For centuries, clothes were hard to produce and expensive. People wore them as long as possible. But manufacturing advances have steadily driven down the cost of production. These days, clothing can be produced very cheaply. In the 1990s, companies began churning out fast fashion: low cost versions of high end trends. In the 2010s came ultra fast fashion, where clothes are produced extremely rapidly and intended to be almost disposable.
Ultra fast fashion is deeply unsustainable. Producing it is energy intensive and many low quality items go rapidly to landfill.
