As we enter once again into the all too traditional sales period, it seems important to us to address another subject, certainly different but related: that of the new brands described as "ultra fast-fashion". These brands have the particularity of attracting their young customers by offering constant promotions on their sites. A commercial technique that is not very aware of the environmental issues of fashion, and which hides a functioning that is at the very least dubious. They are in fact taking a growing place on the disposable fashion market by using practices long attributed to traditional fast-fashion brands. Seemingly not caring about international legislation - which is too little present - these brands are reaching records in terms of overconsumption. Today, it seems important to us to dwell on these commercial principles in order to understand how they are a danger for companies that, like Hast, work for a more qualitative and sustainable fashion. Our goal? To inform you so that you can buy less and better!
We'll start by quickly analyzing the beginning of traditional fast fashion to understand how these brands are pushing the techniques even further.
The legacy of traditional fast fashion
It is difficult to discuss these new multinationals without looking at the beginning of so-called traditional fast fashion . This fast fashion in French or disposable fashion, categorizes a part of the fashion industry based on the constant renewal of collections, of products made quickly, in low-quality fabrics and sold cheaply. To fully understand the beginning and appearance of these giants of the industry, which today share a large part of the market, we must go back to the one who invented it: Amancio Ortega. You may not be familiar with his name but you most certainly know his greatest achievement: the construction of the Inditex empire, a group that owns, among other things, Zara. In many ways, Amancio Ortega is a marketing genius. In Spain in full reconstruction and scarred by the civil war, Ortega works with his family in the textile and clothing sector in the poor region of Galicia. He quickly identified the production possibilities in the region and based his business model on a principle that still remains that of fast-fashion brands today: the rapid and large-scale reproduction of models that have worked in ready-to-wear.
The principle is as follows: store managers send back sales analyses as quickly as possible, allowing headquarters to understand which pieces work best and adapt production accordingly. Successful models are available in different colors. Little by little, the search for low costs and the development of synthetic fibers lead to the transition from materials such as silk or cotton to polyester or later, viscose. The lower the costs, the higher the margins. The Spanish group has thus laid the foundations for today's fast fashion .
A fashion for copying, which is mass produced by carefully analyzing sales.
Teams of specialized designers go to the shows and define the models that can be reproduced in lower quality. Productions quickly fly to Asia, the brands become multinational machines and revolutionize the world of clothing.
Fast fashion is regularly criticized for the little consideration that this production method gives to working conditions and the environmental impact of the materials chosen (massive use of textiles such as polyester – remember, this is a synthetic artificial material derived from oil, extremely polluting for the environment). For several years in Western countries, many brands have been trying to warn about the excesses of the fashion industry, and especially, about the dangers of “over-production” of pieces that are rendered useless. Traditional fast fashion brands are now regulated by laws and are trying to improve their methods, and that’s a good thing. But the last decade has seen the emergence of newcomers pushing fast fashion practices even further. This is ultra fast fashion.
Ultra fast fashion or the height of mass consumption
Fast fashion and its major representatives are now trying to face criticism and improve their business model . And while consumers and professionals are increasingly aware of the industry's excesses, brands born on the internet like Shein or Boohoo are pushing these practices even further. The principle to attract customers: constant promotions. While sales and promotions are a way for so-called "traditional" brands to sell off their unsold stocks, the principle of constant promotions is actually contrary to commercial ethics (the lower the production prices, the bigger the sales can be).
There are many methods to be deplored by these new brands. Entirely based on online commerce, they vertically integrate all stages of production, and even end up copying the same texts on several brand platforms.
They further accelerate the principles of mass production and consumption on which the fast-fashion giants already operate.
In China, as in England, where the models sold by ultra- fast-fashion brands are produced, working conditions are often poor, particularly because the production lines operate almost 24 hours a day. The perfect mastery of the codes of "influence", particularly on Tik Tok, accentuates the problem because they directly target young consumers with low purchasing power, with the striking force that we know from social networks.
Thus, these brands appear in radical opposition to the brands described as "slow fashion" which have been trying for several years to warn about the dangers of such overproduction which is dangerous for the environment. This two-speed era is paradoxical to say the least: some consumers and players in the fashion industry are trying to understand the environmental issues and the dangers of overproduction while another part remains very price-oriented and disposable consumption.
One point should not be underestimated: responsible brands often operate with much lower budgets than fast-fashion brands that rely on minimal production costs and very high margins. They therefore have an extremely powerful strike force and can invest in influence and communication without counting.
Poor understanding of the issues by consumers and brands, weak purchasing power in the face of the crisis, lack of legislation at national and global levels, fashion still has a long way to go... We continue to move forward step by step!
Sources :
The Secrets of Fashion, Yann Kerlau
lemonde.fr
Arte: Fast-fashion, the underside of low-cost fashion
