Why Brands are Breaking the Fast Fashion Cycle

I’m pretty sick of the fashion industry’s fast fashion cycle. The cycle that tells me that a dress I bought 2 years ago is no longer fashionable and I must do another shopping haul to be on trend this season. It‘s not all doom and gloom though — there are a lot of brands choosing to do things differently with social media making this possible on a whole new scale. I’m very excited to see and shop brands who are doing things differently.

Man Ray Needle and Thread

So wait, what is the fast fashion cycle?

The fashion industry has mastered the art of producing as much as is physically and logistically possible to make, market, distribute and sell season after season. The emphasis is on “fast” — the brand that gets to market the quickest at the lowest optimal price “wins” often cutting corners when it comes to the human and the environmental cost.

The fast fashion cycle also turns fast — it is trend driven, meaning clothes go in and out of fashion quickly — last season‘s pieces are rendered worthless by the very brands that created them.

Why break it?

There are just so many issues with the cycle—from over production leading to brands burning excess stock to stressed out designers, workers at horrible fashion factories employed for next to nothing and consumers who feel pressured to spend their earnings on the latest trends (whist rendering what they already have worthless).

For us, as consumers, the fact that the fast fashion cycle is so profit oriented means that we often get products that are not only manufactured unethically and unsustainably, but also are of poor quality.

How are brands already doing it?

Well, there are so many brands paving their way whilst breaking the fast fashion cycle and there is no one way to do it—that is the exciting part. The world of slow fashion is as diverse as one’s imagination gets, but here are some trends (and brands) worth noticing.

BASICS THAT LAST by Everlane

You know how I was complaining about that dress going out of style a mere 2 years after I bought it? The designers at Everlance have listened and come up with a painstakingly simple solution - exceptional quality basic pieces that will not date. The designs are timeless meaning that this season’s collection will have only minor differences from the last one—no pressure to keep updating your wardrobe. What is already in your wardrobe is made high quality and designed to last beyond the 2 years. Not only that, but Everlane has figured out a way to do this whilst maintaining its ethical and sustainabiloity commitments and keeping the prices very reasonable for everyday items.

NON-SEASONAL FASHION by Orseund Iris

I’m sure Orseund Iris or their designs would have popped up on our Instagram one way or another — this brand has basically made a name for itself on Instagram and it did a lot of things right to get there. The focus is on creating original designs that people love (yes, finally a brand that listens to feedback from its followers). Once they know they have something good they keep making it — there are no seasonal “collections”, no “filler” pieces, Orseund Iris only release a small amount of perfect pieces and keep making these for a number of years (basically whilst people are still loving these).

The trend of non-seasonal fashion has become massive with the onset of the pandemic as it is no longer logistically possible to produce as much as quickly. This is great news for us as the consumers — when we love something and spend our own money on it, we do not want for it to go out of style in 2 years.

HANDMADE by Madison Cleo

I am fascinated with the story of Maison Cleo - the ultimate cool French girl label. Behind the label are Marie and NathalieDewet, the seamstress mother and label manager daughter who release a very limited number of styles on their website each Wednesday. Once the orders are placed the mother sews the pieces within 2 weeks and these are posted to the buyers. Simple concept - seamstresses have been working this way for 100s of years with Instagram enable the brand to tell their story and access their market.

I would kill for one of their tops - partly because the tops are actually absolutely stunning (you can tell these are not mass manufactured) and party because I love the story and feel that this mode of retail is very special and worth supporting.

The fast fashion cycle is cracking at the seams and there are a lot of slow fashion brands coming through utilising new and exciting approaches to fashion. I’m incredibly excited about these developments and will keep investigating and sharing my favorite brands that are breaking the fashion cycle.

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Xx

Lena