Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined
Approximately 20% of wastewater worldwide comes from fabric dyeing and treatment
It takes about 7,500 liters of water to make a single pair of jeans
60% of consumers say they would pay more for products with sustainable packaging
90% of Gen Z consumers believe companies have a responsibility to address environmental and social issues
52% of consumers want the fashion industry to follow more sustainable practices
Approximately 60% of all materials used by the fashion industry are plastic (polyester, acrylic, nylon)
Less than 1% of the cotton used in the fashion industry is organic
93% of brands surveyed by the Fashion Checker do not pay garment workers a living wage
The global secondhand apparel market is expected to grow 3 times faster than the global apparel market overall
The US secondhand market is projected to reach $82 billion by 2026
The ethical fashion market was valued at $6.35 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $8.25 billion by 2023
The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing are recycled into new clothing (fiber-to-fiber recycling)
92 million tonnes of textile waste is created annually globally
Carbon & Water Impact
- The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined
- Approximately 20% of wastewater worldwide comes from fabric dyeing and treatment
- It takes about 7,500 liters of water to make a single pair of jeans
- Washing synthetic clothes releases half a million tonnes of microfibers into the ocean every year
- The fashion industry's greenhouse gas emissions are expected to surge more than 50% by 2030
- Textile production generates 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year
- Conventional cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides and 11% of pesticides used globally
- 35% of all microplastics released into the world environment are from synthetic textiles
- One cotton t-shirt requires approximately 2,700 liters of water to produce
- If the industry continues on its current path, by 2050, it could use more than 26% of the carbon budget associated with a 2°C pathway
- 70 million barrels of oil are used each year to make the world’s polyester fiber
- Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally
- The apparel industry accounts for 4% of global freshwater withdrawal
- Leather production has a significantly higher environmental impact than synthetic alternatives due to land use and methane emissions
- Viscose production contributes to rapid deforestation, with 150 million trees logged for fabric annually
- 1 kg of cotton production can require as much as 20,000 liters of water
- The water footprint of a single polyester t-shirt is approximately 50-100 liters compared to cotton's thousands, but the carbon footprint is higher
- 8% of total global greenhouse gas emissions are produced by the apparel and footwear industries
- Producing one kilogram of fabric generates an average of 23 kilograms of greenhouse gases
- By 2030, the global water consumption of the fashion industry is projected to increase by 50% to 118 billion cubic meters
Interpretation
Fashion is dressing the planet in crisis, producing about 10% of global carbon emissions—more than aviation and shipping combined—devouring and polluting freshwater through dyeing and cotton, shedding microfibers and microplastics into the oceans, driving deforestation and heavy pesticide use for viscose and cotton, burning millions of barrels of oil to make polyester, and if it keeps this pace it will gobble an alarming share of the remaining carbon budget while water and greenhouse gas impacts are projected to spike by 2030.
Consumer Behavior & Trends
- 60% of consumers say they would pay more for products with sustainable packaging
- 90% of Gen Z consumers believe companies have a responsibility to address environmental and social issues
- 52% of consumers want the fashion industry to follow more sustainable practices
- 42% of millennials say they shop secondhand to reduce their environmental impact
- Searches for "sustainable fashion" increased by 66% between 2018 and 2019
- 75% of consumers view sustainability as extremely or very important
- 50% of consumers would switch brands if they found a different brand was more environmentally friendly
- Only 20% of consumers trust brand sustainability claims, citing greenwashing concerns
- 65% of consumers plan to buy more durable fashion items to keep them longer
- #ThriftFlip views on TikTok exceeded 1.5 billion, indicating a rise in upcycling culture
- 88% of consumers want brands to help them be more environmentally friendly and ethical in their daily lives
- 1 in 3 consumers care more about wearing sustainable apparel than they did prior to the pandemic
- 67% of consumers consider the use of sustainable materials to be an important purchasing factor
- 48% of consumers are interested in renting clothes rather than buying them to reduce consumption
- 57% of consumers are willing to change their purchasing habits to deeper reduce negative environmental impact
- "Vegan leather" searches increased by 69% year-on-year in 2020
- 62% of Gen Z say they buy from sustainable brands, the highest of any generation
- A lack of transparency prevents 38% of consumers from shopping sustainably
- 45% of UK consumers say they have bought pre-loved fashion during the last 12 months
- 33% of shoppers have punished a brand (stopped buying) because of its environmental impact
Interpretation
Fashion brands now face a savvy, eco-minded jury: shoppers are willing to pay more, switch loyalties, rent or buy pre-loved pieces and binge #ThriftFlip, but rampant distrust of greenwashing means only radical transparency and real, durable sustainability will earn their long-term loyalty.
