Will the SNL skit change consumers’ attitudes towards fast fashion?

The SNL comedy sketch, which is meant to look like a clothing ad, opens with a voiceover announcing “fast fashion from China. Buy online now!” Then fashionable clothes appear on the screen with price tags, e.g. $10 for a dress, $5 for a pair of shoes. The voiceover then states that the brand’s products “are not manufactured using forced labor.”

GlobalData retail analyst Neil Saunders tells Just Style that the recent SNL comedy sketch is a critique of consumers who mindlessly buy fast fashion without thinking about why the products are so cheap or the alleged supply chain problems of “ultra-fast fashion giants” like Shein and Temu.

The skit is based on a fake fast fashion brand called Xiemu, but National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) president and CEO Kim Glas believes the parody “highlights a wide range of issues surrounding some Chinese e-commerce companies that have been linked to forced work in their supply chains.”

Is SNL shaming consumers for buying fast fashion?

One character in the ad talks about the smell of “gasoline” coming from his clothes, and in another, Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal has a nosebleed after smelling his lead-free shirt. Glas suggests this highlights the consequences for consumers “unknowingly purchasing toxic products or products made using slave labor.”

Instead, Saunders points to the way it highlights consumers who ignore the way products are made, adding: “People don’t change their habits if buying cheaper fashion benefits them financially.”

Will the SNL skit have any impact on Shein and Temu?

Saunders is also skeptical about the broader implications of parody. He says the video is “not serious material” and doubts brands like Shein or Temu will feel much of an impact, stating, “People will laugh at it and then forget about it.”

Neither Shein nor Temu responded to Just Style’s request for comment. SNL was also contacted, but the company had not responded at the time of going to press.

United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) president Julia Hughes admitted that the satirical Just Style SNL skit got “laughter” from members of the organization, but she felt it also managed to raise some very serious issues.

She explained: “American fashion brands and retailers – USFIA members – are committed to providing customers with high-quality products that meet all environmental and social standards, and to offer fashion at a fair price. We don’t want our customers to assume that all brands cut corners.”

The story continues

Saunders points out that Shein and Temu’s clients are likely not SNL’s “core” audience and claims that the skit “just shows what everyone already knows.”

He believes that the most important message is that cheap fashion has a price and while satire has power, it does not discover anything new.

While he claims this is a serious matter, ultimately an “out of sight” and “out of mind” mentality comes into play.

Is this a wake-up call for trade regulations?

The skit refers to U.S. trade laws that allow illegal fake brands to sell products to American consumers.

Saunders argues that while the narrative may present the issue as solely an American problem, it is not unique to the United States. Of course, he adds: “The United States tends to take a less interventionist approach because it is more favorable to free markets.”

On the other hand, the NCTO argues that Chinese e-commerce fashion companies in particular “have aggressively exploited a trade loophole such as de minimis to ship undervalued and largely uncontrolled products into the U.S. market, according to several studies and news reports “.

The organization is fighting to close the de minimis loophole, with Glas noting that the “outdated” trade rule rewards companies like fake brand “Xiemu” with duty-free treatment and “harms” the U.S. textile industry and its regional trading partners.

By undermining all enforcement of trade laws on forced labor and other abuses, and perpetuating “tainted working conditions” and intellectual property theft, Glas wants to stop de minimis trade laws from crippling companies that “play by the rules.”

“We need to worry about this and we need to close this gap now,” he pleads.

USFIA’s Hughes adds: “When there are brands that do not meet these ethical standards, we support strong enforcement of those standards.”

In the run-up to the 2024 US elections, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been under pressure to strengthen the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).

In March, U.S. Customs, Border Protection and Border Protection (CBP) began applying more stringent import controls under the Enforcement and Security Act and the e-Charges program, which provides information on the country of origin, volume and type of trade violations.

Through this platform, both the industry community and the general public can flag potential violations ranging from unfair trade practices to products that may pose a risk to health and safety.

Saunders points out that outside the United States, other countries are also debating trade policy regarding fast fashion markets, including France, which is looking at ways to tax cheap fashion.

While it’s unlikely that one SNL parody will move the needle on its own, Saunders argues that buying cheap and not asking too many questions is “already a very normalized” aspect of consumer behavior.

“Explainer: Will an SNL skit change consumers’ attitudes toward fast fashion?” was originally created and published by Just Style, a brand of GlobalData.

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