Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The global apparel market was valued at approximately 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars in 2021
Revenue in the fashion segment is projected to reach $0.99 trillion in 2023
China remains the largest exporter of clothes in the world supplying over 30% of global exports
The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions
Nearly 20% of global wastewater is produced by the fashion industry
Making a single cotton t-shirt requires approximately 2,700 liters of water
The global garment industry employs approximately 60 to 75 million people
Approximately 80% of the world's garment workers are women
In Bangladesh, the minimum wage for garment workers is approximately $75 per month (as of 2022)
60% of millennials say they want to buy from sustainable brands
The global secondhand apparel market is expected to grow 3 times faster than the global apparel market overall
40% of US consumers have purchased secondhand clothing or shoes in 2021
The global smart fabrics market is anticipated to reach $11.4 billion by 2028
Digital printing in textiles is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.7% from 2021 to 2026
The global 3D knitting services market is projected to reach $1.9 billion by 2025
Consumer Behavior
- 60% of millennials say they want to buy from sustainable brands
- The global secondhand apparel market is expected to grow 3 times faster than the global apparel market overall
- 40% of US consumers have purchased secondhand clothing or shoes in 2021
- 1 in 3 young women consider garments worn once or twice to be old
- The average American buys a new piece of clothing every 5 days
- 67% of consumers consider the use of sustainable materials to be an important purchasing factor
- E-commerce return rates for apparel hover around 30% to 40%
- 57% of consumers are willing to change their purchasing habits to reduce negative environmental impact
- 7 to 10 garments are the average items tried on by a shopper in a fitting room before buying three
- Influencer marketing drives 49% of consumers to make a fashion purchase
- 59% of consumers say they have too many clothes but nothing to wear
- Gen Z accounts for 40% of global consumers and heavily influences fashion trends
- 25% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for personalized clothes
- 71% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that are transparent about their supply chain
- The 'rental' clothing market is expected to reach $2.08 billion by 2025
- 42% of millennials have bought clothing via social media platforms
- During recessions, sales of cosmetics and smaller fashion accessories (the Lipstick Effect) tend to rise while apparel drops
- Wardrobe staples have declined as trend-driven purchases increased by 21% since 2018
- 48% of consumers want brands to take the lead on solving the industry's sustainability issues rather than the consumer
- 20% of unsold clothing stock is eventually destroyed or burnt by brands to maintain exclusivity
Interpretation
Millennials and Gen Z loudly demand sustainability, transparency and resale, yet the apparel industry still fuels hyperconsumption through influencer-driven and social-commerce purchases, rapid new-item turnover, sky-high returns and fitting-room waste, the deeming of once-worn garments as "old" and the burning of unsold stock, which is why secondhand and rental markets are booming even as many consumers report overflowing closets and expect brands, not themselves, to solve the problem.
Environmental Impact
- The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions
- Nearly 20% of global wastewater is produced by the fashion industry
- Making a single cotton t-shirt requires approximately 2,700 liters of water
- Approximately 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
- Washing clothes releases half a million tonnes of microfibers into the ocean every year
- The fashion industry's CO2 emissions are projected to increase by 50% by 2030
- Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing
- Synthetic fibers like polyester take up to 200 years to decompose
- Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides and 11% of pesticides globally
- Extending the life of a garment by just nine months reduces carbon, waste, and water footprints by 20-30%
- 35% of all microplastics in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic textiles
- Textile dyeing serves as the second largest polluter of water globally
- Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned
- The production of polyester emits two to three times more carbon dioxide than cotton
- Over 100 billion garments are produced globally every year
- 5.2% of the waste in US landfills consists of textiles
- Leather tanning utilizes approximately 130 different chemicals depending on the finish
- Clothing utilization (the amount of times a garment is worn) has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago
- Viscose production is linked to the logging of 150 million trees annually
- Using recycled polyester instead of virgin polyester reduces carbon emissions by 37%
Interpretation
Our wardrobes are one-season wonders and planet-lifelong problems: the fashion industry pumps out roughly 8 to 10 percent of global carbon emissions, nearly 20 percent of wastewater, half a million tonnes of microfibers into the oceans every year, sends the equivalent of a garbage truck of textiles to landfill or incineration every second while recycling less than one percent, and churns out over 100 billion garments annually, so unless we mend, wear longer, and buy smarter the true cost of looking good will be paid by the Earth.
