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Unfit, Unfair, Unfashionable: Rethinking Fashion for a Fair Consumption Future

Why current fashion consumption is unsustainable and how equitable choices and policies can reshape the industry to meet climate goals.

By Medha deb

Created on Sep 26, 2025

Why current fashion consumption is unsustainable and how equitable choices and policies can reshape the industry to meet climate goals.

Unfit, Unfair, Unfashionable: Rethinking the Path to Sustainable Fashion

The rapid rise of fast fashion has led to unsustainable consumption rates, with significant environmental and social consequences worldwide. This article explores the Hot or Cool Institute’s landmark report on fashion and climate, dissecting why current trends are unsustainable, how responsibility and privilege are distributed across major economies, and what must change to create a truly fair and low-carbon fashion ecosystem.

The Core Dilemma: Fashion’s Environmental and Social Imbalance

Fashion consumption has doubled since 2000, fueled by plummeting apparel prices and a relentless stream of new styles. While fashion appears increasingly accessible, its dark underside includes environmental destruction—water pollution, landfill waste, and carbon emissions—as well as labor concerns in global supply chains. Current consumption levels, especially in high-income countries, are incompatible with climate targets like the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal.

Growth of Fast Fashion and Its Hidden Toll

Over the last two decades, the following trends have accelerated:

Global consumption of clothing, footwear, and accessories has doubled since 2000.
Prices for apparel have dropped significantly, resulting in clothing becoming a throwaway commodity.
In many developed economies, a culture of constant replacement—rather than repair or long-term use—now dominates.

This explosion in consumption has profound consequences:

Most discarded clothing is synthetic and ends life in landfills or as microplastics in waterways and oceans.
Downstream impacts, such as enormous flows of second-hand clothing to lower-income countries, create further environmental and economic disruption in recipient nations.

The “Who Made My Clothes?” Phenomenon

There is growing awareness among consumers—exemplified by the Who Made My Clothes? campaign—of the disconnect between shoppers and the people who produce their garments. Still, most consumers in wealthy countries remain buffered from the consequences of overconsumption, perpetuating a cycle of disposability and distance from fashion’s true costs.

Unequal Footprints: Who Really Pays the Price?

According to the report, fashion’s environmental and social impacts are far from equally distributed. Two central findings stand out:

High-income countries are responsible for the majority of fashion’s climate impact, often far exceeding globally equitable consumption levels.
In many lower- and middle-income countries, large segments of the population remain below what could be considered a fair or sufficient level of fashion consumption.

Income Group / Country	Average Fashion Footprint	Target Reduction by 2030	Below Sufficiency (%)
G20 High-Income (e.g., UK, US, Germany)	>60% above fair share	−60%	Small
G20 Upper-Middle Income (e.g., China, Brazil, South Africa)	40% above fair share	−40%	Significant
Low-Income (e.g., much of Indonesia)	Well below fair share	N/A	74% (Indonesia, below sufficiency)

For instance, the richest 20% in the UK emit 83% above the 1.5°C per capita target, while the majority of Indonesians live below sufficiency thresholds for apparel.

Defining the Fair Consumption Space

The concept of a fair consumption space involves both environmental boundaries and social floors—ensuring everyone has enough for well-being without breaching planetary limits. Current fashion dynamics violate both edges:

Affluent groups vastly overshoot environmental ceilings, contributing disproportionately to carbon and resource footprints.
Many in poorer countries struggle for sufficiency, lacking access to basic quality clothing or relying on second-hand imports.

Achieving climate stabilization means:

High-income groups must radically reduce consumption.
Industry and policymakers must prioritize just transitions and support for lower-income populations.

Fast Fashion: Not Just an Environmental Issue

The myth that developing countries drive the bulk of fashion-related pollution is widespread. In reality, responsibility is clustered among high-consumption, high-waste economies. The narrative that individual “eco-friendly” purchases alone will solve the crisis is misleading—systemic industry change and new policy frameworks are necessary.

