The pandemic hasn't destroyed fast fashion After the lockdown months we've come back to our old shopping habits

Well before the health emergency, fast fashion was one of the most struggling sectors of the fashion industry. For some time now giants such as H&M or Gap have been facing the consequences of an outdated business model, a situation worsened by the new environmental awareness of consumers, especially the Gen Z, now more strategic than ever, that moves hand in hand with a different vision of fashion, that must return to being lasting, disconnected from passing trends, a mindset further accentuated by the pandemic. 

Precisely for this reason, according to many, the lockdown could be an opportunity to slow down the pace of an industry that is now moving on unsustainable times, both in terms of production and consumption, two factors that have devastating effects on the volume of unsold goods that brands must then get rid of. In fact, in the United Kingdom alone, 11,000 items of clothing are destroyed every week. So the question is: did it really go like this? Did we really start shopping in a different, more conscious, more careful way? 

The performance of the fast fashion sector is fluctuating: after the difficult spring months, ASOS online sales grew again in August, with an increase of 97% compared to the same month of 2016. Although this is positive data for the industry and for the economy in general, they are also proof that in a very short time we went back to shopping as we did before the lockdown, driven by sales and price tags that seem essential and moved by the desire to own new items even for just one season, soon forgetting of all the good intentions of a few months ago.