The Ethics of Partnering with Fast Fashion Brands

Celebrity-brand collaborations are the hot new tactic in marketing, specifically in fashion. Between photo shoots and ad campaigns, the partnership serves both the fashion company and the public figure — a win-win deal. But more often than not, the fashion brand is a fast-fashion brand, and collaborating with a fast-fashion brand is not so cut and dry. 

The elephant in the room is one that cannot be ignored — the exploitation needed to create fast fashion. Fast fashion is a business model that arose in the 1990s from companies like Zara and Forever 21. Before that time, the fashion trend cycle was drastically different — Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer clothing cycles were a steady pattern. Because of the Industrial Revolution, fashion garments became not easier to produce, but faster and companies quickly realized just how profitable this business model could be. However, fast fashion is a structure dependent on unethical and unsustainable practices, affecting both people and the environment. The fashion industry as a whole is no stranger to exploitation, and fast fashion amplifies that system to no extent. 

Chilean women searching for clothes in the Atacama Desert, photo by Martin Bernetti via EcoWatch, courtesy of Getty Images

The overconsumption of fashion is a global issue, yet it affects different countries in different ways. According to Earth, the U.S. produces 85% of global textile waste and that waste is either sent to overseas countries, incinerated, put into landfills, or recycled. In an article for Green Peace, Karen Nkatha describes how the “donation” of clothes to continents like Africa is a form of “fashion waste colonialism.” Nkatha goes on to say that, “Secondhand clothing trade is a common practice across African countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, and Uganda. In Ghana, these clothes are called Obroni Wawu, to mean ‘dead white man’s clothes’. The term for the same is mitumba in Kenya and Tanzania, madunusa in South Africa, and Okrika in Nigeria.”

The waste generated by the fashion industry, especially fast fashion, is overwhelming. It is causing, has caused, and will continue to cause insurmountable harm to humans and the environment – so why are celebrities promoting it?

Singer, songwriter and DJ Charli XCX recently unveiled a partnership with H&M, a fast fashion staple. It was a strategically smart move — Brat summer was everywhere and a collaboration with H&M helped to bridge the gap between fans and consumers. Charli XCX is often seen sporting designer labels, which the majority of people can’t afford, so by adding her name to the H&M label she created a world where both she and her fans can shop from and enjoy. But what about the people on the other end of the spectrum, the ones who don’t get to enjoy their world because they are busy working to create it? 

Via charli_xcx on Instagram

Fast fashion has a documented history of labor abuses and H&M is no exception. According to the Financial Times, The Federation of Dutch Trade Unions claimed their break times had been reduced while working at an H&M factory, which is a violation of national labor laws and of H&M’s own policies. Allegations regarding unfair and illegal wages have also been made against the company. And the violations don’t stop there. 

These brands manage to keep their prices so low because they cut corners at every turn — from paying their workers less than minimum wage, neglecting basic safety regulations, and more, these companies use exploitation to keep their businesses afloat. 

Leading fast fashion brands are often guilty of what is known as greenwashing. Defined as “the act of making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or practice,” greenwashing is a technique used by major companies in an attempt to make the public disregard or wholly forget about their unsustainable practices — fast fashion employs this strategy frequently. 

Charli XCX is not a unique example of a celebrity collaborating with a fast fashion brand, rather she is in good company. Anna Moiseieva’s article “Celebrity Fast Fashion Collaborations: A Nightmare We Need to Wake Up From” for The Harvard Crimson lists only a few of the many examples of celebrity-fast-fashion partnerships — further proving that this is a pattern, a pattern that needs to stop. 

Charli XCX for H&M, courtesy of H&M

However, we must acknowledge that not every public figure who collaborates with fast fashion has millions of followers on Instagram.

What happens when the person who’s partnering with a brand like Shein or Zara is a small creator — a small creator who needs to make rent, and this 30-second sponsored video would help them do that? Do their own needs justify a partnership with an exploitative brand?

Celebrities and influencers are not public servants — they were not voted into office by the will of the people but they still hold power and influence. We cannot expect nor demand perfection from public figures, no matter their follower count. We also cannot plead ignorance to the injustices ingrained in a fast fashion business model and, due to their collaboration, its promotion. A person’s ability to earn enough money to simply live should not come at the expense of another person’s exploited labor. Therefore, forging a better way forward, a way in which every person has a livable wage and high quality of life, is the path we must follow.

Illustration by Alexandre Magnin

It is important to remember that fast fashion is not normal, despite its strongest efforts to convince you otherwise. From the consumption cycle it creates, the labor it employs, the waste it generates, the quality of clothing it produces, none of it is normal and we as consumers and audiences cannot pretend that it is. A celebrity's endorsement of fast fashion further cements its place in society, ignoring the harm it causes.

Creating a more just, equitable, and enjoyable world is a standard we should all share. If that means not supporting your favorite celebrity’s recent collaboration with Fashion Nova, then so be it. We must hold one another to a higher standard, for the sake of the collective good.