Where Is the Fast Fashion Backlash?
Some apparel retailers are gearing up for climate-conscious consumers to drive a shift in shopping patterns. It just hasn’t happened yet.
For all the talk about shifting shopping patterns, there is no clear quantitative evidence of any demographic ditching fast fashion en masse.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/BloombergIn its 2021 annual report, Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB identified one trend as a “high” risk to its business for the first time, higher-risk even than increased energy costs or availability of raw materials. Should consumers increasingly prefer “products and services with low climate impacts from trusted companies that are seen as leaders in sustainability,” H&M wrote, the company might see a negative impact. If H&M were not seen as a climate leader, it could face “reputational risks related to brand perception.”
H&M brought the subject up again a few pages later, this time in sunnier terms: “There is an opportunity,” the report noted, “for H&M Group to attract more customers by providing a more sustainable and transparent offering.”