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TikTok is full of influencers posting “fashion hauls,” unpacking huge boxes of cheap polyester clothing.
Clothes from brands like Shein may be ultra-fast, but they are low quality.
Can consumers recognize a well-made garment anymore?
today, In point: Clothes have deteriorated. And social media and ever-changing trends aren’t helping.
The guests
Danielle Vermeer, product manager. Veteran thrift store shopper. Runs the secondhand fashion newsletter Goodwill Hunting and co-founded the startup Teleport. (@DLVermeer)
Mandy Lee, freelance fashion writer and trend analyst. She runs the TikTok and Instagram accounts “Old Loser in Brooklyn”. (@oldloserinbrooklyn)
Also featured
Sydney GreenThe Gen Z shopper who feels conflicted about buying new clothes.
Highlights of the interview
On a definition of quality fashion
Danielle Vermeer: “For quality fashion, there are elements of objective and subjective measures. So, for example, objectively, there can be a quality garment that has great durability. It lasts a long time, or has great craftsmanship. The craftsmanship, garment construction, material functionality and material composition are top quality. And then there are also subjective characteristics. It’s the look and feel, the way it wears over time, the aesthetics, the creativity, all of these combined create a higher quality or conversely, a lower quality garment.”
In Shein’s business model
Danielle Vermeer: “There’s definitely more of a social listening aspect, whereas the traditional fashion industry has been very top-down. Brands, luxury houses, they create two-season capsules typically, and then that flows into mid-level and mass fashion. Shein is really turning that model around to see what consumers care about. Let’s make these small batches to start with and then scale up if there is more demand. And in theory that’s great because you have less waste.
“And Shein reports that they have less than 1% of inventory unsold, whereas in the fashion industry in general, the average is between 25% and 40%. So a lot of excess, and I think we as consumers see that with all these end-of-season sales, markdowns, clearance racks that are overflowing with things that people just didn’t buy. And while on-demand is a great start, there’s still a size and scale to how much you’re creating as a brand like Shein that frankly, is pretty low quality and not built to last.”
On access to quality fashion
Danielle Vermeer:Accessibility includes price and affordability, but also things like size, inclusiveness, keeping up with trends, comfort. And then after reading tons of comments, especially from Shein shoppers on social media, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, they also bring up things like nihilism, which is really interesting from a consumer insight perspective.
“Almost like, well, the world’s already on fire, so why can’t I look nice and buy this $3 T-shirt from Shein or somewhere else? But the big ones in terms of accessibility are where do you find quality fashion and can you afford it? Will it fit me? Will it actually be something that I like, and that’s cool? And for many young consumers, Gen Z in particular, they haven’t been exposed to quality fashion and don’t have much access to it yet.”
On Gen Z nihilism towards fashion
Danielle Vermeer: “There’s a lot of pressure that Gen Z feels where it feels like the weight of the world is on their shoulders, that they have to be the ones to fix some of these world issues. But they’ve also grown up as digital natives who are bombarded and immersed in social media. And that’s why, according to Thredup, one in three Gen Zs feel addicted to fast fashion and one in five feel pressured to keep up with the latest trends and buy, buy, buy.
“Because they see it. They are dealing with it every day on social media. And so they feel these really negative emotions like guilt and a sense of dependency, a sense of pressure. And that’s not what I think fashion should be. I think fashion should be a tool for self-expression, creativity. It should be fun, it should feel good. And I don’t think guilt or addiction is something we should support.”
In the cycle of fashion abundance
Mandy Lee:The accessibility factor in the price point for fast fashion, for example, that accessibility is very attractive and creates this idea of opulence. You can buy many things at the same time for the same amount of money that you would spend on a higher quality, perhaps a piece of clothing. And that kind of abundance mindset creates this almost spin mentality when it comes to your wardrobe.
“It means, I can replace almost everything in my wardrobe for a very low price. I’ll just keep rotating in and out depending on what’s trending or how my taste is evolving over time. And that, I think, is really part of the root cause in this kind of ever-spinning cycle of buy, buy, buy, throw away. Because the clothes made by Shein and other fast fashion retailers are not of good quality. They can just fall apart, literally fall apart in the wash over time.”
On how social media shapes the way we shop
Mandy Lee:[Social media] plays a massive, massive role and is a huge driving factor in this, you know, abundance mindset that we’re talking about. And for what Danielle was talking about a little while ago about the culture of transportation, these videos perform extremely well and they provide polarizing content. Some people may be very, very against it. And, you know, add the engagement, you know, comment how this is bad, blah, blah, blah. So such an ending. And then other people will fight over it. So it creates this really polarizing piece of content.
“And then the user who just bought, you know, 20, 30 outfits from Shein is getting a dopamine hit. because their mentions and notifications are blowing up because their video is going viral. These pieces of content perform very, very well. And it kind of reminds me, you know, if you buy something online and you’re waiting for it to come in the mail, you’re riding this dopamine hit to get something new. And it really reminds me of the same feeling of, you know, watching a video or an Instagram post or a Twitter link that you posted, it goes viral as well. They are connected. And I feel like those feelings are very similar and have a lot of overlap.”
Do you foresee any kind of change or withdrawal from the fashion industry itself from these practices?
Mandy Lee: “It’s hard to answer that because from what I’ve observed and experienced in the industry, luxury and fast fashion. I do not see an end to this problem in the near future. And I think the individual’s efforts are truly admirable. But I think too many people blame individuals for this problem. Where if you’re buying from Shein, yeah, you’re contributing, but he’s not the one who, you know, drives this car.
“It’s much bigger than the individual and extends across the industry. It’s not just a Shein problem. It’s kind of a problem for everyone at this point. And if you understand what the guest now, we are talking there, what they have in common is practice. They have put effort and time into identifying what is quality and what is not. And you have to have this experience for yourself. It’s not something that you can really, you know, look at online and know how to touch and feel and exactly what to look for in person. This is an experience you earn, almost.
“And I think a lot of people don’t want to do that because, again, this instant gratification that comes with buying fast fashion, even, you know, the influencer kind of push, you know, monkey see monkey do, buy the place. Believe me. You know, it really takes time and effort to build those skills in how to identify clothing. And I think that practice has really been lost over the last ten, 20 years. And I just think it’s so human to want to do that. So I’m honestly not sure how we’re going to get back to that, if that’s even possible. I like to think I’m optimistic, but right now I’m not sure how this problem will end.”
In building a new culture around fashion
Danielle Vermeer: “I think consumers, especially younger ones who haven’t yet been exposed to quality fashion, I’m excited when they have that ‘Aha’ moment where they can touch and feel, try and even smell what beauty is. the thing made is. And it’s likely to go from second-hand and vintage because those clothes are built to last.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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