Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity's carbon emissions
The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of the world's water supply
statistic:大约 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
Consumers bought 60% more clothing in 2014 than in 2000
The average person keeps an item of clothing for only half as long as they did 15 years ago
40% of clothes in wardrobes in developed countries are never worn
Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014
The number of garments produced annually has exceeded 100 billion
Polyester production for textiles has more than doubled since 2000
The global secondhand apparel market is expected to double by 2027
Resale is expected to grow 9 times faster than the broader retail clothing sector by 2027
62% of Gen Z and Millennials look for an item secondhand before purchasing it new
Online sales accounted for nearly 30% of total fashion retail sales in the US in 2020
The average return rate for online fashion purchases is between 30% and 40%
55% of online shoppers have returned a clothing item because it was not like the description or image
Circular Economy & Resale
- The global secondhand apparel market is expected to double by 2027
- Resale is expected to grow 9 times faster than the broader retail clothing sector by 2027
- 62% of Gen Z and Millennials look for an item secondhand before purchasing it new
- Given the choice, 42% of consumers would prefer to shop from a brand that offers a resale option
- The secondhand market is projected to reach $350 billion by 2027
- 1 in 3 apparel items bought in the last 12 months was secondhand
- 70% of consumers say it's easier to shop secondhand now than it was 5 years ago
- Buying a used garment extends its life by 2.2 years on average
- If everyone bought one used item instead of new this year, it would save 5.7 billion lbs of CO2e
- 50% of the total resale market is comprised of clothing, shoes, and accessories
- By 2028, the used clothing market is predicted to overtake the fast fashion market
- 45% of Millennials and Gen Z refuse to buy from sustainable brands that don't practice what they preach, driving them to resale
- Depop has over 30 million registered users, 90% of whom are under 26
- 82% of Americans buy or sell pre-owned products
- Only 12% of clothing sold globally is recycled
- Clothing rental market value is expected to reach $2.08 billion by 2025
- 60% of consumers say they are more willing to try a new brand if they can buy it secondhand first
- Upcycling fashion trend searches increased by 42% on Pinterest in 2021
- Secondhand clothing sales in the US are expected to reach $70 billion by 2027
- 37% of consumers are spending a higher proportion of their clothing budget on resale versus two years ago
Interpretation
Call it thrift chic or climate pragmatism: with the global secondhand apparel market set to double and reach roughly $350 billion by 2027, about two thirds of Gen Z and millennials checking resale first and one in three recent purchases already pre-owned, buying used has shifted from niche virtue signal to a mainstream economic and environmental force that brands must offer or risk being left behind.
Consumer Behavior
- Consumers bought 60% more clothing in 2014 than in 2000
- The average person keeps an item of clothing for only half as long as they did 15 years ago
- 40% of clothes in wardrobes in developed countries are never worn
- The average American throws away 81 pounds of clothing per year
- 50% of consumers would switch brands if the company’s environmental practices were found to be poor
- 88% of consumers want brands to help them be more environmentally friendly
- Women wear a garment an average of 7 times before discarding it
- The global apparel market is valued at approximately 1.5 trillion US dollars
- Gen Z shoppers are 16% more likely to buy sustainable clothing than Boomers
- 1 in 3 young women consider garments worn once or twice to be old
- Global spending on fashion is projected to reach $2.5 trillion by 2025
- The average household spends $1,700 on apparel and services annually in the US
- 20% of unsold clothing is discarded by retailers
- British consumers spend an estimated £4,000 on clothes they never wear
- 75% of consumers view sustainability as extremely important
- Fast fashion consumption has grown by 400% in the last 20 years
- The average consumer buys 68 garments per year
- 66% of respondents say they consider a product's sustainability before making a purchase
- Millennials are three times more likely than older generations to wear clothing rental
- 1 in 6 young people don't feel they can wear an outfit again once it's been seen on social media
Interpretation
The fashion industry is on a fast-fashion treadmill that fills closets with 60% more garments than in 2000, halves how long we keep things and leaves 40% unworn—effectively turning wardrobes into landfills—while a huge $1.5 trillion market faces a sustainability reckoning as Gen Z and other consumers demand greener choices or will simply walk away.
