The effects of modern globalization on the fashion industry have changed the face of fashion forever. But first, let’s take a look at the root of fast fashion, which is the process of quickly taking a design from the fashion show to the department store.
Fashion has long been a symbol of status and class distinction, delineating the upper class from the lower class.
Each garment’s value and craftsmanship were essential to its look and feel, and these attributes became metrics for how we viewed fashion. Often, designers put high price tags on their high-quality pieces, giving rise to the fashion house.
Since fashion houses specialized in high-fashion clothing and accessories and catered to elite clientele, they reigned supreme. Designer Charles Frederick Worth first designated the concept of the fashion house in Paris in the early 19th-century.
Oddly enough, the rise of the fashion house may have marked the beginning of modern globalization and its impact on fast fashion.
The early fashion houses were specifically designed to showcase and appeal to the rich and powerful upper class. As the new fashion trends of the season were displayed, the lower classes would emulate the designs but with cheaper fabric and basic construction.
Early fashion house garments were made from the highest-quality materials and sewn by experts and were often custom-fitted to clients. This was an exhaustive process and could take months between when an order was made to when the customer could finally wear the piece.
The term “haute couture,” which means expensive, fashionable clothes produced by leading fashion houses, was born from this process.
Everything about fashion houses were built around this idea of the best of the best.
Small but highly qualified design teams created two collections each year (what we still experience as a spring/summer collection and a fall/winter collection). The collections were shown at fashion shows in New York, Paris, and London.
Those who could afford it received a sneak peek at the forthcoming collection and were able to place advanced orders based on what they liked.
As the social and economic lines between the upper and lower classes began to blur, so did fashion.
Fashion houses recognized the changing demographics and began to design ready-to-wear collections in standardized sizes and produced in mass quantities to be sold at department stores.
Many of these garments were still quite expensive but still cheaper than the custom made haute couture of the past. The desire for ready-to-wear lines began to increase, and department stores that carried the lines opened in droves.
In the 1980s, the fashion industry saw the rise of globalization. For the first time, consumers were first introduced to cyber technology, transnational corporations, and electronic mass media.
These three core innovations fundamentally changed how fashion was produced, marketed, sold, bought, worn, and discarded.
In response, the globalization of fashion opened an untapped market that fed on the massive demand for trendy clothes, and traditional fashion houses and department stores were struggling to keep up.
And this is where fast fashion steps up to play. Fast fashion speeds up the ready-to-wear production process and allows quick access to designs. Some of the more recent turnaround times are about two weeks from concept to shelf.
Fast fashion thrives due to its inexpensive manufacturing, which keeps production costs down and allows retailers to sell trending pieces quickly and at affordable prices. WIth this process, almost anyone can afford to wear the latest trends. As trends change, so does a consumer’s ability to update their existing wardrobe to what’s next and the cycle repeats itself.
Because fast fashion is both trendy and affordable, trends not only flow both from top to bottom, but also from the bottom from the top. An excellent example of this is the rise in popularity of sneakers as a functioning shoe to a high fashion statement piece.
Fast fashion is a more affordable alternative to haute couture, so it’s paved the way for the fashion industry to adapt to the rapid demand and buying the culture of customers.
Western countries saw the most benefit in the scale of massive retailers and resources to provide a never-ending-stream of trending supply both in stores and online.
The rise of the “mallrat,” and shopping for fun, is due in part to the globalization of fast fashion. Online shopping has made it easier to have access to fashion sales while in your pajamas and the comfort of your home
Gone are the days of the art of fashion. Today, what drives the industry is its market and the variable success it provides.
Globalization allows global markets and cultures to influence local markets and cultures.
Fast fashion allows for the optimization of a supply chain, and globalization has provided low-cost labor and easy access to international markets. Fashion is becoming faster, cheaper, and even more readily available.
The increasing influence of globalization has directly impacted the fashion industry, and many insiders attribute the fashion industry as being the most significant effect of globalization.
For the first time in history, consumers have easy access to haute couture fashion trends at a ridiculously low price.
The fashion industry has changed forever, but what’s next?
Within the fashion community, it’s believed to be the potential environmental impact of fast fashion.
It’s no question that cheap, trendy fashion has been a boom to the consumer. However, used garments are often tossed in the trash, which creates a cycle of waste never seen before.
Because fashion has always found a way to adapt, this next phase will surely see the rise of sustainable fabrics, production practices, and methods of encouraging the recycling of used garments.
Until then, fast fashion is a global entity that is here to stay.
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