Babe wake up, fast fashion is aspirational now
On the luxury-ification of fast fashion
Before we dive into my theory that fast fashion is luxury-ifying itself to appeal to postmodern aspirational consumers, let’s establish what fast fashion is:
A system of mass production designed to efficiently produce low-cost items.
It rarely generates newness. As professor Minh-Ha T. Pham writes in The High Cost of High Fashion, "Its business model is based on seeking out—not defining—cultural trends and then producing and delivering them months or sometimes days before peer and upmarket competitors.”
There are many mass-market and prestige brands that don’t typically get the label because of good marketing or cultural capital, but just because they sell higher-end items doesn’t mean it isn’t fast fashion. In general, if a brand uses cheap labor and follows a quick response, trend-driven, low-quality business model, it is part of the system.
That said, this post isn’t an indictment of people who buy fast fashion or a morally prescriptive guide to consumption. I am simply reporting on the branding strategies fast fashion uses to masquerade as new luxury at a time when evidence of both its human and environmental toll is increasingly hard to ignore.
Judging by the numbers, the playbook is working and the majority has also increased their prices to keep up with the ruse. According to Uniform Market, fast fashion is now worth $150 billion and it’s expected to hit $184 billion by 2030. Some studies even suggest that it’s growing at a faster rate than luxury fashion. So why is fast fashion trying to luxury-ify itself?
The timing couldn’t be more strategic. With luxury price tags alienating aspirational consumers, people no longer have qualms about duping. I remember having lunch with an influencer last summer and after complimenting her Orseund Iris La Sirena Top, she quickly admitted that she had duped it from Amazon. “The quality isn’t the best but it is so cute,” she giggled.
Today’s consumers consciously buy poorly made dupes as in our image-driven culture, the photo matters more than reality. If it was taboo to buy knockoffs in the past, it has ironically become a flex today. You might be considered clever for “not being fooled by the luxury price tags” or resourceful for “knowing where to find the best bang for your buck.”
On the other hand, with calls for regulatory scrutiny and sustainability concerns growing louder, fast fashion felt pressure to reinvent itself. And it chose to do so not by improving its business model but by aligning itself with luxury. Zara, H&M and Mango were already borrowing from the playbook but other fast-fashion brands are following suit as a way to distinguish themselves from the Sheins and Temus.
The great fast fashion rebrand is upon us, and here’s how brands are doing it.
Wirkin Girl: The Special Case of the “Walmart Birkin”
Side by side: Walmart Birkin sold by “Judy” and Hermès Togo Birkin 35 Orange sold by Fashionphile