Look into your closet and if you can’t count the number of pieces you own, you’re not alone. How many of us hit up Uniqlo every few months for a new basic T? Have you been making online orders with Shein?
Fashion—as we know it today—has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past two centuries, evolving from a hand-sewn artisanal craft to a multi-trillion dollar global business. Let’s see how fast fashion developed over the years and why our closets are bursting (at the seams).
Depending on who you ask, the first sewing machine was invented by Barthelemy Thimonnier (if you ask the French) or Elias Howe (if you ask an American). Regardless, the advent of this revolutionary device in the mid-1800s marked the true starting point of fast fashion, allowing clothes to be produced more quickly and cheaply than ever before. Regular individuals could afford to be stylish and dressmaking shops began popping up to cater to this new market.
Fast forward to the 1960s, and fashion took on a whole new meaning. Young people embraced clothing as a form of self-expression, rejecting their parents' stuffy styles in favor of bold, trendy looks such as this Mary Quant mini-skirt (photo credit Victoria and Albert Museum, London).
This shift in attitude created a demand for affordable, fashionable clothes that could keep up with rapidly changing trends.
At the dawn of the 1960s, young people's income was at its highest since the end of the Second World War. Increased economic power fuelled a new sense of identity and the need to express it.
As demand grew, so did the need for cheaper production. In the 1970s, many retailers began outsourcing their manufacturing to developing countries, where labor costs were significantly lower. This move set the stage for the fast fashion behemoths we know today and marked the beginning of fashion's global transformation.
The 1990s saw the emergence of brands like Zara, H&M, and TopShop, which capitalized on globalization to revolutionize the industry. These companies turned catwalk designs into affordable high street fashion at lightning speed—in the process leveraging global supply chains and production networks. Zara, in particular, became known for its ability to go from design to store in just 15 days, prompting the New York Times to coin the term "fast fashion". Since then, shoppers adapted and became hooked onto affordable, trendy items released each season. As mainstays of the fashion industry, it’s very likely that you have purchased an item from them in the last decade (ourselves included!).
With the rise of online shopping in the late 1990s and early 2000s, fast fashion shifted into overdrive. Brands like Shein, Boohoo, Missguided, and Fashion Nova have been taking the concept to new extremes, churning out thousands of new styles weekly in ultra fast fashion. Just check out the Tiktok #sheinhaul Tiktok search results for some examples.
As Terry Nguyen notes in her Vox article:
I encounter Shein-related content almost daily, algorithmically fed to me through Instagram advertisements, YouTube hauls, and viral TikTok recommendations.
In unlocking search engine optimization and TikTok marketing, Shein has leapfrogged ahead of older competitors like Zara and H&M without a single brick and mortar store. Ultra fast fashion brands like Shein are constantly analyzing customer data and reflexively adjust production in a matter of days to match demand.
If a specific top goes viral overnight on TikTok, for example, Shein will be able to instantaneously ramp up production on the garment and place additional orders depending on demand.
Today, we're buying 60% more clothes than we did in 2000, but keeping them for only half as long. With the onslaught of TikTok and other social media channels, we as consumers are constantly being influenced to buy new clothes and stay on trend. This breakneck pace of production and consumption comes at a steep cost to both workers and the environment. It's clear that fast fashion has transformed not just our wardrobes, but our entire relationship with clothing.
And though there are resale sites like Poshmark that allow you to easily resell your fast fashion clothes, there’s debate on whether this incentivizes folks to shop more fast fashion knowing they can just easily resell when the next trend rolls around.
In our next blog article in this series, we will delve deeper into the effects of fast fashion, exploring its impact on labor practices, environmental sustainability, and the future of fashion as we know it. The question now is: where do we go from here? Perhaps it's time to slow down and rediscover the value of quality over quantity.
Look into your closet and if you can’t count the number of pieces you own, you’re not alone. How many of us hit up Uniqlo every few months for a new basic T? Have you been making online orders with Shein?
Fashion—as we know it today—has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past two centuries, evolving from a hand-sewn artisanal craft to a multi-trillion dollar global business. Let’s see how fast fashion developed over the years and why our closets are bursting (at the seams).
Depending on who you ask, the first sewing machine was invented by Barthelemy Thimonnier (if you ask the French) or Elias Howe (if you ask an American). Regardless, the advent of this revolutionary device in the mid-1800s marked the true starting point of fast fashion, allowing clothes to be produced more quickly and cheaply than ever before. Regular individuals could afford to be stylish and dressmaking shops began popping up to cater to this new market.
Fast forward to the 1960s, and fashion took on a whole new meaning. Young people embraced clothing as a form of self-expression, rejecting their parents' stuffy styles in favor of bold, trendy looks such as this Mary Quant mini-skirt (photo credit Victoria and Albert Museum, London).
This shift in attitude created a demand for affordable, fashionable clothes that could keep up with rapidly changing trends.
At the dawn of the 1960s, young people's income was at its highest since the end of the Second World War. Increased economic power fuelled a new sense of identity and the need to express it.
As demand grew, so did the need for cheaper production. In the 1970s, many retailers began outsourcing their manufacturing to developing countries, where labor costs were significantly lower. This move set the stage for the fast fashion behemoths we know today and marked the beginning of fashion's global transformation.
The 1990s saw the emergence of brands like Zara, H&M, and TopShop, which capitalized on globalization to revolutionize the industry. These companies turned catwalk designs into affordable high street fashion at lightning speed—in the process leveraging global supply chains and production networks. Zara, in particular, became known for its ability to go from design to store in just 15 days, prompting the New York Times to coin the term "fast fashion". Since then, shoppers adapted and became hooked onto affordable, trendy items released each season. As mainstays of the fashion industry, it’s very likely that you have purchased an item from them in the last decade (ourselves included!).
With the rise of online shopping in the late 1990s and early 2000s, fast fashion shifted into overdrive. Brands like Shein, Boohoo, Missguided, and Fashion Nova have been taking the concept to new extremes, churning out thousands of new styles weekly in ultra fast fashion. Just check out the Tiktok #sheinhaul Tiktok search results for some examples.
As Terry Nguyen notes in her Vox article:
I encounter Shein-related content almost daily, algorithmically fed to me through Instagram advertisements, YouTube hauls, and viral TikTok recommendations.
In unlocking search engine optimization and TikTok marketing, Shein has leapfrogged ahead of older competitors like Zara and H&M without a single brick and mortar store. Ultra fast fashion brands like Shein are constantly analyzing customer data and reflexively adjust production in a matter of days to match demand.
If a specific top goes viral overnight on TikTok, for example, Shein will be able to instantaneously ramp up production on the garment and place additional orders depending on demand.
Today, we're buying 60% more clothes than we did in 2000, but keeping them for only half as long. With the onslaught of TikTok and other social media channels, we as consumers are constantly being influenced to buy new clothes and stay on trend. This breakneck pace of production and consumption comes at a steep cost to both workers and the environment. It's clear that fast fashion has transformed not just our wardrobes, but our entire relationship with clothing.
And though there are resale sites like Poshmark that allow you to easily resell your fast fashion clothes, there’s debate on whether this incentivizes folks to shop more fast fashion knowing they can just easily resell when the next trend rolls around.
In our next blog article in this series, we will delve deeper into the effects of fast fashion, exploring its impact on labor practices, environmental sustainability, and the future of fashion as we know it. The question now is: where do we go from here? Perhaps it's time to slow down and rediscover the value of quality over quantity.
