As time flies, the global fast fashion develops and changes with consuming market.

1. Environmental pollution, “modern slaves”, plagiarism, fast fashion brand continues to face public relations crisis;

2, fast fashion is controversial, sustainable fashion growth;

3. China Industry 4.0 Industrial Revolution has spawned real-time fashion, subverting the European and American market;

4, the epidemic triggers the cost reduction of Europe and the United States, consumption control highlights the two-sided nature of Z generation;

5, geopolitical, epidemic, environmental and social responsibility, cultural blind areas, China’s sea brands challenges.

Byte jumping Tiktok on November 2021 online women’s independent station DMONSTUDIO, accurate signing of China’s sea women’s brand shein. However, according to DMONSTUDIO’s official announcement, the platform has stopped operation on February 11. As the most representative enterprise in China’s exquisite brand, SHEIN does not seem to change more Chinese clothing brands want to go to the sea.

With the powerful capabilities of supply chain digitization and commercial operators, China’s fast fashion brand is gradually winning with the competition of local fast fashion brands, but these brands still need to face more challenges that transcend business operations, especially the local market for environmental sustainable Development, governance mechanism, and how to form a benign interaction with a broader social stakeholder.

Since 2002, since 2002, the fast-fashion international brand has entered the Chinese market and started in recent years, and the local fast fashion brand rapid replication model seizes the market. Fast fashion consumption has become mainstream clothing consumption model. However, in the History of “fast culture”, this business model has encountered many challenges in moral and sustainable issues, and the “fast fashion” brand is experiencing the continuous public relations crisis.

“Fast fashion” is difficult to take off their depth bindings with “moral issues”, “environmental impact”, “pollution”, “waste”

As early as 2016, McKinsea mentioned in a report called <style’s sustainable: a new fail-fashion formula>, between 2000 and 2014, the global per capita clothing purchase increased by about 60%, and the garment production has turned over. And consumers retain the cost of the clothing is approximately half a year ago. By compressing production cycles and fast update the latest style, fast fashion brands make shoppers to purchase more clothes. At the same time, the number of products series of European apparel companies has increased more than double – from 2 to 2 to 2011 in 2000. Since the price of clothing is far behind the overall price of prices, the “cheap” “cheap” has prompted consumers to change the consumption attitude in the field of clothing – they almost treat low-cost clothing as disposable items, some data indicate that consumers wear The costume is discarded in seventy-eight times.

1995 ~ 2014 National price growth rate and clothing price growth rate

Unlike it in business model, it is very “weak” in the process of clothing production and recycling. From planting cotton to dyeing and washing, making clothing need to consume a lot of water and pesticide And will emissively emissions a large amount of greenhouse gas. According to McKinsey, the production of 1 kg of fabric will produce 23 kg of greenhouse gas; at the same time, clothing made of recycling mixed materials is often difficult. In every 5 newly produced clothing, 3 pieces are landfilled or incinerated within one year.

Left: Clothing sales VS global GDP; right picture: Approval average number

The low price of fast fashion products originated from the lean supply chain, however, in this business model innovation involves “plagiarism design” and “exploitation labor”. For plagiarism, Huffington Post has been evaluated in an article: “The clothing produced by fast fashion brand looks like it is directly from T stage.” A lawyer explained this, “such as the fast fashion retailers such as ZARA and H & M can produce and sell almost the same clothing style with the designer brand is because of the essential, US law has no copyright protection for fashion design.”

In addition, fast fashion brands are facing labor conditions, including child labor, remunerative, and health and safety hazards. In recent years, the workers’ wages in the upstream apparel plant have been too low, and the unsafe and even deadly related reports in the work environment, mentioning fast fashion, people even link them with the 19th century “sweat-sweat factory”. From the general point of view of the West, in many cases, the conditions of the sweat-sweat factory are similar to the prison labor. H & M and Uniqlo have criticized because of the use of sweatboxes. In 2020, Boohoo faces the survey due to the accused “Modern Slavery”.

“Sweet Factory” brand, fast fashion brand subsidence morally criticized quagmire

From “Fast Fashion Capitalism” to “Fast Fashion Slave System”, some new words enter public vision, fast fashion brand is difficult to strip its closely association with “exploitation”.

