T-shirts at 5 euros, dresses at 8 euros, swimsuits at less than 10 euros: ultra-fast fashion brands push the limits of low prices by always producing more, with a target audience of 25 years old or younger.
The English Boohoo, the Hong Kong brand Emmiol or even the very fashionable Chinese brand SheIn present themselves in the same model: 100% online clothing sales companies that practice unbeatable prices, often accompanied by promotions.
It is “ultra fast fashion”: a gigantic number of new articles and references every day, new collections in record time, even faster than fast fashion giants like H&M or Zara.
At the risk of multiplying not very ecological practices already pointed out by the detractors of fast fashion.
However, despite the opacity of a sector that remains extremely discreet about its results, the success is undeniable.
SheIn thus saw its sales increase by 60% in 2021, boosting its turnover to 16,000 million dollars, according to Bloomberg, hot on the heels of H&M, which registered the same year a turnover of 199,000 million Swedish crowns (19,000 million euros) . ).
microinfluence
Lola, 18, places orders two or three times a month on SheIn, for an average basket of around 70 euros and a dozen items. For the young Nancy, this brand so popular with her entourage allows her to follow the trend “without spending an astronomical sum”.
Low prices are the basis for the success of these companies among young people, whose limited purchasing power leads them to “seek quantity rather than quality,” stresses Valérie Guillard, a Paris-Dauphine university professor.
There is also the attraction of a never-used product, which “was made for you”, while second-hand, also cheap, is aimed more at a “committed” public, according to the expert. Generally “at the same price, we prefer new”.
To remain essential among young people, the brand is omnipresent on social networks. The format of hauls, videos in which consumers unpack packages and try on clothes on camera, has particularly contributed to its popularity on TikTok, a network popular with teens and young adults.
Margot, 25, says she doesn’t choose to watch these types of videos, but they appear in abundance in the content she is offered. “She has necessarily made me want at least once,” she admits.
It is one of the ingredients of success. To benefit from broad exposure at a lower price, brands rely on “micro-influence”: partnerships with people followed on social media by a small number of subscribers, but who benefit from proximity and greater trust in their community. .
environmental cost
But the flip side of low prices is those social or environmental scandals that brands would have done without, and that dampen the enthusiasm of some customers.
The Swiss NGO Public Eye has thus verified, in a survey published in November, that the employees of the factories in China subcontracted by SheIn worked up to 75 hours a week, an illegal rate in the country.
Fast fashion, the third largest water consuming sector, is also responsible for 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions each year, as much as international air transport and maritime traffic combined, according to the Agency for Ecological Transition ( Adme).
The face of the youth climate movement, Greta Thunberg, was alarmed, denouncing last year on Instagram a sector that “contributes enormously to the climate and ecological emergency”.
Charlotte, 14, has chosen to stop orders from SheIn and Emmiol. “At the time, I was happy to have new clothes, but then I felt guilty,” she explains.
The teenager admits to being tempted again. But now, “when I see nice things on SheIn, I look them up on Vinted,” a site that sells secondhand clothes, he says.
Source: BFM TV
