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The fashion industry produces way more than it can sell

Fast fashion's over production exacerbates an already broken model.

Each year the fashion industry produces more than 100 billion items of clothing and 20 billion shoes, with most items being discarded within a year.

Driving this is the rapidly growing fast fashion business model that is dedicated to continuously churning out low quality and low cost items that are marketed as the next 'must-have style', keeping their customers in a never ending buy and throw away spiral.

Fast fashion brands produce far more garments than they can sell, encourage rampant overconsumption by consumers, deplete limited resources, pollute the environment and exploit the most vulnerable people, all in the name of profit.

Instead of two seasons a year we practically have fifty-two seasons a year. So we have something new coming in every week. And fast fashion has created this so that it can essentially shift more product. Lucy Siegle, Journalist

The excessive amounts of garments produced comes at a huge cost

Textile production uses around 93 billion cubic metres of water annually, representing 4% of global freshwater withdrawal.

It is estimated that cotton production uses 200,000 tonnes of pesticides and 8 million tonnes of fertilisers annually. In India, farmers experience health issues due to the pesticides used in cotton production.

The dyeing and treatment of textiles is responsible for 20% of industrial water pollution globally. In Indonesia, the more than 200 textile factories along the banks of the Citarum River release dyes and chemicals into the water with a devastating impact on the local ecosystem.

In 2015, greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production totalled 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2, more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping combined.

The unrelenting pace of garment production puts increasing pressure on manufacturers and garment industry workers, leading to poor working conditions, poverty wages, and long hours.

Of course it’s the people in developing nations where the textiles are produced and the garments are created who are most impacted by these environmental abuses.

What happens to unsold items?

Unsold products are discounted, sent to outlet stores or donated. But most of it is incinerated or ends up in landfills.

In 2018, H&M announced it was sitting on the equivalent of $4,3 billion of unsold stock, and Burberry incinerated unsold clothes, accessories and perfume worth £28.6m.

The return rate for fast fashion brands exceeds 40 percent, according to Paazl. It is estimated that only 10% of these returns make it back to the shop floor, with the remainder suffering the same fate as other unsold items.

It’s just not sustainable

Overproduction needs to stop as it puts unnecessary burden on scarce resources, contributes to carbon emissions, pollutes our water and land, and creates an overworked and exploited garment industry workforce.

With demand for raw materials expected to triple by 2050, the fast fashion model needs some radical changes.

Take Action:

  • Buy from brands who produce limited runs, or create garments on demand.
  • Also look out for brands that create trendless garments.
  • Buy items that are built to last.
  • Look out for brands that provide a repair service
  • Buy preloved items
  • Learn to repair and extend the life of your clothes.

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