Indie brands are upending the fast fashion industry by reaching young consumers on Instagram, and undercutting original designers with knockoffs.

Indie brands are upending the fast fashion industry by reaching young consumers on Instagram, and undercutting original designers with knockoffs. While H&M and Zara’s sales shrink, brands like Represent and MNML are taking new trends and turning them around for public purchase at hyper-fast speeds, often producing eerily similar pieces to authentic, higher-end work. They then leverage social media and YouTube to sell the lookalikes just as fast. While copycat brands see themselves as “streetwear Robin Hood[s],” one Fear of God exec said, “It’s like erasing our name off the homework assignment, putting yours on it and saying you did the work.” (GQ)