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BACKGROUND


CHALLENGE






<sub>APPROACH



RESULT</sub><sup>Fast fashion is bad. Ultra fast fashion? Even worse. Its low-priced, on-demand model comes at a high human and environmental cost. CHAINS aims to expose the hidden side behind the industry’s curated facade.

Several advocacy campaigns have pinpointed the harms of fast fashion. Less has covered the impact of ultra fast fashion. The rapid turnover models have disrupted the market space, threatening to derail the transition to a more sustainable fashion industry. While people seem to be somewhat aware that it’s bad business, many are willing to shop. In October 2023, Swedes ordered more than 600 000 items from Shein and Temu. Around Christmas the same year, post offices flooded with air-shipped packages from these brands. Today, Shein is one of the dominant forces in the global apparel market.

We wanted to spotlight the issue beyond traditional communication tactics. Instead of preaching the industry's harm, we sought to embed the facts in consumers' minds to be recalled in moments when they would normally act on their purchasing impulse. Sounds complicated? Here’s how:

CHAINS is developed from the idea of making the familiar unfamiliar. A physical installation with a four-piece clothing collection plays on the recognition of a clothing store. An interactive, digital layer enables an element of surprise. When scanning price tags of hanging items, visitors are confronted with the hidden costs of ultra fast fashion. As such, the concept depicts how the contrasting, and contradicting, sides of the fashion industry are inseparably intertwined.</sup>