Fast Fashion: TikTok Made You Buy It (& Trapped You in a Cycle)

Ever found yourself saying “TikTok made me buy it” or carrying out yet another impulse purchase because that item kept popping up in your For You Page and it was only €5, anyway?

You’re not alone.

TikTok is shortening our attention span and speeding up fast fashion (if only it were the other way around!).

So, what’s this strong correlation between TikTok and fast fashion overconsumption? Why is it so worrying? And most importantly, how can you protect yourself without deleting your favourite app?

Here’s my take.  

How TikTok is speeding up fast fashion and influencing your buying decisions 

A social media app fueling fast fashion? That’s nothing new.

As a millennial, I’ve already seen it happen with clothing hauls on YouTube in the late 2000s and when we wouldn’t dare to repeat an outfit on our perfect Instagram grids.

But TikTok is having an even bigger impact on fast fashion, especially among Gen Z consumers: the buying decisions of 39% of them are influenced by videos seen on that platform (much higher than Instagram ads or even influencer posts). 

In a nutshell, here’s the correlation between Tiktok and fast fashion overconsumption:

• Formats – Get Ready With Me, shopping hauls, must-haves, fit checks, viral challenges… This platform is filled with content that screams “buy more” 
• Recreating looks – A “special” mention goes to content that’s all about recreating someone else’s look (like celebrities or movie characters) or matching a new aesthetic (from cottagecore to coastal grandmother, 2000s Juicy Couture tracksuits today and pastels tomorrow…). Since what’s viral and trendy changes constantly, the only way to afford it is usually to buy cheap fast fashion clothes
• Sneaky ads – Because most of them look like organic content rather than traditional ads, you’re more likely to keep watching (and buying)
• Influencers – Much like on Instagram (but often with a carefully crafted “spontaneous” style or “I’m just like you” vibe), TikTok influencers are also affecting your buying decisions 
• Fast fashion brands on TikTok – For example, SHEIN taps into its audience’s widespread desire to be influencers by reposting content created by “ordinary" people, encouraging them to post their unsustainable hauls 
• TikTok Shop – You can now buy directly on the app, like on Instagram, and this feature is particularly popular with fast fashion brands. In fact, TikTok Shop has the biggest customer overlap with Shein and Temu!

The problem with TikTok and fast fashion going hand in hand

TikTok encourages fast fashion overconsumption, which has terrible consequences

• Fast fashion is dreadful for the environment – 92m tonnes of waste every year (with synthetic clothes taking centuries to decompose), microplastics, high carbon emissions, water pollution, direct contributions to climate change… And this is just to name a few!
• Those cheap clothes often hide a high human cost – As well as dodgy materials and production practices (did I mention you might be wearing clothes full of toxic chemicals?), fast fashion brands can afford to keep their prices so low through child labour, sweatshops, and garment workers trapped in modern slavery conditions

How TikTok and fast fashion overconsumption are affecting you

• It has a negative impact on your mental health – Frequent use of TikTok is linked to an increase of anxiety and depression symptoms. I especially noticed that, whenever I spend longer than usual on that platform, I start feeling like I’m not good enough because… “Look at what all these people are doing and wearing!” Same with fast fashion overconsumption (see the next point)
• It keeps you trapped in a vicious cycle – You’re pressured to buy more just to feel worthy, to belong, or out of habit (without questioning how and by whom those clothes were made). So, you get used to chasing those feel-good dopamine hits but… they don’t last long, do they? That new trendy dress becomes “just another item in your wardrobe” after only wearing it a couple of times. And so you buy a new one. And again
• It removes your sense of self-expression – If you mainly buy clothes because they’re trending on TikTok… of course, you’ll keep finding excuses not to wear them: they don’t feel “you”!
• It adds up financially – The fast fashion clothes you discover on TikTok might be cheap, but when you’re buying them regularly… they add up! In fact, the average consumer spends £526.50 on clothing every year

So, everchanging trends isn’t the only thing TikTok and fast fashion overconsumption have in common. While they both feel good in the moment, they actually keep you unhappy in the long run. 

TikTok and fast fashion: breaking free in 4 steps

I’m not here to judge—I was guilty of doing hauls myself—and I’m not telling you to delete TikTok (unless that’s what you genuinely want to do). I’m simply encouraging you to use it mindfully:  

1. Limit your time on the app – You could consider apps like Minimalist Phone 
2. Remove distractions – Unfollow TikTok creators and brands that promote fast fashion overconsumption or whose content makes you feel worse about yourself, and curate your For Your Page by tapping “Not interested” 
3. Replace it with positive inspiration – Follow creators and fashion brands who make you feel good about yourself: for example, those promoting slow fashion and showing you how to get creative with your clothes, like remixing them to unlock new outfits.
   If you’ve fallen in love with an aesthetic (not because it’s trendy), follow creators in that niche to stay inspired.
   Consider supporting small ethical fashion brands too: they’re trying really hard to make a positive impact but it’s harder for them to get noticed on Tiktok, whose algorithm promotes trendy content! 
4. When buying clothes, think beyond trends or TikToks – Both TikTok and fast fashion brands want you to buy on a whim, without thinking twice about it. So, rebel by doing the opposite. Before a purchase, ask yourself:
   - Would I still want this if it weren’t trending on TikTok?
   - Does it match my style?
   - Will I wear it at least 30 times?
   - Was it made ethically?
   On Project Cece, you can find hundreds of sustainable fashion brands, with filters to narrow down your choices 

TikTok might be contributing to making fast fashion faster and influencing our decisions, but we can choose to press pause and get back in control.