Debunking Fashion Misconceptions

Several widely held beliefs about “sustainable fashion” are challenged by the report:

Clothing donations are often touted as green solutions.
But mass exports of second-hand clothes can undermine local textile industries and amount to shifting waste rather than reducing it.
Recycling and “conscious collections” have limited effect unless consumption volumes drop dramatically.

A meaningful shift must focus on consuming less, buying better, and fostering durable relationships with clothing—values often missing from the current fashion landscape.

Economic Pressures and the Inequities of “Sustainable” Choices

Access to truly sustainable apparel is often a privilege of the affluent. A salient point from the report: people unable to afford premium eco-brands should not be condemned for meeting their needs through fast fashion. Conversely, the wealthy—whose wardrobes far exceed functional needs—carry the greatest ethical and environmental duty to rein in consumption.

Women are often unfairly blamed for fast fashion, yet they are also central to shaping new consumption norms and advocating for systemic accountability.
The report advocates moving away from a model of blame toward collective responsibility.

How Much Clothing Do We Really Need?

An eye-catching recommendation suggests that a sufficient, climate-compatible wardrobe might include as few as 85 items—including clothing, shoes, and accessories—in total. This target, though ambitious by current standards, provides a concrete benchmark for policy and personal decision-making.

Embracing mindset shifts around re-wearing, repairing, and loving one’s clothing is key to making such a transition achievable and even celebrated. The rise of “outfit repeater” culture, for example, disrupts the stigma of repeating clothing in social or professional settings.

Policy, Industry, and Consumer Solutions

Government policies are essential for catalyzing the transition—setting carbon ceilings, banning wasteful practices, and supporting fair labor and value chains.
Industry must invest in circular systems and produce higher-quality, longer-lived products.
Consumers are influential in demanding change, choosing longer-lasting garments, and rejecting the manufactured desire for endless novelty.

Pathways and Solutions for a Fair Fashion System

The road to climate-compatible, socially just fashion is both structural and cultural. Some actionable steps derived from the report’s insights include:

Adopt carbon budgets for fashion consumption, particularly in high-income regions.
Reformulate fashion marketing to validate re-wearing, repairing, and slow consumption models.
Improve transparency and traceability across supply chains, making environmental and social impacts clear at the point of sale.
Support just transitions for garment workers and recipient economies affected by second-hand clothing imports.

The 1.5°C target is not only technically achievable but ethically required. Structural change, not just minor tweaks, is the new imperative.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Why can’t recycling solve fashion’s climate problem?

A: Most recycling in fashion is downcycling (making new items of lower value from old garments), and the core issue is the overall scale of consumption. As long as we keep buying and disposing of ever-more clothing, recycling’s impact remains marginal compared to absolute reduction.

Q: Are high-income consumers really responsible for most garment pollution?

A: Yes. Data show that the richest nations and wealth segments vastly overshoot fair-use thresholds, both in product consumption and associated emissions. Lower-income groups are generally under or near sufficient levels.

Q: What is a “fair consumption space” for fashion?

A: It means ensuring everyone has access to enough clothing for dignity and well-being, while keeping total production and consumption within environmental boundaries. This requires cutting excess in rich communities and raising living standards elsewhere, equitably.

Q: Is buying more expensive or “eco-friendly” clothing enough?

A: Not by itself. If total consumption keeps growing, sustainability gains are erased. Buying less—of higher quality, if possible—matters more than simply substituting one type of retail therapy for another.

Resources for Further Action

Read the full report: Unfit, Unfair, Unfashionable: Resizing Fashion for a Fair Consumption Space (Hot or Cool Institute)
Explore guidance from groups like Fashion Revolution and Conscious Chatter
Join “outfit repeating” and clothes-sharing communities online

This article is informed by key analyses from the Hot or Cool Institute and synthesis with public discussions on sustainable fashion, including guest commentary from leading researchers in the field.

References

Author

medha deb

Medha Deb is an editor with a master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Hyderabad. She believes that her qualification has helped her develop a deep understanding of language and its application in various contexts.

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