Fast fashion and sustainability amongst Chinese millennials

For many consumers, fast fashion garments are affordable to buy and to throw away. Eighty billion pieces of fast fashion clothing are sold worldwide yearly, and three out of four are discarded to landfills after their short lifespan, creating a significant environmental impact. This study explores the role fashion plays in their daily lives, and what sustainability means to them. Seven focus groups were conducted in China for it is the largest clothing markets in the world and for its unique cultural characteristics. Findings show that Chinese millennials generally lack awareness of the environmental impact of fast fashion. Fashion plays a key role in self-expression, Mianzi and is an affordable instrument they can use to gain social acceptance in a collectivist society. At the present stage of their lives, fast fashion seems indispensable even when they come with an environmental cost.