How incredibly cheap clothing at the tap of a screen came to dominate the apparel industry…and leave behind a trail of harm for the planet.

Fast fashion is overhauling everything about the way many of us shop for clothes: how much we pay, how often we buy, how long we keep a garment. Design trends at the most popular apparel sites are now measured not in seasons but in days. The market-leading retailer Shein has been known to release thousands of new styles each day at an average sale price of around $11 per garment. But fast fashion isn’t just about producing inexpensive clothes that mimic high-end designs. It’s about generating demand for them via social media algorithms and influencers, fueling what’s now a $160 billion industry…which is projected to grow at an annual rate of around 11 percent. Americans now buy at least 60 percent more clothing than they did in 2000. So what’s wrong with great deals on stylish clothes? Many shoppers don’t realize that fast fashion leaves behind a trail of harm for the environment, the people who make the garments, and possibly those wearing them, too.

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