The “Ultra Fast Fashion”, which the Senate is trying to stop voting on Tuesday a bill to “reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry”, is essential with very competitive prices and an incessant change in the collections.
Bato, constantly renewed, often very polluting and manufactured in generally deplorable working conditions, these textile products bite the market and competition of historical players in the sector. AFP analyzed and compared its prices and new features.
7,220 new references per day
Started from the 1990s in France with the arrival of Zara, Fast Fashion “is a mode of operation”, in particular based on “the multiplication of the number of collections,” Gildas Minvielle, director of the Economic Observatory of the French Fashion Institute (IFM), told AFP. For two weeks, from May 22 to June 5, AFP analyzed the sites of an emerging actor, Shein, and a historical actor, H&M, to estimate the number of newcomers per day and in segment.
It turns out that, in the category of “women’s clothing”, Shein published almost 2,960 new references per day, on average, during the period analyzed. This estimate falls to 1,330 for men and reaches 2,930 for shoes. A total of more than 7,220 new references per day, which approach the figure found by the NGO, the friends of the Earth in May 2023.
On the other hand, the H&M site, which also sells other brands such as Cos, Arket or other stories, offered around 290 new daily references in the category of “Women’s Clothes”, and 50 in that “Men’s Clothes.” In other words, during the period, H&M has put less new references in its place than Shein.
Contacted by AFP, neither brands wanted to comment.
Artificial Intelligence, your DNA
In addition to the wide variety of items offered, the emphasis is also put at speed: it is designed, produces and sends an “fast fashionable fashion” in less than 7 days (3 weeks for fast fashion), according to the General Secretariat for ecological planning. If the platforms of Chinese origin, such as Temu or Shein “, are also agile and so fast, it is because they are technological powers,” explains Laëtitia Lamari, online trade specialist. “For them, artificial intelligence was not born with Chatgpt. It is their DNA,” he adds.
Piloted by technology, they can develop products in small quantities, sometimes in a simple prototype created by AI. If there are clicks, the algorithm is set in motion and gives indicators for manufacturing, according to the expert.
With many airplanes, the pieces arrive in France, one of its flagship market, often exempt from customs tasks. But with “colossal advertising contracts with platforms as a goal,” says Laëtitia Lamari.
2 euros the shirt
“With the arrival of ultra fast fashion, price differences compared to the average range have accentuated a lot,” explains Gildas Minvielle. Sometimes going from simple to triple. A shirt, for example, costs an average of 14 euros today, according to the IFM. Zara and H&M are above, while Primark, Kiabi and Shein are underneath, according to an AFP analysis of the sites of these groups on June 4.
Among these five actors, it was Shein who proposed the cheapest shirt: 2.16 euros for a “shirt for relaxed women with a round neck with a minimalist pattern” was sold in many of four to 8.62 euros. Then Kiabi came with a 2.40 euros shirt (in promotion), Primark at 3 euros, H&M at 4.99 euros and zara at 6.95 euros.
In addition to “bringing market share to other players”, “this new very low price market (…) interrupts the perception that consumers have prices,” says Gildas Minvielle. “The correct price or the legitimate price for a garment today is no longer the same as before.”
Source: BFM TV
