How ultra-fast fashion chains like Shein, Boohoo tempt Generation Z with cheap clothing, despite the environmental cost
- Fast fashion chains such as Zara and H&M are known for their negative environmental impact, but ultra-fast fashion takes disposable clothing to a new level
- Brands such as Shein and Boohoo are popular with under-25s, some of whom order their cheap clothes online, try them on for social media videos, then dump them
So-called “ultra-fast fashion” has won legions of young trendsetting fans, who snap up the relatively cheap clothes online amid surging inflation. But the genre masks dark environmental problems.
Britain’s Boohoo, China’s Shein and Hong Kong’s Emmiol operate the same internet-based business model – produce items and collections at breakneck speed and rock-bottom prices.
They are giving intense competition to more well-known “fast-fashion” chains with physical stores, such as Sweden’s H&M and Spain’s Zara. People under the age of 25 – widely known as Generation Z – love placing multiple orders for ultra-fast fashion, which arrive by post.
Greenpeace has, however, slammed the “throwaway clothing” phenomenon as grossly wasteful, arguing it takes 2,700 litres of water to make one T-shirt that is swiftly binned.
“Many of these cheap clothes end up … on huge dump sites, burned on open fires, along riverbeds and washed out to sea, with severe consequences for people and the planet,” the green pressure group says.