How Is France Saying No To The Ultra Fast Fashion's Impact?
How Is France Is Leading By Rejecting Ultra Fast Fashion In The Region?
Introduction
France will penalize fast fashion giants Temu and Shein, and their newest threat, ultra-fast fashion. Let's explore this new trend and how it can aggravate the impact that these fast-fashion brands have already had, and how likely it is that other neighboring countries may follow suit.
What Is Ultra Fast Fashion?
Ultra-fast fashion, simply put, is fast fashion sold at an unsustainable rate.
It leaves a more harmful impact than most countries can barely handle.
Brands like Temu and Shein are the main offenders.
These brands demand an unimaginable work output and foresight in fashion trends to target social media.
They are renowned for their unbeatable prices and rapid presence all across social media, with influencers making fashion hauls where you see them receiving a vast amount of their clothing in exchange for advertising their products.
They need to be as invasive as possible in the way they make their ambassadors try out the latest pieces, and also in the way the user navigates their website with heavy discounts to compromise the user.
The Regulation Summarized
The penalizations, mainly targeting Shein and Temu, aim to black out their advertising along with additional fees that may increase.
For example, they won't be allowed to have street advertisements.
An environmental fee of 5 Euros per piece will be imposed, which may double by 2030.
They also want all brands to be more transparent to create a more informed consumer base.
This will stunt their output and, at the same time, make consumers take educated purchases.
Zara or BooHoo won't receive the same penalties, making the primary targeted brands feel like they're being discriminated against.
According to them, they claim to be part of the solution and not the problem.
The law would also introduce penalties for both fast and ultra-fast-fashion companies if they ignore environmental criteria, like 50% of the product's price excluding tax.
Their Questionable Reputation
Classic fast fashion or ultra-fast-fashion brands have left a burden in various aspects that need to be addressed.
Take, for example, thrift stores. There are reports of them being overstocked in Shein merchandise that goes unsold.
They have to deal with inventory management, sorting clothes for quality control, and selling them at a loss.
Factories report that their manufacturing process has ramped up like no other, making their workers take extremely long work hours, live in the factories, which can sometimes be interpreted as modern slavery.
Retargeting customers through campaigns has created issues where they offer heavy discounts in questionable ways that have led them to surveil their customers to acquire as much data to persuade them to buy even more.
TikTok creators are renowned for making haul videos where they receive a massive amount of bags in exchange of a post. These have resulted in dishonest campaigns that don't disclose any kind of promotional campaign.
Furthermore, last year, a group of influencers had a sponsored trip to their factories to make content in favor of Shein to demonstrate how ethical.
The internet didn't buy into it, and it resulted in a backlash that worsened the image of these factories and, of course, resulted in the creators losing credibility.
Sadly, these controversies go unnoticed, and Shein had a temporary dent that didn't affect their reputation, except for those of the influencers who got duped into posting content to demonstrate transparency.
How To Avoid Ultra-Fast Fashion?
We have to be honest and know how frequently we need to renew our clothes.
Ultra-fast fashion will make you think that you need to buy a new outfit out of planned urgency to ensure that each discount will make you justify each purchase.
Unfollowing influencers who are sponsored by these brands can ensure that you reduce the number of times you purchase out of peer pressure.
Newsletters threaten your Inbox by offering you a massive discount in exchange for your email.
Simply unsubscribe from them since manually browsing new clothes feels more laborious than them emailing you every day, each time a new clothing item launches.
And if you still like to get daily posts, newsletters, and videos, you can create a separate account where you can redirect all of it so your main account contains only family members, friends, or any neutral content that avoids selling you something.
Resell or donate each time you buy something new. I usually buy something and give away or sell two similar items I already own to avoid a closet that I can barely manage, and make some additional income.
Conclusion
Ever since I took a personal stance and avoided buying cycling gear every month, I've become more resourceful and happier than ever.
Cycling can be way more expensive, but addictive, and I had to decide before it consumed my life savings.
Now, imagine doing that with a cheaper expense like fast fashion purchases.
Regardless of how many laws and restrictions may come into effect, we are the key actors who can make these brands realize how harmful they are.
The moment we reduce demand is the moment they realize how they need to reconsider how they operate.
I hope you guys like this blog post. I am doing my best to make my weekly posts as casual and insightful as I can.
See you guys next week!