Fast fashion
A high-speed clothing business model that turns new styles into frequently changing, widely available products.
What does Fast fashion mean?
Fast fashion describes a way of producing and selling clothes with short design-to-shop cycles and frequent new assortments. The term is about the wider model of volume, speed and turnover, not a precise quality test you can apply to one garment on a hanger. A piece from a fast-fashion shop might last in someone's wardrobe, while an expensive piece might barely be worn.
What it looks like in real life
A store introduces another version of a trending cardigan just weeks after the last one. You already own a similar cardigan and can style it with your trousers and shoes tonight. Not buying the near-duplicate is a choice about your wardrobe, regardless of which shop sold the original.
What people often get wrong
Fast fashion is not simply a synonym for cheap clothing, and the opposite is not automatically sustainable. Price alone does not tell you about working conditions, environmental impact, durability or how often you will use an item. Those questions deserve their own evidence.
How to use the idea
When something new feels urgent, pause and name the outfit you would actually wear it with. Search your own clothes for that role, then ask whether the new item fills a genuine gap or repeats something already useful. If you do buy, inspect construction and care rather than assuming a label answers everything.