Fast Fashion.
Has "Fast Fashion" ruined some of your favorite designer clothing? Of course. Does it destroy originality? Yes. Is it a good or bad thing? Depends on who you ask.
I started thinking about this subject after my friend @LDN2HK posted a picture of a H&M manikin that had a hypebeast/terrible outfit on. He wanted his followers to discuss Fast fashion in the comments below. I am going to discuss that with you guys today.
When I first started getting into fashion, I couldn't afford the type of clothes I really wanted, so of course I did a lot of shopping at H&M, but just the basics. It was difficult, because I wanted Rick Owens, Acne, and Alexander Wang clothing, but how is a kid in High School supposed to afford that, especially since my parents aren't going to let me drop a lot of money on designer clothing. So I made due with what I could buy. Now I work hard for what I buy, and it takes some time to save up for that designer clothing I want, but slowly I am building up a nice wardrobe.
Back to "Fast Fashion. " Now that I am wearing the clothing that I wanted back then, I do kind of look down on the Imitation pieces that stores like Zara and H&M put out. But at the same time, I know their is someone out there that wants to wear designer clothes as I did, so I can't really knock them for wearing it.
For the designers who H&M and Zara imitate, I think it is wrong. Designer clothing is meant to be special and artwork because of the time it takes to craft the garment. But I listened to Kanye West talk about how nothing should be way overpriced- such as a 5000 dollar sweater or something, because there is just no material or design that is worth that. If you are paying for designer clothing, you will be paying more, but you are paying for that quality and design, which should be original. The places that imitate that design are making money off someone else's ideas. I DO NOT SUPPORT HUGE CORPORATIONS. When I buy designer clothing I am supporting the person who designed it, I want them to make more cool stuff. The designers devote their life to creating, so of course I want to support them. I have loved seeing the growth of designers - Such as John Elliot, Daniel Patrick, and Alexander wang just to name a few. I support them, because they create art not clothes. Corporations use others ideas to make money.
I understand the consumer stand point of being able to buy a product similar to that piece you saw on the runway, but the producer of that product is stealing the entire design, almost anyway. I would rather save my money, or wait til that item goes on sale at the end of season.
As the basics go at Fast Fashion Stores, I think it can be cool to mix high and low fashion. Finding a sweater or something just to wear for the season is cool. It is slightly unrealistic to have everything designer, but don't buy something from a fast fashion store because it looks like Fear of God or some other brand.
I just wanted to share some of my opinions on the subject. Thanks for reading! Comment below what you think.