Sustaining the retail pilgrimage: Developments of Fast Fashion and authentic identities

Abstract

Abstract This article critically reviews the interaction between production and consumption in the apparel industry, focusing on changes that have occurred in the past decade. Specifically, we examine connections between supply and demand for products in a market noted for its volatility and product life cycles that can be measured in weeks. Many studies have examined how supply chain rationalization has imposed greater demands upon manufacturers to meet cost, quality, and delivery mandates. However, fewer studies examine how changing consumer demand both affects and is affected by the resulting retail revolution of Fast Fashion − a new breed of retailers who stock new items more frequently, selling inexpensive ‘fashion forward’ items to more style conscious consumers. We argue that retailers have realized that enhanced designs provide transient consumer value and a more effective matching of supply and demand. We theorize how consumers, meanwhile, behave strategically by visiting stores more often and increasing the frequency of their purchases, which can correspond with increasingly fluid and contextualized construction of pluralized authentic identities.