Fast fashion news and archive

Fast fashion giant Inditex accelerates sustainability targets

Zara owner Inditex has announced an acceleration of a number of sustainability targets, including a new aim to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, ten years earlier than previously planned. The fast fashion giant also aims for all the cotton it uses to be “more sustainable” by 2023, two years ahead of schedule, and for all energy in its direct...

Jul. 14, 2021

Fashion

UK fast fashion: Half of top brands’ clothes made entirely from virgin plastic

A study looking into the use of plastics in the UK’s fast fashion industry has found that 49 percent of the clothing from four top brands is made entirely using virgin plastics. Boohoo was the biggest culprit with 67 percent of its fashion made entirely from fabrics derived from petrochemicals such as polyester, acrylic, nylon and polyamide....

Jun. 11, 2021

Fashion

Frugal shoppers are buying less, putting sales volumes under pressure

Buy less, buy better, once the mantra of elite sustainability campaigners, has swept the world to become a global mindset, defining a post-pandemic reality. Rail upon rail of cheap clothing is no longer an appealing retail formula as consumers shift away from fast fashion to mindful shopping. Inexpensive short lifespan garments, embedded in the...

Feb. 17, 2021

Business

Coronavirus takes fast fashion's foot off the gas

Zara, H&M and Gap may be slowly reopening their stores but the coronavirus epidemic has had a devastating financial impact on the fast fashion sector, which needs a radical overhaul if it is to recover, experts say. Nearly 40 percent of businesses in the sector are expecting the impact to be "much worse" than that of the 2008 financial crisis, a...

Jun. 11, 2020

Business |INTERVIEW

First hand fast-fashion nightmare for Bangladeshi clothing makers

One day Parvin was toiling to meet the fast-fashion demands of European capitals, the next she was among hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi clothes workers made instantly jobless as the coronavirus pandemic struck. Big-name international brands have cancelled billions of dollars in orders because of the pandemic, decimating Bangladesh's most...

Apr. 17, 2020

Fashion

PrettyLittleThing Instagram followers to shop Little Mix collection first

Fast-fashion e-tailer PrettyLittleThing has announced that its Instagram followers will be able to shop the upcoming Little Mix collection before anyone else, as it gives it social media followers the VIP treatment. The partywear collection with British girl group Little Mix was announced last month and is described as a “collection of cohesive...

Nov. 6, 2019

Fashion

PrettyLittleThing teaming up with Little Mix

Fast-fashion e-tailer PrettyLittleThing,which last month made its fashion week debut in New York, has announced a collaboration with British girl-band, Little Mix. In a short statement, PrettyLittleThing said that the Little Mix collection, launching on November 7, will be a “collection of cohesive stories that reflect each of the girl’s...

Oct. 21, 2019

Business

Can the fast fashion business model embrace sustainability?

We all know the trademarks of the fast fashion industry, the negative impact it leaves on the environment, the throwaway culture it breeds to satisfy the need for the new, and the waste is causes when unsold clothes end up in landfill. But by-product aside, the fast fashion business model may in fact have the answer that can circumvent...

Aug. 29, 2019

Fairs |REPORT

Savile Row designer Patrick Grant on embracing slow and local fashion

London - “Fashion is on such a messily over-consumptive model that we have sort of lost the joy of it, and we have to collectively find a way to bring the joy back,” said British fashion designer and owner of Savile Row tailor Norton & Sons, Patrick Grant, during his keynote talk at Pure London on Sunday. In front of a crowd of industry...

Jul. 22, 2019

Fashion

How transparent are garment labels? Five realisations

Everyone talks about transparency in the fashion industry but is it a reality? Hang tags for example, the small, annoying things that feel scratchy at the neck or lower back. They are useful and the first source of information for a potential customer in the store (unless he or she already found information online beforehand). But how much...

May 29, 2019

Retail |OPINION

The paradox of fast fashion business models and ethical practices

The fast fashion business model in 2019 hasn’t changed much in the era of sustainability. At retail level we still see rails full of 5 euro t-shirts, piles of jeans costing less than 10 euros, and printed dresses advertised at 8.99 pounds. Even cheaper goods can easily be googled and purchased online. Fast fashion and ethical trading standards...

Apr. 29, 2019

Fashion

How to convince friends to quit fast fashion for good

We’re caught in a loop: H&M, Forever 21, Target, Zara…Fast fashion is still the default setting for many shoppers. It provides a quick fix that can be hard to break free of, and the hardcore addicts know that the perfect pushback to shut well-meaning friends up is: if we stop buying fast fashion what happens to all the garment workers who depend...

Apr. 16, 2019