Fashion’s Crisis: Waste, Trends & Hidden Costs

The fashion industry is churning out more clothes than the planet can handle—leading to massive waste, environmental destruction, and social inequality. This page explores the root causes of overproduction, from planned obsolescence and fast fashion copycats to trend culture and inconsistent sizing that fuels excessive returns.

Discover the hidden costs of garment waste, microplastics, and polybags, and why the world already has enough clothes for six generations. As fashion evolves into an even faster cycle, these insights challenge consumers and brands to rethink their role in a wasteful system and push for real change.

The History of Fast Fashion

Love it or hate it, fast fashion has completely changed how we make purchases, but have you ever wondered how it all began? 🧐

 

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Trend culture = throwaway culture

So much of “fashion and style” today is driven by trends, social constructs, status, and often, self-worth.

 

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Fashion’s Overproduction Problem 

The mass production of too many cheap garments, many of which will never be worn or even purchased, has made fashion a monstrous disposable industry.

 

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Planned Obsolescence: Your Clothes Are Not Made to Last 

Your clothes are *not* designed to last: There’s no denying that planned obsolescence is a huge part of how the fashion industry works.

 

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Reel: The Afterlife of Discarded Textiles 

Ever wonder what happens to your discarded/donated clothes? 🤔 Here’s a look at the expectation vs reality of textile waste.

 

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Secondhand Fashion, Trash & Inequality with Nina Gbor 

Nina Gbor, founder of @eco.styles in her blogpost titled ‘Secondhand fashion, trash and inequality: how the global North continues to colonise’ asks the reader… Do we ever think about what happens to our fashion castoffs once they hit foreign shores? 

 

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Reel: Fast Fashion is not slowing, it’s evolving 

Several reports and articles have debunked the myth that fast fashion has been “killed” by Gen Z. Just when you thought things were changing, several fast fashion brands have had their best years ever. 😵‍💫

 

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How Are Clothes Getting Cheaper When Everything Else is Pricier? 

How is it that our clothes have become cheaper despite inflation over the decades? The state of the earth and garment workers may have something to do with it…

 

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Beyond the Bin with Dale Warren, CEO of Life Line Clothing 

Insights on the realities behind the global recycling industry and the fashion waste problem, in the words of a textile recycling CEO. 

 

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