Why we buy fast fashion even when we hate the idea

Every December, many consumers make plans to buy less and opt for more sustainable choices. But as the month progresses, the expense increases and fast fashion becomes difficult to resist. Accessibility tends to override ethical concerns.

Christmas time has become a time when good intentions collide with discounts and the emotional appeal of seasonal fashion.

This apparent contradiction became particularly visible when the fast fashion giant opened, in November, its first permanent space inside the large BHV warehouses in Paris.

On the one hand, queues formed at the doorwith consumers trying to enter, while, abroad, Protesters held up signs and shouted “shame”pointing out concerns about the company’s history in terms of social, environmental and transparency concerns.

As they explain That The e Xuchang ChenMarketing professors at the University of Reading, in the United Kingdom, in an article in , Shein took the very fast response times and low prices to a new level, surpassing fast fashion to enter the so-called “ultra-fast fashion”.

Despite consumer demand, the opening of the Chinese giant’s first physical space was met with adverse reactions — including from competing brands, with sales spaces in large Parisian department stores, which announced that intended to leave the place in protest against the presence of Shein.

However, the opening of new Shein stores in France has been postponed.

The controversy did not end there. The French Government demanded more control from the brand, including age verification, on Shein’s online platform, at a time when investigations were taking place regarding the site’s childish appearance, placing the company under greater scrutiny.

When informed of the existence of these products in November, a spokesperson for the Chinese brand stated that the company was approaching the matter in a “extremely serious.” Shein disabled the area of ​​the website where third-party sellers listed their products.

At the same time, consumers who entered the Paris store found higher prices than those charged onlineadding a new layer to the debate on the Shein transparency and about the broader environmental and labor concerns associated with fast fashion.

What makes Christmas such a powerful time for fast fashion is not just the seasonal marketing, but also the psychological dynamics that help consumers alleviate environmental guilt.

Fast fashion already represents a significant share of sales of online clothing in France, and Shein became one of the largest retailers by volumedespite increased public criticism.

In the UK, fast fashion sales have reached billions of poundswith significant and robust annual growth, which suggests that, at the end of the day, the accessibility tends to override ethical concerns.

Studies on consumer behavior show that people often resort to moral excuses to justify questionable purchasestelling themselves that “everyone does the same” or that the harm is distant and indirect. This eases the ethical tension long enough to complete the purchase.

In addition to reducing guilt, fast fashion benefits from what marketing researchers describe as “temporal discount”: when consumers give priority to immediate pleasure and priceto the detriment of long-term environmental damage.

Additionally, Shein’s rapid production model turns digital trends into products within days, offering instant gratification. Future losses — such as waste or emissions — are psychologically distant at the time of purchase.

These mechanisms help to explain why fast fashion continues to thrive, even as concerns grow with the climate.

In many ways, the holiday shopping rush exposes a broader conflict between consumers’ ethical intentions and the realities of global retail. This paradox It’s not just individual: It also influences how governments and public opinion react to Shein’s growing presence.

It may be tempting to see the demonstrations in Paris as just another reaction to environmental issues. But concerns surrounding Shein were already part of the public debate long before the store opened.

For decades, fast fashion was based on subcontracting to cheaper production centers, with limited labor protection.

Even after the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh in 2013, when 1,134 people diedespecially garment workers, after the factory building collapsed, many European fast fashion companies continued to be the target of criticism for environmental violations along global supply chains.

What distinguishes the current controversy are not the ethical problems in si, but the challenge that Shein poses to the traditional balance of power in global fashion.

For much of the last century, European companies dominated the sector and shaped international tastes. Now, Shein’s algorithm-driven and extremely reactive model is shaking that dominance.

This speed fuels waste and environmental damage, while Low prices continue to attract millions of buyers.

In this sense, for Shein, Paris is more than a point of sale. Succeeding in one of the world’s fashion capitals would mark an important moment in the brand’s global expansion and would be a sign that it no longer operates on the margins.

It would also test whether this new type of fashion giant can assert itself beyond the online audiencein the eyes of regulators, partner brands and in-store consumers.

The resistance Shein faces in Paris points to broader anxiety about whatWho currently has influence in the fashion industry. A Chinese fast fashion giant has bypassed traditional European gatekeepers — and challenged the established hierarchy of who defines the sector’s future, Ding and Chen conclude.