Literature Review

Fast-fashion, generally recognized by several clothing giants like Zara or H&M, is the

term used to describe a collection of garments that are produced quickly at low costs in

response to the latest fashion trend available. Companies operating in this industry are

characterized by their fast and massive production cycles, with a strong emphasis on speed in

every step of their supply chains, from designing stage to shipping fashion items to the final

customers. By its nature, fast-fashion promotes unsustainability through constant disposals

and throwaways of outdated clothing pieces (Joy et al. 2015).

McNeill & Moore (2015) acknowledged that though fast-fashion has long been

criticized for engaging in unsustainable activities, recent efforts of fast-fashion producers in

changing the industry unethical image, like switching to sustainable fibers or promoting

second-hand and renewable garments exchanges, has been neglected or not given enough

credits. In a contrast view, Wicker (2016) perceived such attempt, namely H&M initiative to

persuade customers to exchange old clothes with vouchers at H&M stores, as an

oversimplification. In practice, the idea of recycling fast-fashion items might be unrealistic.

Only a small percentage of old clothes received from customers was actually recycled to

create new textile fibers; and barely do secondhand stores accept the inexpensive, low-in-

resale-value fast-fashion pieces, thus these old clothes are likely to end up in the trash

(Wicker 2016). Wicker (2016) also explicitly highlighted the severe impacts of trashing

clothes: costs of waste going to landfill, toxins emitted by burning fibers and long period of

biodegradation.

However, as a magazine article, Wicker's (2016) point of view is to some extent

biased towards attributing all the unethical to the industry itself, while neglected another

important player who greatly contributed to the rising popularity and development of the fast-

fashion industry: consumers. Young adults are deemed the most attractive segment that fast-

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fashion producers constantly try to exploit, given their continual desire to catch up with the

current luxury styles in relation with their limited income (Joy et al. 2015). Joy et al. (2015)

found that young customers often segregate fashion from sustainability, that means,

sustainability would have little, if not none, influence on their choice of clothing, even when

they are concerned about such green values. Critically, the conclusion made by Joy et al.

(2015) might have been over-generalized due to the homogeneous demographics of most

participants in their sample.

McNeill & Moore (2015) met with Joy et al. (2015) at identifying customers' attitudes

and their subsequent behaviors towards sustainable fashion, that positive attitude to

sustainability does not necessarily translate into actual purchases of sustainable fashion. This

was also mentioned as a limitation in Orpha & Vandenbosch’s (2017) article. Fast-fashion can

only change its non-sustainable nature if both producers and consumers are involved in the

trade of sustainable items. The major difference between the two article lies on the fact that

McNeill & Moore (2015) did not focus on the general group of young people, yet classified

fashion customers into 3 types: 'self', 'social', 'sacrifice'. Each group holds different, or even

contradictory, values and assumptions in purchasing garments, implying different marketing

strategies targeted at each specific group are needed in promoting sustainable fashion. The

generalizability of the study is restricted by its small-sized convenience sampling method. But

elicits further investigation, for example a longitudinal research on how sustainable fashion

would adapt to customer needs in the long run, as attitudes and behaviors have been found to be

changing over time, especially when associated with different levels of self-identity (McNeill

& Moore 2015).

Another research on young customers conducted by Orpha & Vandenbosch (2017)

referred to the existence of social media platforms as one of the potential factors

manipulating buyers' sustainable intention. More exposure to environmentally-friendly or

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sustainable content can predict positive attitude towards sustainable apparel, which leads to a

higher intention to buy; while fashion blogs and fast-fashion promotions would indicate the

opposite.

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Works Cited

Joy A, Sherry Jr, JF, Venkatesh, A, Wang, J & Chan, R 2015, 'Fast Fashion, Sustainability,

and the Ethical Appeal of Luxury Brands', Fashion Theory, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 273-96,

viewed 24 April 2019, retrieved from Taylor & Francis online database.

McNeill, L & Moore, R 2015, 'Sustainable fashion consumption and the fast fashion

conundrum: fashionable consumers and attitudes to sustainability in clothing choice',

International Journal of Consumer Studies, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 212-22, viewed 29

April 2019, retrieved from Business Source Premiere database.

Orpha, dL & Vandenbosch, L 2017, 'Media and sustainable apparel buying intention',

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 483-98, viewed 30

April 2019, retrieved from ABI/INFORM Collection database.

Wicker, A 2016, 'Fast Fashion Is Creating an Environmental Crisis', Newsweek, vol. 167, no.

9, 9 September, retrieved from ABI/INFORM Collection database.