“Anti-fast fashion” revolution: slow fashion movement, sustainable fashion and other sustainable fashion gradually enter mainstream culture
On April 24, 2013, the collapse of Dhaka Garment Factory Collapse, Dhaka Plaza, took the fast fashion labor conditions to the tip of the wind. Carry Somers Orsola de Castro subsequently organized “Fashion Revolution”, which is aimed at systemic reforms in the fashion industry to increase the transparency of the fast fashion industry supply chain. They set this anniversary of the most serious clothing in history as a fashion revolutionary day, and held an event annually – during 2014 to 2020, millions of people around the world called on major brands to answer “Whoever do My clothes? “(# WhomademyClothes), the topic label has obtained viral spread on Twitter.
1127 people have killed 1127 people in the Capi Capa, Bangladesh, on April 24, 2013. This is the most serious disaster in the history of the garment industry. (Source: The New York Times)
In May 2015, the director Andrew Morgan’s “True Cost” in the documentary, a fast fashion industry and consumerism (Capitalism), globalization, structural poverty (Structural Pover ” ) And oppression portions, pointing out the social and environmental costs of fast fashion industrial supply chains. This further promoted the “rapid fashion” emotions of consumers. In the same year, in the international community, the British government announced on June 30 that the fashion brand of more than 36 million pounds must disclose whether the company is eliminating the slavery in the supply chain. (Anti-Slavery) has made efforts. The question and protest forced to force Zara, H & M et al. To change the brand narrative approach, although some brand behavior often can’t get rid of “drifting green”.
Fast fashion is full of disease, sustainable fashion.

The word “slow fashion” was originally proposed by Kate Fletcher in 2007. In recent years, there have been more attention. As part of “Anti-Consumerism),” slow fashion “has become a marketing strategy for many clothing brands to cater to the” rapid fashion “value advocates. It redefines the relationship between production activities and people, the environment, and animals. In contrast to Industrial Fashion, slow fashion involves the use of local craftsmen and environmental materials, and its goal is to protect process (humanistic care) and natural environment, which can provide value for consumers and producers.

According to BCG and Sustainable Apparel Coalition and Higg Co jointly released research reports, before the epidemic, “sustainable development plans and commitments have become costumes, footwear and textile industries in luxury, sports, fast fashion and discounts Normal in segmentation in retail “. Enterprises in sustainable development is reflected in both environmental and social, including water, carbon, chemical consumption, responsible procurement, raw materials utilization and disposal, and workers’ health, safety, welfare and compensation. ”
The new crown crisis further deepens the sustainable consumption of European consumers, which provides a “reaffirmation” that “reaffirms” on sustainable development value. McKinsea conducted a questionnaire survey conducted in April 2020, 57% of respondents said that they have made significant changes in their lifestyle to reduce environmental impact; more than 60% of respondents said they will Strive to recycle and purchase environmentally friendly packaging products; 75% believe that trustworthy brand is an important purchase factor – the company has become critical to consumers and transparency.

Western consumers are increasingly highly enthusiastic and promoted capital and brands. On November 3, 2021, the first public offer of ALLBIRDS in Sustainable Footwear Manufacturers raised more than $ 300 million in funds, making the first “Sustain Susta” IPO. The company listed on the first day of the company has soared 91%, and the valuation reached 4.1 billion US dollars.

On January 27, 202, Burberry gains 300 million Sustainability-Linked Loan from LLYDS Bank – Sustainability Bond from September 2020 (Sustainability Bond). Less than 18 months. In fact, in 2019, Prada signed a 50 million eurrant of the 5-year sustainable loan agreement with Crédit Agroll Group to open an advancement of sustainable loans in the industry. The protocol stipulates that the loan interest rate will decrease when the brand has achieved sustainable development goals.

In addition, the fashion industry is increasing about “Animal Welfare” is increasing. At the beginning of the New Year, Moncler and Dolce & Gabbana announced the joining “zero fur” movement. As a “sage” “Seniose Leather” that can replace animal leather, “Seniose Leather” ushered in the attention of fashion brands. Recently, animal leather replacement materials from San Francisco’s initial company MyCoworks received $ 125 million C round financing. Previously, the company was launched by Hermes, a mushroom Pot Victorian travel bag made of “mushroom bacteria”. Enter the public vision.

“Fast fashion 3.0″ real-time fashion “: China’s sea women’s brand subverts European and American markets

While the European and American markets can continue to be very frequently high-profile entering the public vision, China’s “real-time fashion” wedge brand shein is “low-key” in its territory.

