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A Closer Look At The Definition And Why It’s Time To Slow Down The phrase “fast fashion” has become a buzz phrase recently, but what does it really mean? In order to move past fast fashion and into a more sustainable industry, we all have to be on the same page about what exactly we’re pushing against. Here are three proposed definitions:

Fast fashion can be defined as cheap, trendy clothing, that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments in high street stores at breakneck speed.
Good on You

"Fast fashion” is a term used by fashion retailers to describe inexpensive designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to meet new trends. As a result of this trend, the tradition of introducing new fashion lines on a seasonal basis is being challenged. Today, it is not uncommon for fast-fashion retailers to introduce new products multiple times in a single week to stay on-trend.
INVESTOPEDIA

An approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers.
Merriam Webster

To understand and define the phrase, it’s important to first give the phenomenon context. The fashion industry, up until the mid-twentieth century, ran on four seasons a year: fall, winter, spring, and summer. Designers would work many months ahead to plan for each season and predict what they believed customers would want. This method, although more methodical than fashion today, took away agency from the wearers. Before fashion became accessible to the masses, it was prescribed to high society and there were rules to be followed.

Of course, the Industrial Revolution planted seeds for what we know fashion to be today. It wasn’t as drastic as the current climate is until things picked up around the 1960s. From the swinging decade, the industry only quickened its pace and lowered its costs. However, it reached a point of no return a few decades later; according to the Sunday Style Times, “It particularly came to the fore during the vogue for ‘boho chic’ in the mid-2000s.”

Fast fashion utilizes trend replication, rapid production, and low quality materials in order to bring inexpensive styles to the public. Unfortunately, this results in harmful impacts to the environment, human well-being, and ultimately our wallets.