THE MASS MARKET ; SUSTAINABILITY AND ETHICS EDITION 2016 1 | Page 8

THE MASS MARKET ; NOV 2016

THE MASS MARKET ; NOV 2016

THE DEFINITION OF FAST FASHION;

Zara ‘Eco’ Concept Flagship
Store ; Hong Kong, China

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Fig. 11

Fast fashion is the fast turnover of low cost ready to wear
garments within the fashion industry. The advantages of fast
fashion are that is simplistic, convenient, very accessible and
affordable with Zara being the leader in fast fashion and has a
six-week turn around process (designing garments and sending
them off in production and having them in store). Fast fashion
is more than often seen within the mass market as this is what
the largest retailers sell. Initially, their goal is to sell
garments as quickly as possible by taking catwalk designs from
some of the leading designers and emulate them, using lower
quality manufacturing methods and fabrics. (Joy. A, et al,
n.d.) Fast turnover processes allow retailers to have “an agile
supply chain, allowing retailers to bring in ‘hot’ garments and
capitalise on demand”. (Raconteur, 2016) The methods used to
make fast fashion are seen to be extremely detrimental to the
environment such as sandblasting, the use of toxic chemicals to
dye clothes, the harming of animals for their fur or skin (eg.
fur, leather) and even the making of faux furs. As a result of
backlash from public (eg. animal harm activists, non-government
organizations; PETA), this has made a big push for change within
retailer’s sustainability and ethics remit, for example New
Look have now started selling sustainably made jeans, H&M and
Zara both have sustainable and ethical clothing lines called
‘Conscious’ and Zara’s ‘#JoinLife’ and also ASOS’ ‘Made in Kenya.
ASOS work with the ‘SOKO Initiative’ which is a manufacturing
company in Africa that allows good working conditions for women
as well as decent wages. They also allow access to pre-schooling
for children and free medical care. (Chicago Tribune, 2016) These
retailers are actively partaking in ‘good ethical practice’ –
with H&M giving customers an incentive (a voucher or percentage
off their customer’s purchase) to give their old clothes into
store and Zara packages their deliveries in recycled cardboard
boxes, stating that they are ‘boxes with a past’, e-commerce
store ASOS is also doing the same thing and states on their
packaging that it is either biodegradable or 100% recyclable. New
Looks sustainability and ethical report (n.d.) states, “We have
a long way to go. Meeting workers’ needs across our supply chain
is a big challenge. It’s not easy and we have a lot of obstacles
to overcome along the way. But we’re determined to bring about
positive change.” This insinuates that New Look as a brand are
just now starting to take their first steps to make their garments
more sustainable.

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