In May 202, Shein replaced Amazon, jumped to the first place in the world’s 54 countries and regions of the Apple iOS platform and 13 national and regional Android platforms.
Bloomberg reported that early 2020, Shein’s sales have risen to 10 billion US dollars (ie 7.5 billion pounds), an increase of 250% higher than the previous year. According to Earnest data, since January 2021, the company’s market share has increased rapidly. In June 2021, it has jumped in the US fast fashion market to 28% from the beginning of the year – this means that SHEIN’s sales The sum is almost equivalent to the sum of the two fast fashion giants H & M (20%) and ZARA (11%). On the same month, a report pointed out that the company valued more than $ 47 billion. (SHEN has not verified sales and valuation data to the media),
According to the incomplete statistics of the Yuan Gas Capital, in 2020 to 2021, China has taken 10 financing incidents. In October 2021, Al Laba launched Allyphikes, layout overseas fast fashion track.

As we all know, “Fast Fashion” is from a business model innovation in the Female Corporation of Spanish Fashion Retailer Zara in the early 1990s. Unlike traditional fashion retailers, the production cycle of nearly one year is different. ZARA gives up the concept of “seasonal season”, and new style is launched every few weeks. This successful success of this business model has moved other fashion retailers to follow its footsteps in the next ten years.

Low-cost products are highly efficient supply chains. In order to compress costs, fast fashion brands will transfer most of the production and manufacturing processes to the labor regulations, and the benefits are taken from cheap labor. “Globalization” and “Division Refining” play a vital role in this process.

In the mid-19th 10s, young brands such as ASOS, BOOHOO, FASHION NOVA were ranked among the fast fashion track with “more efficient, cheaper” advantages, and opened a new chapter of the “Ultra Fast Fashion” brand. On the one hand, social media replacement entity retail space is directly exposed to millions of young shoppers (D2C, Direct to consumers) makes operational costs further decreased; on the other hand, relying on search traffic and customer data can help The fashion brand is more accurately predicted and can enhance its style-designed change to increase its style – the product is shortened from the design to the previous shelves to 2 to 3 weeks.

In the 1920s, relying on the advantages of local supply chain, China has made a widow of women’s clothing to make fashion production cycles and production costs to further compress, “productivity” is pushed to the ultimate – it is reported that SHEIN will have time from design to production. Short from 3 weeks to 3 days (usually 5-7 days). At the same time, the maturity of algorithms greatly enhances the addict of products. At this point, the real-time fashion of the fast fashion industry is officially born.

The term “real-time fashion” initially appeared in an analysis report in Matthew Brennan

One side is the “rapid fashion” consumer culture in Europe and the United States, and the “fast fashion” further speeds up real-time fashion. How to correctly understand this set of contradictions? Under the context of environmentally friendly enthusiasm of Europe and America, how does China have to grow against trend? Does the real-time fashion have solved the problems faced by the fast fashion industry? What challenges are China’s future brand?

Real-time fashion business model innovation originates from the “China Manufacturing” Industry Revolution

Unlike the first two business models, the country that meets fast fashion 3.0 is China. Behind the innovation of the brand business model is the industry revolution in the upstream.

The response speed of the Shein leading industry is from the brand to achieve full chain, transparent and real-time control of the supply chain. Digital supply chain opens every link on the production chain, making the real-time response possible. Pushing the forces for digital supply chain, is a new round of industrial revolution – Industrial 4.0 (Industry 4.0).

The industry is gradually moving towards industrial 4.0

The traditional supply chain consists of a series of “discrete”, siloed, such as marketing, product development, manufacturing, and distribution. “Digital” can push down blocks to make the production chain become an “ecosystem” that is completely transparent to all participants. Purhua Yongdao has said in an article called “Industry 4.0”, Digital Supply Network will provide companies with competitiveness on “resilience” and “response” Make it to provide customers with extremely efficient and transparent services.

The left picture is the traditional supply chain mode, the right picture is the integrated supply chain ecosystem

According to the first financial data, do dozens of systems are very common in the fast fashion industry, while the SHEIN digital system has only one. “Commodity planning, design, playing board, order, face film procurement, production, quality control – every link on the production chain, complete the upstream coordination” through the SCM (Supply Chain Management) system. ”

For fast fashion brands, every new style, new design is a “bet”, “small single fast anti-” is that it has reduced the inventory risk of fast fashion brands to the greatest extent. ZARA opened the flexible supply chain change in the fashion industry. Since then, each fast fashion industry change comes from the new brand of the “flexible” limit. Compared to the “traditional” brand, the number of orders in Shein has much less. It is reported that ZARA’s first quantity is between 500-3000 pieces, and Boohoo has an order amount of approximately 300 to 500 pieces, while Shein reduces this figure to 100 to 300. Risk reduction means that the brand can bear more “bet”. This is explaining why shein’s Sku is far more than the industry competitors – according to titanium media, Zara has introduced SKU every year to 12000, “is 5 times that of peers.” From October to December 2021, SHINAN’s average SKU was 5,000 to 7,000.