E-commerce & Digital Trends
- Online sales accounted for nearly 30% of total fashion retail sales in the US in 2020
- The average return rate for online fashion purchases is between 30% and 40%
- 55% of online shoppers have returned a clothing item because it was not like the description or image
- Mobile devices account for 66% of all online fashion traffic
- 19% of consumers engage in "wardrobing" (buying, wearing, and returning items)
- The online fashion market is projected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2027
- 72% of millennials prefer to spend money on experiences rather than material things, but 67% purchase fashion online
- Social commerce sales in the US are expected to reach $80 billion by 2025, largely driven by fashion
- 43% of shoppers discover new fashion brands via social media
- Shein was the most downloaded shopping app in the US in 2022
- Buy Now Pay Later services increase fashion cart conversion rates by up to 30%
- 56% of online fashion returns are due to sizing issues
- Online fashion sales in Europe are expected to reach €175 billion by 2025
- 85% of consumers conduct online research before making a fashion purchase
- Livestream shopping for fashion is projected to be a $25 billion market in the US by 2023
- Virtual fitting room market size is projected to range $15.43 billion by 2028
- About 25% of online apparel returns are discarded by retailers because it is cheaper than restocking
- Amazon surpassed Walmart to become the top US clothing retailer in 2021
- 49% of consumers say they would pay more for delivery if it was sustainable/carbon neutral
- Users spend an average of 15 minutes per day on fast-fashion apps like Shein
Interpretation
Online fashion has become a mobile-driven, social-media-fueled spectacle racing toward a projected $1.2 trillion market by 2027, where the Shein era of short attention spans and BNPL temptations boost conversion while astronomical return rates, wardrobing, sizing failures and the mass disposal of returned garments expose a mounting waste and sustainability crisis even as virtual fitting rooms, social commerce and consumer willingness to pay more for greener delivery promise partial fixes.
Environmental Impact
- The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity's carbon emissions
- The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of the world's water supply
- statistic:大约 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
- Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year
- The equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or dumped in a landfill every second
- Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally
- It takes about 2,000 gallons of water to make a single pair of jeans
- The fashion industry is responsible for 20% of global wastewater
- Less than 1% of used clothing is recycled into new garments
- Synthetic fibers like polyester take up to 200 years to decompose
- The carbon footprint of a polyester shirt is double that of a cotton shirt
- 35% of all microplastics in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic textiles
- Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity's carbon emissions, dries up water sources, and pollutes rivers and streams
- Extending the active life of clothing by just nine months would reduce carbon, waste, and water footprints by around 20-30%
- Every year, the fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water
- 73% of apparel material ends up in landfills or incinerators
- Textile waste has increased by 811% since 1960
- If the trend continues, the fashion industry’s share of the carbon budget will jump to 26% by 2050
- 5.2% of the waste in US landfills is textiles
- A single cotton t-shirt requires 2,700 liters of water to produce
Interpretation
Fashion's runaway consumption may look chic on the runway but it's catastrophic for the planet, producing about 10 percent of global carbon, guzzling and contaminating billions of cubic meters of water with dye, burying or burning a garbage truck of clothes every second while roughly 85 percent of textiles end up in dumps and less than one percent are recycled, and shedding microfibers and microplastics into the oceans until polyester shirts outlive our grandchildren and the industry's share of the carbon budget could hit 26 percent by 2050.
Production & Supply Chain
- Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014
- The number of garments produced annually has exceeded 100 billion
- Polyester production for textiles has more than doubled since 2000
- China is the largest exporter of textiles in the world annually
- 60% of all clothing produced around the world is made from synthetic, plastic-based fibers
- The footwear industry produces over 24 billion pairs of shoes annually
- Approximately 40 million people work in the garment industry globally
- Cotton cultivation covers 2.5% of the world's arable land
- It takes 2,000 different chemicals to process textiles into clothing
- 9,000 liters of water are required to grow one kilogram of cotton
- The fashion supply chain is responsible for vast amounts of chemical pollution in China, Bangladesh, and India
- Global fiber production increased to 113 million tonnes in 2022
- 54% of the world's cotton is grown in irrigated fields, increasing water stress
- The lead time for Ultra-Fast Fashion production can be as short as 3 days
- Less than 2% of garment workers earn a living wage
- 43 million tonnes of chemicals are used in textile production every year
- Bangladesh exports over $40 billion worth of garments annually
- The volume of fashion production is forecast to grow by 63% by 2030
- Leather production typically uses 300kgs of chemicals for every 900kg of animal hides
- 69% of clothes are made of plastic materials like polyester, nylon, and acrylic
Interpretation
In just a few decades the fashion industry has morphed into a runaway machine fueled by polyester that now churns out over 100 billion garments a year, about two thirds from plastic fibers, devouring water, chemicals and arable land, fouling communities in China, Bangladesh and India, and relying on roughly 40 million workers of whom less than two percent earn a living wage.
References
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