Tik Tok at the store.
A recent report from online thrift store ThredUp found that Gen Z is hooked on fast fashion, despite claiming to be environmentally conscious.
Despite the majority (65%) saying they want to shop more sustainably, a third of people surveyed by ThredUp said they rely on fast fashion.
Lottie Lashley, 25, said she used shopping as a coping mechanism to help her settle in as a college freshman. A former shopaholic from London, she would spend about $120 a month browsing fast-fashion websites in her free time.
Gen Z claims to care about the environment, but they’re obsessed with fast fashion. AFP via Getty Images
“You could say I was addicted to fast fashion,” Lashley previously said. “When I saw it, I wanted it.”
Gen Zers consider themselves more accepting of the environmental impact of their shopping and have now moved on from their fast fashion addiction, but despite the generation’s claims of being more environmentally conscious, many of their peers still haven’t.
Gen Zers are more likely than any other generation to say the climate crisis is their biggest concern, yet they continue to make up a large percentage of fast fashion shoppers, even as the industry’s environmental impact is common knowledge among this generation.
The fashion industry as a whole is the second largest user of water in the world, contributing between 2% and 8% of global carbon emissions, and is expected to consume 26% of the world’s carbon budget by 2050, with experts pointing out that fast fashion is a big part of that.
“I feel like there’s a certain dissonance within Gen Z where Gen Z influencers who influence millions of people say they care about sustainability, but then they’re encouraging people to go to fast fashion brands that make stuff you’ll only wear maybe three times,” Estella Strack, 22, who founded a marketing company focused on sustainable brands, told Business Insider.
The fashion industry as a whole is the second largest water consumer in the world, accounts for 2-8% of global carbon emissions and is expected to consume 26% of the world’s carbon budget by 2050. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Gen Z uses both their influence and purchasing power to support the fast fashion industry, with a third of college students describing themselves as “addicted” to the affordable and stylish shopping habit.
In 2022, ThredUp partnered with “Stranger Things” star Pria Ferguson to launch the “Fast Fashion Confessions Hotline,” a phone service designed to stop fast fashion enthusiasts from impulse buying cheap clothes.
Yet the fast fashion industry continues to stuff people’s closets with clothes.
“As a result of the constant barrage of targeted advertising and online deals, younger consumers like me are more prone to impulse buying than ever before,” Melanie Parncutt, a Zoomer who works in public relations at Otter Public Relations, told BI.
“It can be hard to break out of this vicious cycle.”
Many Gen Zers confess to feeling guilty after excitedly opening a Shein or Fashion Nova package, but believe the high cost of living and the pressure to stay on top of micro-trends are what drive their purchases.
Gen Z is using both its influence and purchasing power to prop up the fast fashion industry, with a third of college students calling themselves “addicted” to the affordable and stylish shopping habit. AP
Fashionistas who want to refresh their wardrobe but are also environmentally conscious can (and do) turn to thrift stores and vintage shopping: According to Instagram’s 2023 trends report, Gen Z consumers are more “frugal and thrifty,” with many citing “climate concerns” as a major driver for choosing “DIY clothing” and “thrift stores.”
But with just a few clicks of a button on your phone, you can get your hands on the latest press-on nails and Ralph Lauren knockoffs much faster and cheaper at the TikTok shop.
“Gen Z seems to be caught in a tight spot where they have to compromise between caring for the planet and fashion,” Strzok said.