Compared to the US product pricing (including discount products), ZARA’s price range is $ 7.9-250, while Shein is only $ 1.5-160. The extremely high SKU and very low prices seem to be contradictory, but the increase in SKU does not cause the cost burden on the design link to SHEIN. According to the “First Financial” news, Shein’s KPI assessment of the designer is based on its output quantity, not the most basic professional literacy – aesthetic capacity. Designed to become “arranged combination” of different elements – the material with high click will be retained, and the material with low click rate will be eliminated.

Real-time mastery of data is the key to fast fashion brands instant response to fashion. SHEIN is used to accurately identify consumer demand according to the large amount of data generated by the own platform and the search hot words obtained by the search engine. Deloity has been mentioned in a report on the new retail, unlike traditional or e-commerce B2C production models, the C2M of the new retail era starts from customer needs, to reshape production chain according to customer data, to meet customer personalization needs. “The B2C of the traditional model is based on the production enterprise, the implementation of large-scale, standardized pipeline production, easy to lead to problems such as overcapacity; the B2C of the e-commerce model has saved the cost of the intermediate link through the Internet, but this model is still ‘selling Inventory ‘; while C2M mode, producers directly drive automated processing and meet consumer personalization needs.

Consumption downgrade, shopping addiction: weakness, “Environmental Freedom” and Z Genevo

Any success of any business innovation is the perfect fit of new supply and new needs. In the context of China manufacturing to industrial 4.0, Shein rely on digital supply chain and customer terminal data application, pushing low-cost and response speed to the ultimate. So whether the European and American markets need lower prices, more products, higher frequency purchase behaviors?

SHEIN’s target customers are mostly the Zendy population in Europe and America. As early as 2017, Fung Global Retail & Technology issued a report that consumers are consumed to force fashion retailers to compress their production cycles. In 2019, Forbes pointed out in a article called “Dear Enterprise: Z generation, I don’t want to hear” Please wait “”, the Z generation is the most patient generation. “They need instant experiences, and hope that all things can be done via mobile phone. Their sight cannot be removed from mobile device”, Lighttico Chief executive Zviki Ben-ishay representation.

Real-time fashion brands should be “agile production” to deal with Z generation consumers’ demand for “immediate”, and corresponding to their “low price” is the “consumption downgrade” of Europe and America market. Different from East Asia’s intergeneration and raising habits, consumers aged 18 years old are often more independent, in order to acquire tuition and living expenses, they tend to work on financial expenses through loans or part-time work. This determines the limited disposable income of the Western Z generation, and the new crown crisis has further changed their consumption and savings habits. Yahoo Finance found in a survey, from 2000 US Millennium Generation and Z Genes, about 58% set new savings targets, more than 30% recognized their first “financial budget”, 39 % People use new methods such as applications or spreadsheets to track their budget habits. The epidemic is changing young consumers to manage personal finances.

During the epidemic, Americans cut expenditures are one of the important reasons for their personal savings. Data of the US Economic Analysis (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis) show that in 2021, the US personal savings rate in April jumped from 12.7% in March to 32.2% of the record. At the same time, consumer spending fell by 12.6%. Millennium generation and Z generation also made similar efforts for “savings”. From the beginning of 2020 to 2021, 61% of young people deposit at least 1,000 US dollars, one tenth of more than $ 5,000.

According to McKinsey, a questionnaire survey data conducted in more than 2,000 British and German consumers in April 2020, 88% of respondents expect the economy to recover slowly or even decline. Consumers’ pessimistic expectations have greatly reduced their expenditure in fashion. More than 60% of consumers said they have reduced expenditures in the fashion, about half of people expect that this consumption trend will continue even after the epidemic. In addition, approximately 50% of the Z generation and Millennium generation are reducing consumption – young consumer groups tend to buy products that are cheaper than before.
However, in this same report, the data outlines the two sides of the young people. 67% of respondents believe that using sustainable materials is an important purchase factor, 63% believe that brands promote sustainable development in the same way. Forbes even called the Sustainability Generation.

It is true that the environmentally friendly enthusiasm of Z will promote the rapid development of sustainable fashion. However, consumption will not always maintain consistent – real-time stylish antiboscopic growth derived from the “manipulation” of the brand on consumer behavior.

Moral consumption is a restraint. For financial stabilies, more products get more products with the same expenditure are an experience close to “freedom”. However, compared to “consumption addiction”, financial support is no longer the biggest challenge of young people sticking their values. The flexible supply chain is in real time fashion brand, which is equivalent to the algorithm in social media, and shein’s addictive is not as Tiktok. Real-time fashion brand “Behavioral Control” completely broke the “self-discipline” of consumers, ”

Fish, cultural blind spots: Post-epidemic generation, can really write future?