Labor & Social Impact
- The global garment industry employs approximately 60 to 75 million people
- Approximately 80% of the world's garment workers are women
- In Bangladesh, the minimum wage for garment workers is approximately $75 per month (as of 2022)
- Only about 2% of fashion workers globally are paid a living wage
- 93% of brands surveyed are not paying garment workers a living wage
- The ILO estimates that 11% of the world's children are engaged in child labor, affecting the cotton supply chain
- Garment workers in Los Angeles were found to earn as little as $5 an hour in 2016
- The 2013 Rana Plaza collapse killed 1,134 garment workers and injured 2,500 more
- Over 50% of garment workers in Southeast Asia report experiencing gender-based violence
- In India, 60% of garment workers are estimated to be from marginalized castes or tribes
- 77% of UK retailers believe there is a risk of modern slavery in their supply chains
- Forced labor in the cotton industry is a cited major issue in the Xinjiang region
- Workers in the fashion supply chain work an average of 10 to 12 hours a day
- Less than 10% of garment workers have access to trade unions in major exporting countries
- 38% of fashion brands do not disclose their first-tier suppliers
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, brands cancelled approx $16 billion worth of orders, impacting millions of workers
- Home-based workers in the garment sector earn 50% less than factory-based workers
- The vast majority of top-level management in fashion companies are men despite the workforce being female
- Migrant workers constitute a significant portion (20-30%) of the garment workforce in countries like Turkey and Thailand
- Occupational safety hazards affect 40% of textile workers due to chemical exposure and noise
Interpretation
The global garment industry is a glittering runway stitched with exploitation: 60 to 75 million people, roughly 80 percent women, make the clothes while earning poverty wages and working long, hazardous hours amid child and forced labor in parts of the supply chain, pervasive gender-based violence, scant union access, opaque sourcing and management that is mostly male, with only about 2 percent paid a living wage and catastrophic events like Rana Plaza and mass order cancellations reminding us that fashion’s price is often paid in human lives.
Market & Economics
- The global apparel market was valued at approximately 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars in 2021
- Revenue in the fashion segment is projected to reach $0.99 trillion in 2023
- China remains the largest exporter of clothes in the world supplying over 30% of global exports
- The value of the luxury fashion personal goods market was estimated at 353 billion euros in 2022
- The US apparel market size heavily influences global trends with a revenue of approximately $312 billion in 2022
- The global menswear market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% from 2023 to 2028
- The global children's wear market is projected to reach $326 billion by 2027
- Vietnam’s textile and garment export turnover reached approximately $44 billion in 2022
- India's textile and apparel industry contributes about 2.3% to the country's GDP
- The athletic apparel market was valued at $319.4 billion in 2022
- Online sales of apparel accounted for nearly 30% of total retail sales in the US in 2020
- Bangladesh is the second-largest apparel exporter globally after China
- The bridal wear market is anticipated to reach $73.7 billion by 2030
- The EU imports approximately 50% of its clothing from non-EU countries
- Gross profit margins for luxury fashion brands can often exceed 60%
- The global fast fashion market size is expected to reach $184.96 billion by 2027
- Turkey’s clothing exports were valued at approximately $21 billion in 2022
- The global swimwear market is projected to reach $34.2 billion by 2031
- The footwear market size is estimated to be worth $543.9 billion by 2030
- Cross-border e-commerce accounts for nearly 20% of global apparel e-commerce sales
Interpretation
With the global apparel market worth roughly 1.5 trillion dollars and fashion revenue nearing 1 trillion in 2023, the industry is a high-stakes blend of scale and stratification: China supplies over 30 percent of exports while Bangladesh, Vietnam and Turkey anchor huge manufacturing volumes, luxury labels pocket margins above 60 percent as fast fashion, athletic wear and menswear expand and children's, bridal, swimwear and footwear chase strong growth, and digital channels now carry nearly 30 percent of U.S. apparel sales and about 20 percent of global e-commerce, so capital, taste and trade will keep deciding who profits and who just keeps sewing.
Technology & Innovation
- The global smart fabrics market is anticipated to reach $11.4 billion by 2028
- Digital printing in textiles is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.7% from 2021 to 2026
- The global 3D knitting services market is projected to reach $1.9 billion by 2025
- AI in the fashion market is projected to reach $4.4 billion by 2027
- 14% of fashion executives have already invested in digital sampling to reduce waste
- The automated material handling market for textiles is growing at nearly 8% annually
- RFID technology adoption in retail apparel has improved inventory accuracy to over 98%
- Virtual fitting room market size is estimated to reach $19.03 billion by 2028
- The technical textile market is expected to reach $222.4 billion by 2027
- Only 25% of supply chain leaders have successfully digitized their supply chains
- Blockchain in fashion and retail is predicted to reach $1.2 billion by 2024
- Laser cutting technology can reduce fabric waste in manufacturing by up to 15%
- Nanotechnology in clothing (stain resistance/antibacterial) is a market growing at 24% CAGR
- On-demand manufacturing models share is expected to capture 10% of the fashion market by 2025
- 83% of executives believe that digital physical environments (Metaverse) will be a key channel for fashion
- 61% of fashion supply chain managers say real-time visibility is their top technology priority
- Sewbots (automated sewing robots) can produce a t-shirt in 22 seconds compared to minutes by hand
- The bio-textiles market (lab-grown leather, etc.) is aiming to capture 5% of the material market by 2030
- Computer Aided Design (CAD) software reduces the product development cycle by approximately 30-40%
- Augmented Reality (AR) in retail is expected to be used by 1 in 3 shoppers by 2025
Interpretation
These statistics show fashion is being rewoven into a high-tech, low-waste sector where booming markets for smart fabrics, AI and virtual fitting rooms combine with automation, RFID and laser cutting to speed production and cut waste, while only a quarter of supply chains are digitized so companies that ignore real-time visibility, blockchain and the metaverse risk being out of fashion.
References
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