Several times a day she would come across
Shein ads on Instagram and on websites using cookies that promoted items she’d
previously Googled or added to her wishlist – they were unavoidable.
Despite receiving some items that were not as described or photographed, the
price and range of styles kept her hooked. “What kept me going back was the
fact that it was cheap,” she says. “They were targeting me with certain things
that they knew would tempt me.”
Georgia Willard, a 23-year-old student and former fast fashion addict, tells me
that her social bubble as a teenager in Australia fed her addiction. “You felt like
you needed to have a different outfit every time you went out to prove to people
that you could dress properly and look the part. I ended up buying outfits almost
every weekend.”
Willard was prompted to kick her fast fashion habit when she learned about the
environmental and human impacts of the fashion industry in a textiles class at
school. In addition to learning about the ugly reality of the fashion industry from
the documentary the True Cost, which she watched at school, she also realised
she couldn’t keep up her habit and afford a big trip she’d planned to the UK.
Since then, the growth of cheaper, ultra-fast fashion brands such as Boohoo,
Pretty Little Thing and Shein, whose annual revenue grew from $2bn in 2018 to
$15.7bn in 2021, has made the cycle of buy, wear, throw away and repeat all the
more difficult to escape.
, Murphy now feeds her fashion addiction with secondhand apps such as Depop
and Vinted instead, but her friend, who is a student ambassador for Shein, is
£2,000 deep into her overdraft. For so many, it seems impulsion and
consumerism are more powerful than a desire for a world in which female
garment workers can work in a safe environment, let alone live happy, full lives –
some workers at factories supplying Shein reported working more than 75 hours
a week. In one of them, workers got one day off a month. (After a report into
working conditions at these factories, Shein said it had a strict supplier code of
conduct, and that it would be investigating.)
Ultra-fast fashion is not good news for the planet, either. At this rate, by 2050 the
fashion industry may use almost a quarter of the world’s carbon budget. Around
60% of Gen Z say they have altered their personal spending habits and
behaviours to reduce their environmental impact, but they also seem to be
pushing the growth of ultra-fast fashion – the attitude-behaviour gap is huge.
Giving up fast fashion altogether is a tall order for young people still figuring out
how to express themselves and manage their finances in the face of years of
austerity, rising university fees and the ubiquity of unattainable beauty
standards. It’s up to those of us with the time, energy and experience to hold the
corporations to account.
Zainab Mahmood is a journalist and social media content creator
Voc:
Zoals Like
vermomd Disguised
Gemiddelde Average
25-jarige 25-year-old
Onvermijdelijk Unavoidable
Zoveel te meer All the more
In het rood staan Overdraft
consumptiedrang Consumerism
Moeilijke opdracht Tall order
Remote learning in prisons Lezen/ Luisteren!!!
Multiple choice
- Pedro, a gang leader at a prison in Massachusetts, is a … imposing man,
with several teardrop tattoos.
o Physically – physical
- … or most of his life he did not know how to read or write.
o Yet – although – but
- More than 70% of inmates in America have the … skills of a fourth-grade
(nine-year-old) pupil, or below.
o Literacy – literally
addicted
Fashion retail sites such as Shein constantly add new styles at incredibly cheap
prices, normalising overconsumption
High street brands such as H&M and Zara have been accelerating the pace of fast
fashion for years, but the 4,414 new styles H&M added to its US website this year
isn’t even the worst of it – enter ultra-fast fashion.
The Chinese fashion retail website Shein was recently valued at $100bn and has
added almost 315,000 styles to its website this year alone. At the time of writing,
Shein UK has 4,029 items in the under £5 section, with several crop tops and
miniskirts priced at an alarming £1.99.
Fashion, especially the cheap kind, is addictive. That’s why ultra-fast fashion
brands such as Shein keep increasing the array of styles on offer, while social
media ads and customer-generated content such as “haul videos” ensure that
fashion addicts never forget about their drug. Some of these videos are
sponsored by the brands, but the personable, chatty style helps viewers forget
that they are in fact watching ads. Wealthy YouTubers disguised as average
shoppers normalise the idea of ordering bags full of clothes every single week.
My friend Toni Murphy, a 25-year-old content creator from London, was previously
addicted to Shein. She started overconsuming fast fashion when her student
grant and loan gave her access to more cash than ever before. Sceptical of
Shein’s low prices she avoided it at first, but eventually gave in. “[My addiction]
kind of just started during the pandemic. And that was because I was getting
these ads about it,” says Murphy. Several times a day she would come across
Shein ads on Instagram and on websites using cookies that promoted items she’d
previously Googled or added to her wishlist – they were unavoidable.
Despite receiving some items that were not as described or photographed, the
price and range of styles kept her hooked. “What kept me going back was the
fact that it was cheap,” she says. “They were targeting me with certain things
that they knew would tempt me.”
Georgia Willard, a 23-year-old student and former fast fashion addict, tells me
that her social bubble as a teenager in Australia fed her addiction. “You felt like
you needed to have a different outfit every time you went out to prove to people
that you could dress properly and look the part. I ended up buying outfits almost
every weekend.”
Willard was prompted to kick her fast fashion habit when she learned about the
environmental and human impacts of the fashion industry in a textiles class at
school. In addition to learning about the ugly reality of the fashion industry from
the documentary the True Cost, which she watched at school, she also realised
she couldn’t keep up her habit and afford a big trip she’d planned to the UK.
Since then, the growth of cheaper, ultra-fast fashion brands such as Boohoo,
Pretty Little Thing and Shein, whose annual revenue grew from $2bn in 2018 to
$15.7bn in 2021, has made the cycle of buy, wear, throw away and repeat all the
more difficult to escape.
, Murphy now feeds her fashion addiction with secondhand apps such as Depop
and Vinted instead, but her friend, who is a student ambassador for Shein, is
£2,000 deep into her overdraft. For so many, it seems impulsion and
consumerism are more powerful than a desire for a world in which female
garment workers can work in a safe environment, let alone live happy, full lives –
some workers at factories supplying Shein reported working more than 75 hours
a week. In one of them, workers got one day off a month. (After a report into
working conditions at these factories, Shein said it had a strict supplier code of
conduct, and that it would be investigating.)
Ultra-fast fashion is not good news for the planet, either. At this rate, by 2050 the
fashion industry may use almost a quarter of the world’s carbon budget. Around
60% of Gen Z say they have altered their personal spending habits and
behaviours to reduce their environmental impact, but they also seem to be
pushing the growth of ultra-fast fashion – the attitude-behaviour gap is huge.
Giving up fast fashion altogether is a tall order for young people still figuring out
how to express themselves and manage their finances in the face of years of
austerity, rising university fees and the ubiquity of unattainable beauty
standards. It’s up to those of us with the time, energy and experience to hold the
corporations to account.
Zainab Mahmood is a journalist and social media content creator
Voc:
Zoals Like
vermomd Disguised
Gemiddelde Average
25-jarige 25-year-old
Onvermijdelijk Unavoidable
Zoveel te meer All the more
In het rood staan Overdraft
consumptiedrang Consumerism
Moeilijke opdracht Tall order
Remote learning in prisons Lezen/ Luisteren!!!
Multiple choice
- Pedro, a gang leader at a prison in Massachusetts, is a … imposing man,
with several teardrop tattoos.
o Physically – physical
- … or most of his life he did not know how to read or write.
o Yet – although – but
- More than 70% of inmates in America have the … skills of a fourth-grade
(nine-year-old) pupil, or below.
o Literacy – literally
