fast fashion

noun

: an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers

For many shoppers, Primark has an irresistible offer: trendy clothes at astonishingly low prices. The result is a new and even faster kind of fast fashion, which encourages consumers to buy heaps of items, discard them after a few wears and then come back for another batch of new outfits.

—The Economist

Competition is fierce at every end of the fashion spectrum from luxury to fast fashion.

—Nedra Rhone

In 1985, we bought roughly 31 clothing items per year; now [in 2012] we snap up twice that many thanks to "fast fashion."

—Azeen Ghorayshi

—usually hyphenated when used before another noun

fast-fashion chains/retailers

Examples of fast fashion in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In an industry characterized by transient fads (including the worrisome trend of ‘fast fashion'), her commitment to sustainability promotes the notion that true innovation is both powerful and permanent. —Dan Pontefract, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024

With fast fashion the second-most polluting industry in the world, the trade show is in response to the rampant overconsumption, growing awareness among the youth looking to be better consumers and the secondhand market changing the way consumption can become investments. —Fairchild Studio, WWD, 28 Oct. 2024

In addition, The RealReal will donate $25,000 to benefit Conservation International, highlighting how the re-sale of high-quality fashion can reduce the environmental impact of the throwaway culture of fast fashion. —Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2024

This can be particularly useful for fast fashion, where quick turnaround times are essential. —Vicki M. Young, Sourcing Journal, 17 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1975, in the meaning defined above