Market Economics & Resale
- The global secondhand apparel market is expected to grow 3 times faster than the global apparel market overall
- The US secondhand market is projected to reach $82 billion by 2026
- The ethical fashion market was valued at $6.35 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $8.25 billion by 2023
- Resale is expected to be bigger than fast fashion by 2030
- The online clothing rental market size was valued at $1.26 billion in 2019
- 62% of fashion executives believe circular business models like resale and rental will become mainstream
- The global vegan women’s fashion market is valued at over $396 billion
- Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014, breaking the correlation with population growth
- The luxury resale market is growing 4 times faster than the primary luxury market
- Circular business models have the potential to unlock $700 billion in economic opportunity by 2030
- 118 billion items of clothing were produced globally in 2019
- Fast fashion brands have a 30-day inventory turnover, whereas traditional brands take 90 days
- Secondhand displaced nearly 1 billion purchases of new clothing in 2021
- 50% of the total resale market gross merchandise value (GMV) comes from North America
- The sustainable footwear market is estimated to reach $13.3 billion by 2030
- 70% of closets remain unworn, with consumers wearing only 20% to 30% of their wardrobe
- Brands with their own resale shops increased by 275% between 2020 and 2021
- The "slow fashion" market segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% through 2025
- Global spending on sustainable apparel reached $25.4 billion in 2020
- In 2022, 120 brands launched dedicated resale programs
Interpretation
After 118 billion garments were churned out while 70 percent of closets sit unworn and secondhand channels displaced nearly a billion new purchases in 2021—sorry, remove the dash—let me rephrase: with the US resale market set to hit $82 billion by 2026 and circular models poised to unlock $700 billion by 2030, the lesson is blunt and lucrative: fashion must stop racing to produce more and start turning unworn wardrobes into lasting, circular revenue.
Materials & Labor
- Approximately 60% of all materials used by the fashion industry are plastic (polyester, acrylic, nylon)
- Less than 1% of the cotton used in the fashion industry is organic
- 93% of brands surveyed by the Fashion Checker do not pay garment workers a living wage
- The fashion industry employs over 75 million people worldwide, predominantly women
- Forced labor in the cotton industry involves over 20% of the global cotton supply chains
- Polyester production has grown by nearly 165% in the last 20 years
- Approximately 160 million children are victims of child labor in textile and other industries globally
- Conventional cotton requires 11% of the world's pesticides despite covering only 2.4% of arable land
- Producing recycled polyester (rPET) requires 59% less energy than virgin polyester
- Only 5% of factory safety issues identified in audits are remediated
- Man-made cellulosic fibers (MMCF) like viscose make up about 6% of total fiber production volume
- 80% of garment workers are women aged 18-35
- 1 ton of recycled cotton saves 765 cubic meters of water
- The number of brands disclosing their Tier 1 suppliers increased to 48% in 2020
- Only 29% of brands disclose their processing facilities (Tier 2)
- Cashmere production has caused the degradation of 65% of Mongolia’s grasslands
- Nearly 35% of all microplastics in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic textiles
- Bio-based materials (like mushroom leather) received over $1 billion in investment in 2021
- 54% of fashion brands publish a policy on animal welfare
- 98% of workers in the fashion industry are not paid a living wage that covers basic needs
Interpretation
Fashion today is dressing the world and its people in a cheap synthetic habit — about 60% of materials are plastic, polyester has surged nearly 165% in 20 years and laundering synthetics releases roughly 35% of ocean microplastics, less than 1% of cotton is organic even though conventional cotton consumes 11% of the world’s pesticides, forced labor and child labor taint large swathes of cotton and textile supply chains while the vast majority of the more than 75 million mostly female garment workers do not earn a living wage and factory safety fixes are rarely implemented, yet recycled polyester and bio‑based alternatives offer a real, energy-saving lifeline if brands finally invest in transparency and justice.
Waste & Circularity
- The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
- Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing are recycled into new clothing (fiber-to-fiber recycling)
- 92 million tonnes of textile waste is created annually globally
- The average number of times a garment is worn has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago
- 85% of all textiles thrown away in the US are dumped into landfills or burned
- By 2030, global fashion waste is expected to total 148 million tons per year
- Synthetic fibers like polyester can take up to 200 years to decompose in landfills
- Between 20% and 30% of global garment production becomes deadstock (unsold inventory) and is often destroyed
- 73% of the world's clothing eventually ends up in landfills
- The Kantamanto market in Ghana receives 15 million used garments weekly, 40% of which ends up as immediate waste
- 30% of clothes produced are never sold
- In the EU, textile waste amounts to approximately 4 million tons per year
- Only 12% of the material used for clothing ends up being recycled in some form (mostly downcycled to stuffing)
- 59,000 tons of unsold clothing arrives at the Atacama Desert in Chile every year to be illegally dumped
- Textile waste has increased by 811% since 1960
- The cost of disposing of hazardous textile waste usually falls on municipalities in developing countries
- Burning 1 tonne of clothes releases 1.36 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere
- 95% of worn textiles can be recycled or repurposed, yet 85% end up in landfills
- The average American throws away approximately 81.5 pounds of clothes every year
- Extending the life of a garment by just 9 months reduces its carbon, waste, and water footprints by 20-30%
Interpretation
Fashion is quietly turning the planet into a landfill runway; the equivalent of a garbage truck of textiles is burned or buried every second, less than one percent of clothing is recycled fiber to fiber, 92 million tonnes of waste are created each year and could hit 148 million by 2030, people wear garments 36 percent less often than 15 years ago while up to 30 percent of production never sells and 20 to 30 percent becomes deadstock that is destroyed, huge flows such as the 15 million used garments arriving weekly at Kantamanto where 40 percent becomes immediate waste and the 59,000 tons illegally dumped in the Atacama show how disposal burdens fall on poorer places, synthetic fibers like polyester can take 200 years to decompose and burning a tonne emits 1.36 tonnes of CO2, yet 95 percent of worn textiles could be recycled and simply extending a garment’s life by nine months would cut its carbon, water and waste footprints by 20 to 30 percent.
References
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