Fast fashion: Calculative technologies and the governance of everyday dress

The speed at which contemporary fashion changes is such that the life of a garment can now be measured in a matter of weeks rather than months. The organisational consequences of operating in this environment are that fashion retailers have been prompted to adopt a range of quick response (QR) initiatives. QR involves responding promptly to the information contained within emerging sales trends while simultaneously accelerating the movement of product from factory to shop shelf. Drawing on the case of a UK fashion chain, this paper explores accounting's role in enacting QR. In addition, by deploying the theoretical framework of governmentality [Miller, P., & Rose, N. (1990). Governing economic life. Economy and Society, 19(1), 1–31; Rose, N., & Miller, P. (1992). Political power beyond the state: Problematics of government. British Journal of Sociology, 43(2), 173–205], the paper highlights the role of calculative technologies in the creation and sustenance of fast fashion and hence the governance of everyday dress.