Driven by technological improvements and a fiercely competitive market, the fashion industry has grown to a value of $1.7 trillion as of 2022. The last 20 years have seen the rise of fast fashion, characterized by increased releases of clothing collections, speed to market, and often very low price points. Clothing is in fact one of the few consumer goods that saw a decline in overall prices over that time period. However, this does not come without its consequences as the price of clothing is artificially low through the reliance of the industry on fossil fuels and exporting labor (and pollution) to low wage countries.This creates a system wherein overproduction is economically viable for brands and consumers are encouraged to buy clothes more often.

Clothing production has almost doubled in the last 15 years, driven by a growing middle-class market in developing countries and increased consumption in developed countries. Coupled with an item of clothing being worn 40% less, the fashion industry has emerged to be one of the most resource-intensive industries globally. The industry produces approximately 100 billion clothing items annually, with more than 60% being disposed of through incineration or the landfill after only 12 months of being made. Examining the local market, around 29% of Filipinos have thrown away their clothing after a single use while the consumption of new clothing has significantly increased. This increased clothing production has accounted for almost 60% of textile production, 52% of which is polyester, a synthetic fiber made out of petroleum. On the whole, this has led to the fashion industry contributing up to 10% of global carbon emissions, exceeding that of international flights and maritime shipping combined.

Despite leading brands’ promises to shift towards more sustainable fashion, industry changes in the past years have failed to move the needle in lessening both its environmental and social impacts. Often touted by fashion brands in their sustainability campaigns, a good example of lackluster initiatives are recycling programs. Due to limited infrastructure and rudimentary recycling technology, less than 1% of all clothing finds its way back into a new piece of garment. Furthermore, a recent life cycle analysis found that upcycling a pair of cotton jeans has almost the same global warming impact as buying and disposing of a new pair of jeans. The difficulty of recycling is exacerbated by the lack of supply chain transparency, making it near impossible to trace which materials go into a piece of clothing. While sustainability initiatives like recycling are a good start for fashion brands, they are unable to address the pervasive issues of overproduction and overconsumption in the industry.