“I go shopping every season to renew my closet,” says Yasmin Soltan, a 20-year-old student in London.
Like millions of young consumers, Yasmin has embraced the fast fashion cycle, where clothes are bought cheaply and frequently, only to be tossed out or left in the back of the wardrobe when the next trend arrives. The UK has heavily influenced fast fashion, with British consumers purchasing more clothes per capita -26.7kg each- than any other European country. Fast fashion has transformed how we consume clothing, making it more accessible than ever. However, its rise has contributed to a culture of overconsumption, leading to severe environmental and ethical consequences. Moreover, the EU Green Claims Directive is scheduled to be implemented by March 2026, with the aim of addressing greenwashing in the fashion sector. It is crucial to analyse how the UK has experienced and dealt with fast fashion.
Fast fashion emerged as a response to globalisation, consumerism, and technological advancements in manufacturing. Brands like Zara, H&M, and Primark embody the model: producing clothing at low costs, copying styles rapidly with the influence of social media, and encouraging consumers to buy frequently. “When I was growing up, fast fashion was cheap, but not fast,” says Clara Young, a former senior editor and podcaster for the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and a regular contributor to Fashion Magazine. Indeed, collections would stay in stores for months before changing. H&M was one of the first brands to speed up the cycle and copy runway trends rapidly. The environmental impact of fast fashion is staggering. According to Oxfam and the World Bank, the fashion and textiles industry consumes an estimated 93 billion cubic metres of water annually and contributes to 10% of global carbon emissions. In the UK alone, over 711,000 tonnes of clothing are discarded each year, much of which ends up in landfills or is incinerated. Beyond the environmental costs, fast fashion relies on exploitative labour practices. Many brands offshored their factories mainly to Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Ghana. The 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, where 1,134 garment workers (who are often forced to work 14 to 16 hours a day and seven days a week) died due to unsafe working conditions, was a wake-up call for the industry. “There were cases where workers were handcuffed to their desks and couldn’t even go to the bathroom,” Young recalls, and “that’s why so many people died.” The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh led to some improvements in not only factory safety, but for workers to be paid living wage, and have the right to join together to form trade unions. Yet brands were very slow to take on these points.
Some consumers have become more environmentally conscious and brands have responded with sustainability claims. However, many of these allegations amount to “greenwashing,” misleading consumers about a product’s environmental impact, using it as a marketing tactic rather than a genuine commitment. In 2019, H&M’s Conscious Collection was marketed as sustainable, yet investigations found that many items contained only a small percentage of recycled materials. They were not being specific enough in explaining how the clothes in the Conscious Collection were more “sustainable” than other products they sold. Nike has attempted to make their brand fairer and more sustainable. For instance, one can easily access the location of each of this globally renowned athletic brand’s factories in the world through what they call the “manufacturing map”. The EU Green Claims Directive aims to regulate such cases by requiring clear evidence for environmental assertions, standardising criteria for sustainability certifications, and imposing penalties on companies that have used misleading marketing.Although the UK is no longer part of the EU, its fashion industry remains deeply connected to European regulations. Post-Brexit, the UK has introduced its own measures to promote sustainability in fashion, including the Textiles 2030 Initiative, a voluntary agreement led by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) to encourage brands to reduce waste and carbon emissions. Another example is the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) Investigation into Greenwashing, which scrutinisyes sustainability claims made by fashion brands to ensure compliance with consumer protection laws. Despite these initiatives, there is not enough legal enforceability for impactful change. Some brands have taken significant steps toward sustainability. Stella McCartney has long been a leader in eco-friendly fashion, using recycled and ethical materials. People Tree, a Fair Trade and sustainable fashion brand, prioritises sustainable fabrics and ethical production: “We do our best to give you the best possible prices first time around, while still paying a fair price to our makers, weavers and farmers”, they have pronounced on their website. Every time somebody buys from them,the money is directly invested back into the creator of the clothes. Additionally, E.L.V. Denim, a British luxury brand, specialises in upcycled jeans.
Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the ethical and environmental issues tied to fast fashion. However, affordability remains a significant barrier. “I boycotted Shein for a year because of child labour concerns,” says Yasmin. “But when I looked into it, I realised brands like Zara do the same thing. I couldn’t afford to boycott them all.” She affirmed that one can find anything on Shein, a drop shipper that uses third-party sellers, for a reasonable price, compared to other places where it would be triple the price for the same item. For university student Zainab Sikander, who sold around £600 worth of clothes in the past year, her “last idea” would be to check on Shein as she would prioritise second hand for its quality and prices more.
For many, second-hand shopping is an alternative. Vinted, an app used to resell clothes to other users, is increasing each day, with over 105 million users in 20 different countries. “I started using Vinted at the start of university because I had too many clothes and not enough space,” says Sikander. “As a student, I also needed extra money, and it was a convenient way to sell my clothes from my room, without the hassle of going to a charity shop.” However, second-hand shopping isn’t a viable solution for everyone: “I have OCD, a fear of germs,” Yasmin explains. “I know most thrift store clothes are cleaned, but the idea that they belonged to someone else makes me uncomfortable.” She adds that since COVID, “shopping in crowded thrift stores triggers my anxiety, so I mostly shop online.” For her, thrift stores are too expensive and their campaigns are not as strong as those of brands like Shein.
The future of fashion must include stronger regulations and increased consumer awareness. France has introduced legislation against fast fashion, imposing a tax for such items of €5 per article, from 2025, rising to over €10, by 2030. This newly approved bill will also ban advertising for ultra-fast fashion brands like Shein and Temu. For true change to occur, governments must keep enforcing policies that hold brands accountable. Consumers, too, play a crucial role. According to Clara Young, boycotting alone isn’t the most effective strategy. “The best way to push brands toward sustainability is not just by boycotting them but by actively questioning them,” she says. “When consumers demand transparency and enter into a dialogue with brands, they make the most progress.”