One of FashionUnited’s most read articles of the month of October was who is behind the “Shein outlets” in the Netherlands.
In cities like ArnhemUtrecht and Rotterdam temporary shops popped up who offer clothing at extremely low prices. These outlets encountered resistance due to the reputation of Shein, a company known for its ultra fast fashionmodel and the associated human and environmental abuses.
Despite the criticism, many consumers remain attracted by the low prices, as NRC highlighted in a report on October 23.
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While on the one hand there is continuous talk about corporate responsibility, sustainability in circular effortson the other hand, the popularity of ultra fast fashiongiants like Shein and colleague Ago lightning fast.
A clear paradox. Consumers want to make more sustainable choices, but are still flocking to new, cheap, fun trend clothing.
I recently wrote this article about it ”We now know that cheap trendy clothing items are usually not produced under good conditions: why do we keep buying them?’ that can be read on Linkedin.
That contrast seems greatest in this case Gen Zthe young people born between 1995 and 2012now 12 to 29 years old. A significant group in the Netherlands, according to demographic estimates around three million people.
Sustainable thinking does not always lead to sustainable purchasing
As a generation, Gen Z is deeply involved in social and environmental issues. They are known for their activism and concern climate changesocial justice and sustainability.
But these values are not always reflected in their purchasing behavior: in practice, many of these consumers continue to choose fast fashionfor example, as one showed research report that second-hand clothing platform ThredUp released in August 2022.
The well-known “intention-behaviour gap”: the difference between what consumers want to do (in this case, shop more sustainably) and what they actually do.
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The appeal of cheap fashion for Gen Z
Young people experience pressure to look fashionable, especially within the dynamics of online platforms. Think of Instagram’s ‘outfit of the day’ or TikTok trends.
Shein and Temu in particular respond to the desire to look fashionable without spending a lot of money and entice consumers with questionable advertisingmarketing campaigns and discounts.
It is therefore not surprising that these Chinese giants have great appeal, especially among younger consumers (Shein is currently one of the most popular fashion companies in the world).
I myself am a Millennial (from 1988), but I know, for example, that our fourteen-year-old niece sometimes shops at Shein. I also know a group of friends who regularly make purchases there. I asked them via WhatsApp why they buy from the Chinese giant. Of course, it’s not a representative survey, but they said the main reasons to buy from Shein are the low prices, convenience and wide range.
“Cheap,” one of them replied. “Then I can use it for a year and buy something new again. Now that I’m typing this, quite bad actually,” followed by a laughing smiley emoticon.
“I shop there when I quickly need a nice summer dress or something for a party,” wrote another.
“I buy everything there,” said a third. “I no longer have to shop at different stores, because you have everything there. A kind of Zalando, but hip.”
In the aforementioned ThredUp research 72 percent of college students gave in the year prior to the survey fast fashion to have purchased. More than 2 in 5 said they buy clothes for events where they are likely to wear them only once. 50 percent of students said they go to fast fashion every week ‘hauls’ on social media and 40 percent look around fast fashion websites every day.
You could argue that the fashion industry makes it difficult for consumers to build a more sustainable wardrobe.
The industry’s current emphasis on constant trends and promoting ‘new’ encourages consumers to purchase new clothing regularly.
Fast fashion dominates the market through low prices and attractive, trendy items, while sustainable fashion is less accessible and usually more expensive.
Read more about it in the article recently published on Linkedin: ‘We now know that cheap trendy clothing items are usually not produced under good conditions: why do we keep buying them?’
Now the good news. From recent case study to the behavior of Gen Z, fast fashion and Shein by Zimand-Sheiner and Lissitsa (2024), after reading negative information about Shein’s environmental impact, participants developed a more negative attitude towards the company and felt ‘betrayed’, which purchase intention decreased. Put more simply, young people are less likely to buy Shein clothing if they know how poorly the brand operates.
This suggests that transparency and making reliable information available about the impact of fast fashion are crucial to help young people make more conscious choices.
What about that awareness?
Fashion professional and teacher Ellen Haeser sees a growing social awareness around sustainable fashion, including among fashion students, she says when asked. “We have to be patient, because it happens in small steps.”
Haeser recently asked her students if they would be willing to halve their wardrobe if the rest of the wardrobe consisted of high-quality, good pieces to wear for years. Only two out of twenty students said yes. The rest feared a lack of variety in outfits and that it would become boring.
During round table discussions on the last edition of Dutch Design Week the same question was asked and the same answers were given, says Haeser. “For some fashion professionals this was a eye opener that there is a big difference in awareness in the sustainability bubble and beyond,” says Haeser.
In short, transparency and education are certainly important.
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But awareness alone is not enough. Nothing will really change until we structurally adjust our consumption habits. In other words, awareness must be converted into lasting behavioral change.
The tension between fast fashion and sustainability, consumption and responsibility, will remain an important issue within the industry for years to come.
Finally; Fashion is always subject to paradoxes
Contradictions are inherent to the fashion industry and form an essential part of its dynamics. Both in terms of aesthetics and consumption behavior.
In addition to ‘sustainability versus fast fashion’ and ‘trendy versus timeless’, you can think of ‘individuality versus conformity’ and ‘creativity versus commerce’ or ‘minimalism versus excess’.
Fashion is always in motion and a reflection of broader social trends. These contradictions make fashion not only complex but also fascinating.
It is up to us as consumers, designers and companies to think critically about our role in this system and strive for more more sustainable and responsible fashion industry.
Sources:
-The FashionUnited archive and specifically the Dutch “Shein” outlet articles by Caitlyn Terra from October 2024 and the English article ‘ThredUp debuts resources to support Gen Z hooked on fast fashion’ by Jackie Mallon, from August 16, 2022.
-The NRC article ‘Shops with fast fashion are too attractive to ignore because of the low prices: ‘I saw the word “discount” and went in’ by Marit Willemsen from October 23, 2024.
-ThredUP 2022 Gen Z Fast Fashion Report full study, available in TredUp newsroom. Source: GlobalData 2022 consumer survey of 1,989 American Gen Zers (ages 16-25) in June-July 2022.
-Zimand-Sheiner, D., & Lissitsa, S. (2024). Generation Z – factors predicting decline in purchase intentions after receiving negative environmental information: Fast fashion brand SHEIN as a case study. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 81, 103999. This study is based on an online survey of Generation Z consumers born between 1995 and 2003. The original sample consisted of 849 respondents, of which 607 completed the survey, according to reports on the research page.
-Written input from fashion professional and teacher Ellen Haeser, end of October 2024.
-Parts of this article text were generated using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool and then edited.
Source: fashionunited.nl
