When the New York Times invented fast fashion A journey through the history of fast fashion

«Fashion: Two New Stores Go into Fashion's Fast Lane» was the headline of the New York Times on 31 December 1989 on the occasion of the opening of two new boutiques on Lexington Avenue, attracting the attention of «young women in constant search of the latest trend». On this occasion, the term "fast fashion" appeared for the first time, coined by journalist Anne-Marie Schiro to refer to a penchant for 'fast fashion' that had already emerged in the nineteenth century, but first conquered New York in the 1980s. Among the new openings mentioned was Zara International's first shop in the Big Apple, on the corner of 59th and Lexington, described at the time as "the American outpost of a Spanish manufacturer and retailer with 94 shops in Spain, 2 in Portugal and 2 in Paris" Prices ranged from $5 for knitted gloves to $145 for a coat with faux fur collar and cuffs, miniskirts for $27, metallic knit dresses for $43 and Shetland wool jumpers for $53. For the first time, less rich women were able to keep up with the trends, and it was on the basis of their unfulfilled desires that Zara laid the foundation for its success. But when was fast fashion really born and how did the meaning of the term evolve into the negative meaning we attach to it today?

But even though fast fashion was initially hailed as a positive phenomenon in the democratization of fashion, aimed at making trends that had previously been the preserve of the wealthy few generally accessible, the weaknesses of an infrastructure that attempted to realise a utopia soon became apparent. The pace and cost of production, which accelerated year by year, could only be sustained if production took place in countries where labour costs were low and workers were more likely to be exploited. In the last two decades, spending little to dress fashionably has become commonplace, but only recently has the full extent of the problem of cheap fashion become clear. According to a United Nations report, the fashion industry causes 8 to 10% of all global CO2 emissions, i.e. between 4 and 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere every year, while investigation after investigation reports on the conditions of workers in large fast fashion companies, their struggle for minimum wages, job security and holidays, only to find that the situation has not improved in the slightest. Only last October, Channel 4's documentary, Untold: Inside the Shein Machine, denounced the conditions of workers at Shein, the Chinese counterpart to the historic fast fashion giants: many workers have no fixed salary and are paid 0.27 yuan CNY (50 cents) per garment produced, while the few who can show a regular contract earn a maximum of £500 per month for producing 500 garments per day. It is becoming increasingly obvious that cheap fashion actually comes at a very high price, but the workers and the environment are paying for it.