After years of consumer, group & institutional advocacy, ESG goals and policies rallying against ultra-fast fashion, it felt for a moment as though a global shift towards sustainable and circular fashion was occurring. And that the fashion industry itself was still thriving. However, a stranger-than-fiction trend seems to be emerging where ultra-fast fashion appears to be the very thing that’s saving and supporting sustainable fashion, and some aspects of the fashion industry itself.
Sat 30 May 2026 01.00 AEST
Photo: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi
After years of consumer, group & institutional advocacy, ESG goals and policies rallying against ultra-fast fashion, it felt for a moment as though a global shift towards sustainable and circular fashion was occurring. And that the fashion industry itself was still thriving. However, a stranger-than-fiction trend seems to be emerging where ultra-fast fashion appears to be the very thing that’s saving and supporting sustainable fashion, and some aspects of the fashion industry itself.
Ultra-fast fashion is a hyper-accelerated, data-driven business model that produces thousands of new clothing items daily, enormously quicker and cheaper than traditional fast fashion. Brands like Shein and Temu upload up to 10,000 new styles every day, creating a disposable clothing culture fueled heavily by social media fashion microtrends. The model is often accused of worker exploitation, wage theft, human rights abuses, and modern slavery with opaque supply chains. It also causes epic environmental damage in an industry known to be one of the most polluting industries on the planet.
The conventional side of the fashion industry has faced a turbulent period in the last few years with widespread store closures, bankruptcies, and downsizing. Driven by shifting consumer spending patterns, rising operational costs, and intense competition from ultra-fast fashion platforms, many established businesses and iconic retail chains have been forced to close entirely or significantly shrink their physical footprints.
The unfortunate fact is that the ultra-fast fashion model has been profiting enormously, far more than conventional fashion brands. For instance, while many businesses are struggling, ultra-fast fashion brands Amazon, Temu, and Shein collectively generated an estimated (AUD) $12 billion in retail sales in 2025 (an increase of more than $2 billion compared to 2024) according to Roy Morgan data. (Amazon and Temu products are not all apparel.)
It’s a complex situation for ultra-fast fashion: attaining enormous profits by exploiting human labour, damaging the planet and playing a huge role in the downfall of many conventional fashion businesses. Regardless, the reality is that some fashion and eco fashion companies are in a position of needing support and capital to function and thrive. They are forced to turn to ultra-fast fashion for help.
The Met Gala – The Met Gala is an annual charity event and the primary fundraiser for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Widely considered the industry’s most prestigious event. It has been running for 78 years and marks the opening of the museum’s major spring fashion exhibition.
In May this year, Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, sparked major controversy by sponsoring and being named honorary co-chairs of the Met Gala. They donated $10 million dollars for this privilege. This sparked international uproar with critics and activist groups accusing Bezos of “reputation laundering” or social washing, citing his wealth, his political influence and Amazon’s poor labour practices & worker exploitation. The company is labeled an ultra-fast fashion seller which is in stark contrast to luxury fashion, a landmark of the Met Gala.
Amazon sold (USD) $12.3 billion worth of fashion items in 2023. Amazon overall reported its Q1 2026 revenue at $181.5 billion and net income of $30.3 billion. This puts them in a secure position to allegedly ‘purchase social cache’ through philanthropic donations to the Met Gala if that is the intention. The Met Gala relies on sponsorships and ticket sales. It has had billionaire sponsors in previous years, however, an ultra-fast fashion brand with a grimy industry reputation ignites controversy as they are on opposite ends of the clothing industry.
Acquisition of Everlane, a crown jewel sustainable fashion pioneer – Everlane is a popular company founded in 2010 as a pioneering ethical and sustainable fashion brand for its “radical transparency”. The company originally disrupted the apparel industry by highlighting its ethical, audited supply chains. 90% of Everlane’s fabrics had met lower-impact standards, with the goal of eliminating virgin plastics in products. At peak valuation, the company reached approximately (USD) $550 – $600 million in 2020; a rare accomplishment for a sustainable fashion brand. The company had sustainability challenges but was working to actualise its ethos as a leader in ethical practice.
In May 2026, Shein acquired Everlane for (USD) $100 million. The business was facing (USD) $90 million in debt, which may have been a huge factor that drove the decision to sell to Shein. Everlane CEO Alfred Chang stated that while the company would remain an independent brand committed to meeting its sustainability commitments, the acquisition provides resources for product development, employees, and innovation. There might not be any guarantees that the Everlane business model might not be subject to devolving into a fast fashion business model.
Shein circularity capital funding & fashion industry support – Shein launched a 200 million Euro circularity fund in 2024 to invest in start-ups and other businesses across the UK and EU engaged in advancing next-generation technologies for circular solutions. An additional 50 million Euro fund was allotted for general ESG initiatives that support brands, designers, and artisans to grow online businesses with SHEIN’s marketplace services, piloting SHEIN production facilities in the region or R&D investments.
Australian fashion & textiles companies have access to the SHEIN Xcelerator. It’s poised as a strategic partnership model that allows Australian brands to scale internationally while retaining ownership of their pricing, creative direction and intellectual property. Australian brands gain access to the company’s resources, logistics, production, reach, speed, fulfillment, and marketing distribution. The purpose is for products manufactured to be sold on Shein’s platform. It’s a good thing that brands have these options, however, the likelihood that Shein will overproduce even more is a real one.
The takeover of ultra-fast fashion is blurring the lines of ethics as sustainability/circularity as they require capital to thrive, like any other sector. With rising operational costs for businesses and rising cost-of-living standards for consumers, the easy way out would be for customers to purchase ultra-fast fashion and businesses to either shift their operating model in that direction or succumb in other ways. This would mean a risk of total and eventual submergence into a future of ultra-fast fashion as the accepted norm. It’s a very high probability that environmental damage will accelerate even further, and worker exploitation will worsen.
Shein’s circularity and ESG funds and Xcelrator program for industry businesses are the types of programs that could be run by government(s), designed in a sustainable fashion. They would be beneficial for the local and national cultural, economic and environmental progression as opposed to billion-dollar companies that do not appear to value human lives or nature. Legislation and policy may be the only pathway to a thriving fashion, circular & sustainable industry, preventing ultra-fast fashion from swallowing the entire sector. Consumers and industry professionals advocating for policy change and new systems is a powerful way for change of this magnitude to occur.
Nina Gbor is the Director of the Circular Economy & Waste Program at The Australia Institute.
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