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.
Shein, a Chinese fashion shopping website, has around 315,000 new styles on its website only this year alone, and it was reportedly valued at $100 billion. Shein UK offers 4,029 items in its under-£5 category as of this writing, with numerous crop tops and miniskirts going for a startlingly low $1.99.
Addiction-inducing fashion, especially cheap fashion, exists. Because of this, quick fashion companies like Shein continuously broaden their selection of available styles, while social media advertisements and user-generated material like "haul videos" make sure that fashion junkies never stop using their drug. The pleasant, talkative tone makes viewers forget they are actually seeing advertisements even though some of these videos are sponsored by the firms. The idea of ordering bags full of clothes every week is normalised by wealthy YouTubers posing as regular consumers.
Shein addiction affected my buddy Toni Murphy, a 25-year-old content creator from London. When her student grants and loans provided her access to more money than ever before, she began to overconsume quick fashion. She initially avoided it out of scepticism over Shein's low costs, but she finally caved. "During the epidemic, [my addiction] really just got going. Due to the fact that I kept seeing advertisements for it," explains Murphy. Shein adverts that advertised products she had previously Googled or placed to her wishlist would appear on Instagram and websites employing cookies several times every day.
The pricing and variety of styles kept her interested even though she received some products that were not exactly as advertised or pictured. She claims that the affordable price is what kept her coming back. They deliberately targeted me with items they knew would tempt me.
Georgia Willard, a student and former fast fashion addict, tells me that her addiction was fueled by her Australian adolescent social circle. "You believed that in order to show others that you could dress appropriately and appear professional, you required a different clothing for each occasion. I eventually started shopping virtually every weekend.
Willard was inspired to give up quick fashion after learning about the industry's effects on people and the environment in a school textiles class. She not only realised she couldn't maintain her habit and afford a significant vacation she had planned to the UK after watching the documentary the True Cost in class about the unpleasant truth of the fashion industry. Since then, it has become increasingly difficult to break the cycle of buy, wear, throw away, and repeat due to the growth of less expensive, ultra-fast fashion firms like Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing, and Shein, whose annual revenue increased from $2 billion in 2018 to $15.7 billion in 2021.
Instead of buying used clothing, Murphy now indulges her fashion addiction on apps like Depop and Vinted, but her pal, a student ambassador for Shein, is £2,000 in debt. Many people seem to lack the desire for a world where female garment workers can work in a secure setting and lead happy, fulfilling lives; some employees at factories that supply Shein reported working more than 75 hours per week. Employees in one of them had one day off per month. (After a report on the working conditions in these factories, Shein claimed to have a stringent code of conduct for its suppliers and that it would look into the matter.)
Additionally bad for the environment is ultra-rapid fashion. At this rate, the global carbon budget for the apparel sector may be nearly consumed by 2050. The attitude-behavior divide is enormous, yet almost 60% of Gen Z claim to have changed their personal spending patterns and behaviours to lessen their impact on the environment. However, they also appear to be promoting the expansion of ultra-fast fashion.
For young people still learning how to express themselves and manage their finances in the face of years of austerity, growing tuition costs, and the pervasiveness of unachievable beauty standards, giving up quick fashion completely is a difficult order. It is our responsibility to hold the businesses accountable if we have the time, drive, and knowledge to do so.
Journalist and social media content producer Zainab Mahmood
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