The rapid increase in market share cannot be a powerful basis for “continuing”. In fact, from the geopolitation to the new crown crisis, a series of accidental factors have contributed to the rise of Shein. The brand’s dependence is so large that the company will face great uncertainty once these conditions changes.

Since 2016, the parcel worth less than $ 800 can be tax-free to enter the United States. In 2018, the Trump government opened the trade war, and the tariffs of Chinese products were increased to improve their prices. However, small value goods still maintained tax exemption during this period, and China introduced tax reduction discount for cross-border e-commerce .

In recent years, Chinese companies have moved from “China’s manufacturing” to “China Brands”. The Chinese market has not launched high-end brands with high price range. However, in China D2C out of the sea, the growth of rapid growth is very low. The “tax vulnerability” of the US trade policy may be one of its important reasons.

The stress of geopolitics may be able to explain why SHEIN’s rise is quiet. This brand has made great efforts to cover their “Chinese citizenship”. Even if it traces its product raw materials, we must have a large week-only click link, consumers can find only words on a warehouse loading pier in the “logistics and transportation” bottom of “About Us” page. In fact, Reuters revealed in a recent report that the brand founder Xu Yang is even considering changing nationality. Although the news has not confirmed by the company, it can lead to the influence of geopolitical impact on China’s cross-border e-commerce.

Although Shein refused to expose yourself in front of the media, when “the fish” of the “big fish”, the brand is difficult to maintain low-key – its success has begun to trigger controversies in the United States. Bloomberg said in an article called <How Trump’s Trade War Built Shein, China’s First Global Fashion Giant>, the company’s competitors “are extremely angry with 800 US dollars.” Kim Glas, president and Chief Executive, President and Chief Executive, US National Textile Organization, called on the US government to take measures.

In addition to “policy vulnerabilities”, China’s real-time fashion brand has also benefited from new crown epidemic. Earnest Research shows that from January to June 2021, the total of US fast fashion market has increased by 15%, while SHEIN has grown nearly 160%, which indicates that the growth of the brand is extremely close to the outbreak of the new crown epidemic. Relevance.

Impact of Coronary Virus Popularity on Z Generation in <Gen Z IS Emerging As The Sustainability Generation> The impact of the Great Recession is compared with the 2008 economic recession. During the recession, the Millennium’s professional dream was subversited, just like the people who experienced the Great Depression in the 1930s, people began to live with less money – “The cheap is fashionable, and the goods manufactured in China is full of market” . It can be seen that China’s exquisite brand, which relies on cheap commodity to win the market, its business sustainability depends on when the European and American markets get out of the “economic recession”.

The “consumption downgrades” can be continued in addition to the uncertainty of continuation, and China’s instant fashion brand is still facing many challenges. “Low Price” and “Efficiency” have enlarged fast fashion advantages, and it has also enlarged fast fashion issues.

SHEIN will push fast fashion speed to the ultimate, further excoriating the problem of the industry’s original face.

Brands including Levi Strauss and Dr Martens have initiated infringement to the company; Shein has been questioned because the supply chain lacks transparency; in addition, the brand has claimed that it has obtained its international standardization organization (ISO) certification in the official website. And comply with the strict labor standards developed by international organizations such as SA8000, but relevant organizations denied this; SHEIN’s brand image of SHEIN is more influential. Titanium media have pointed out in an article, “In the public document of the US Court of California, SHEIN has violated California’s related requirements for environmental protection and security, this happening occurs on December 21, 2015, and Continuous happening to March 2019.

In addition, “cultural blind zone” is also a universal challenge facing China’s exquisite brand. As a large-sea-benchmark company, Shein has also made a low-level mistake that is difficult to be forgiven by consumers. In July 2020, the brand triggered a controversy because of the sale of Muslim prayers as interesting home decoration; after several days, they actually got a “Nazi necklace”, and angry consumers launched SHIN in social media. .

The precise capture of Shein’s consumer preferences completely relies on manual intelligence, which does not involve any human intervention. Algorithms and data may be able to fill the lack of branding of “geographical culture” deep understanding, it is difficult to avoid new products that have cultural or historical affordable. It can be seen that for China’s exquisite brand, “artificial intelligence” application cannot help the brand to avoid falling into the “cultural blind zone” trap.

The development process of the fashion industry is not only a competition for speed, and the instant fashion brand can only be a friend of time between the benefits and responsibilities.