Fast fashion and environmental protection are still in conflict. UBS warns that the industry may no longer be glorious in the next decade

If you want to always be at the forefront of trends, "fast fashion" is definitely a great choice for many consumers. After all, fast fashion products are cheap and fashionable, with a wide variety of products and a fast speed of new releases . In addition, the concept of consumerism is prevalent. Since it originated in Europe in the last century, fast fashion has unknowingly become a part of everyone's life, especially sought after by young generations around the world.

Currently, the world's well-known fast fashion retailers include SHEIN, Zara, Forever 21 and H&M.

However, in an era when fast fashion clothing brands such as SHEIN are "working hard to achieve miracles" and are valued at up to $15 billion, a report released by investment bank UBS on Monday showed that as more and more consumers realize the environmental and human costs of clothing production, the once popular fast fashion clothing brands have gradually fallen out of favor and are generally regarded as the industry with the most problems.

This is because fast fashion products have generated a large number of environmental and human rights issues that need to be addressed in every link of production and sales.

In order to reduce product production costs, fast fashion brands must produce products in large quantities to obtain economies of scale and meet the factory's minimum production limits. The expansion of production has caused increased pollution. Today, the textile industry accounts for about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions , and the fashion industry has become the world's second largest source of pollution.

In addition, textile companies consume a lot of water . According to EDGE Fashion Intelligence, it takes about 20,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of cotton (equivalent to a pair of jeans). The development of the fast fashion industry has undoubtedly increased the demand for industrial water, resulting in a large amount of water waste.

The fast fashion clothing flooding the market and its marketing strategies that keep up with the times will stimulate consumers' impulse purchases . If consumers keep buying new clothes, they will decisively throw away old clothes. The US Environmental Protection Agency stated that 15.1 million tons of textile waste was generated in 2013.

However, the "crimes" of fast fashion are not over yet. They also include the indirect consequences of disorderly expansion of factories, exploitation of workers by factories, illegal employment of child labor and other human rights issues, as well as the pollution and waste caused by the extensive destruction of large numbers of unsold products by fast fashion brands.

Since the fast fashion industry has many drawbacks, young consumers, including Generation Z, are gradually changing their past consumption behaviors for the sake of environmental protection. CGK's "2020 State of the Generation Z Consumer" study found that 47% of Generation Z consumers said they would respect a company that supports environmental protection more and would be willing to spend $14.3 more on the company's products.

UBS survey data also shows that more than half of the people in the British and German consumer markets have changed their consumption behavior for the sake of environmental protection, 20% to 25% of consumers have reduced their purchases of clothing products, and 28% to 31% of consumers are willing to "look for sustainably manufactured" clothing.

In response to this research result, UBS even warned that the fast fashion industry may face a sharp decline in the next decade or less.

Nowadays, people's awareness of health and environmental protection is constantly increasing. Only by actively accepting and embracing this mainstream concept can brands achieve sustainable development. Moreover, many brands have opened up a new development path with green environmental protection as a selling point. Therefore, as long as sellers are willing to change, they can also follow the footsteps of "predecessors" and embark on their own path of sustainable development!

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