Fashion is one of the most visible parts of our everyday lives, but its environmental footprint is often hidden. The textile industry generates around *92 million tonnes of waste globally every year, while a truckload of clothing is estimated to be landfilled or incinerated every second. The industry also uses around 215 trillion litres of water annually, equivalent to approximately 86 million Olympic sized swimming pools, and contributes 2 to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Fast fashion has intensified this cycle by making newness inexpensive and constant. Clothing production roughly doubled between 2000 and 2015, while the length of time garments were used fell by 36%. When clothes are produced in huge quantities to keep up with rapidly changing trends, worn only a handful of times and then discarded, the environmental cost of the resources used to make them does not disappear with the garment.
Sustainability, therefore, is not simply about choosing a certain fabric. It is about changing our relationship with clothing: producing more thoughtfully, avoiding unnecessary excess, choosing quality and durability, wearing pieces for longer, repairing and reusing them, and valuing what already exists. Perhaps the question fashion needs to ask is no longer ,how quickly can we create the next trend?…But how thoughtfully can we create something worth keeping.