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TikTok is full of influencers posting “fashion trips” while unpacking giant boxes of cheap polyester clothing.
Clothes from brands like Shein can be very fast, but they are of low quality.
Can consumers recognize a beautifully made garment anymore?
today, On point: Clothing is worse. And social media and ever-changing trends aren’t helping.
Guests
Daniel Vermeer, Product manager. Veteran thrift store buyer. He also runs a second-hand fashion magazine, Goodwill Hunt, and co-founded startup Teleport. (@DLVermeer)
Mandy Lee, a freelance fashion writer and trend analyst. She runs the TikTok and Instagram accounts “Old Loser in Brooklyn.” (@oldloserinbrooklyn)
Also featured
Sydney GreenThe Gen Z consumer feels conflicted about buying new clothes.
Interview highlights
On the definition of quality fashion
Daniel Vermeer: “For quality fashion, there are elements of both subjective and objective measures. So, for example, in reality, there can be high-quality clothes with high strength. It lasts a long time, or there is a very good job. The craftsmanship, the construction of the clothes, the functionality of the materials and the composition of the materials are of high quality. And then there are personality traits too. It’s the look and feel, how it wears over time, the aesthetics, the creativity, all of which combine to create high-quality or the reverse, low-quality clothing.”
On Shane’s business model
Daniel Vermeer: “There’s definitely a lot of social listening going on, but the cultural fashion industry is very underserved. The brands, the luxury houses, typically create these two season capsules, and that goes down to mid-level and mass fashion. Shein is turning that model on its head to see what consumers want. Let’s do these small batches to start and scale up if there is more demand. And in theory that’s great because you’ll have less waste.
“And Shayne reports that they have less than 1% of unsold items, whereas the average for the fashion industry as a whole is between 25% and 40%. So there’s a lot of oversupply, and what we see as consumers all this season is sales, clearance, clearance racks full of things that people haven’t bought yet.” And while it’s a good start on demand, it’s clear how much a brand like Shein is creating, the quality and quantity is still very low quality and not built to last.
Access to quality fashion
Daniel Vermeer:Accessibility includes both price and affordability, but it also includes things like size, inclusion, trend tracking, convenience. And then after reading thousands of comments, especially from SHIN consumers on social media, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, they also bring up things like nihilism, which is very interesting from a consumer perspective.
“It’s almost like, well, the world is already on fire, so why can’t I be nice and buy this $3 top from Sheen or somewhere else? But where can you find and buy quality fashion, even the biggest ones in terms of accessibility? Does it suit me? It’s actually going to be something I like, and is that cute? And for many young consumers, especially Gen Z, they haven’t been exposed to quality fashion and don’t have much access to it yet.
In Gen Z nihilism into fashion
Daniel Vermeer: “There’s a lot of pressure where Gen Z feels like the weight of the world is on their shoulders, they have to be the ones to fix some of these world issues. But digital natives grew up being bombarded and immersed in social media. That’s why, according to Thredup, one in three of Gen Z feel addicted to fast fashion and one in five feel pressured to follow the latest trends and buy, buy, buy.
Because they see it. They are engaging with social media every day. And so they feel negative emotions like guilt and addiction, feeling pressured. And I think this is not what fashion should be. I think fashion should be a vehicle for self-expression, creativity. It should be fun, it should feel good. And I don’t think we should support guilt or addiction.
Abundant fashion on the cycle
Mandy Lee:For fast fashion, the accessibility of the price, for example, accessibility is very attractive, and creates this idea of abundance. With the amount of money you invest in high quality, you can buy many things at once, maybe even one outfit. And that kind of abundance mentality creates this revolving door mentality when it comes to your closets.
“I mean, I can replace everything in my closet for less. I keep switching in and out based on what’s trending or my tastes evolving over time. And that, I think, is part of the root cause of this ever-changing cycle of buy, buy, buy, throw away. Because the clothes made by Shin and other fast fashion retailers are not of good quality. They can just disintegrate, literally disintegrate over time.
How social media is shaping how we shop
Mandy Lee:[Social media] It plays a big, big role and is a big driving factor in this, you know, the abundance mindset that we’re talking about. And what Danielle was talking about a little bit earlier about drag culture, these videos work extremely well, and they provide polarizing content. Some people may be very against it. And, you know, increase engagement, you know, that kind of feedback is bad, blah, blah, blah. So that kind of ends. And then other people fight over it. So it creates this really polarizing content.
“And then the user who just bought, you know, 20, 30 clothes from Shane is hitting dopamine. Their quotes and notifications are exploding as their videos go viral. These pieces of content work very, very well. And if you’ve bought something online and are waiting for it to arrive in the mail, you know, remember me, you’re on this dopamine high of finding something new. And watching that video or Instagram post or Twitter thread you post, it reminds me of that same feeling you know. They are connected. And I feel like these feelings are very similar and have a lot of overlap.
Do you see any changes or push back from these trends in the fashion industry itself?
Mandy Lee: “It’s hard to answer because of the luxury and fast fashion I’ve seen and experienced in the industry. I don’t see an end to this problem anytime soon. And I think the individual effort is admirable. I think a lot of people blame individuals for this problem. If you’re buying from Shane, yes, you’re contributing, but that’s not, you know, what’s running this machine.
“It’s bigger than the individual and it reaches the whole industry. It’s not just Shane’s problem. It’s everybody’s problem at this point. And now if you bring up the guest, we’re talking there, what they have in common is practice. They’ve put in the effort and time to distinguish between good quality and what’s not. And You have to have that experience for yourself. You know it, you look online and you know how to touch it, and it’s not really something you know what to feel and what to look for in person. That’s the experience you get, almost.
“And I think a lot of people don’t want to do that because, again, the instant gratification that comes from buying fast fashion, influencers know what it’s like to push, you know, when a monkey does a monkey, buy it. The place. believe me. You know, it really takes time and effort to build those skills of how to identify clothes. And I think that practice has disappeared in the last ten, 20 years. And I think it’s very humane to want to do that. So I’m not sure how we’re going to get back there as much as possible. I like to think I’m optimistic, but right now I’m not sure how this problem will end.
Building a new culture around fashion
Daniel Vermeer: “I love when consumers, especially younger ones, who are not yet exposed to quality fashion, can touch and feel that ‘aha’ moment and try it on and smell what’s good. It is a manufactured item. And this is probably in secondhand and vintage because those clothes are built to last a long time. ”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2023 NPR. Visit https://www.npr.org to see more.
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