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

The Federal Trade Commission is sending refunds totaling nearly $2.4 million to customers of fast fashion retailer Fashion Nova. —Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2025

Today’s shoppers are increasingly rejecting the disposability of fast fashion in favour of brands that align with their values—leaving Boohoo scrambling to adjust. —Kate Hardcastle, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2025

Digital fashion filters allow users to try on virtual outfits, reducing the environmental impact of fast fashion while giving users the freedom to express themselves creatively. —Tyler Shepherd, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2025

And the non-performers: Acacia’s look is terrible — the screen-printing reminds me of fast fashion. —Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 10 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1975, in the meaning defined above