Fast Fashion has changed apparel retail forever. In our report about the industry from last year, we looked how brands like H&M ($STO:HM-B), Zara ($BME:ITX), and Forever 21 ($PRIVATE:FOREVER21) are proliferating and building retail footprints in areas where customers with disposable incomes are buying $8 t-shirts in droves.
But it wasn't until today that we could introduce a new feature at Thinknum Media that we're beyond excited to show off today. Below, you will find an embedded, fully interactive map that includes more than 13,000 locations from H&M, Indetex, and Fast Retaiing. In it, you'll be able to zoom in or out, isolate store brands, and — get this — you can see how these brands have expanded over the past few years.
To see the fast fashion world grow since 1985, click on "Show time slider" in the lower right of the map, click the play button that comes up, and play John Williams' Empire Theme from Star Wars.
We're super excited to launch this new feature, and we have more embedded, interactive tools coming very, very soon. But until then, let's ponder the future of the fashion industry.
And, for further reading on the subhject of fast fashion, don't miss these reports from us at Thinknum Media:
- How fast fashion became a multi-trillion-dollar industry
- Fast fashion at a price: the story of Forever 21
- A brief history of Uniqlo, the clothing company that's changing everything
- Mapping the future of the Gap empire, Old Navy, and Janie & Jack
