It’s not your imagination — fashion trends don’t last as long as they used to. While in decades past, style enthusiasts could expect new releases once per season, today’s trending looks seem to change every few weeks. Anyone who wants to stay fashion-forward must buy new pieces as they become available or risk looking out of date.

The result? An unsustainable clothing industry that does more than give you FOMO — it’s wreaking havoc on the planet and the people who produce it.

What Is Fast Fashion?

“Fast fashion” refers to mass-produced clothing that’s made quickly, cheaply, and in trending styles. The goal of fast fashion marketers is to get runway styles into shoppers’ hands as quickly as possible, no matter the quality or external costs.

These trendy pieces tend to be of poor quality, and most won’t last more than a few wash cycles. But that’s no hardship for the buyer because they didn’t invest much to begin with.

Fast fashion has upended the clothing industry. It’s turned updating your wardrobe from a semi-annual investment to the equivalent of ordering takeout. The trend towards disposable clothing is taking over the world, but it didn’t happen all at once.