Fast fashion was booming in the early 2000s when consumers connected with Primark’s luminous mesh clothing and chunky plastic hoop earrings, and as the likes of Topshop, H&M and Zara embarked on ambitious expansion schemes around the world.
However, in more recent years ethics and corporate transparency in fast fashion has been the topic of numerous debates – especially since the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world in March this year.
The sector has been seeing an increase in calls for transparent corporate practices as well as sustainable offerings from retailers that were once the mascots for fast fashion. Retailers have also had to deal with a domino effect on the high street – where competition led to many of them “greenwashing” to appear ethical.
The term “greenwashing” was coined in the 1980s by environmentalist Jay Westerveld to describe retailers which grossly overstate the environmental or ethical benefits of their products and services.
Despite sustainability already being one of the buzzwords in retail before the pandemic, GlobalData predicted in April that Covid would put sustainability concerns on hold as retailers focus on the battle for survival. Read more…
