Analysis on the Sustainable Development Strategy of Fast Fashion Company

Abstract

The rapid growth of the fast fashion industry, driven by its resource-intensive and wasteful practices, has led to significant environmental and social issues. This article focuses on the sustainable development of global fast fashion and systematically examines the major challenges it faces across three dimensions: environment, society, and economy. Environmentally, the industry consumes large amounts of resources, causes serious pollution, and generates significant waste. Socially, issues such as low labor standards and poor working conditions in the supply chain are prevalent. Economically, it faces contradictions like the high cost of sustainable materials and the gap between consumer willingness and behavior. The study employs a combination of life cycle assessment (LCA) and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) to evaluate the impacts of various materials and supply chain practices and uses consumer choice experiments to reveal willingness to pay for sustainable features. Findings show that although companies have made progress in material innovation, circular economic practices, and supply chain transparency, deep-rooted problems like efficiency paradoxes, institutional barriers, and cognitive-action gaps remain widespread. Finally, the article proposes systematic recommendations at the enterprise, industry, and policy levels, including establishing comprehensive life cycle management systems, standardizing industry practices and promoting information sharing, as well as enhancing legal frameworks and tax incentives to support the transition of the fast fashion industry to a genuinely sustainable model.