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Industry Opinion
Fast Fashion: Can It Ever Be Good?
By Yvonne Heinen-Foudeh, Senior International Correspondent
We all together are – or should be aware: The concept of “Fast Fashion” has long surpassed its peak as it stands in direct opposition to everything our industry needs to address now. At least for what had been made from an originally well-meaning business model, out of plain greed. Having said that, the actual need for agility, the capability to respond timely to actual market demands in this period of transformation, appears more critical than ever before.
A fine distinction must be made here. Message understood – management teams, product developers with key brands as well as SME fashion companies are working at full steam on demand-oriented – often in close cooperation with their respective tech partners for meaningful implementation based on real-time data.
The wake-up call to fashion makers and fashion friends is clear to hear. Textile recyclers throughout the world are sounding the alarm or declaring bankruptcy as they are simply no longer able to cope economically with the ever-increasing quantities of clothing waste. The overproduction of fast fashion causes devastating consequences for the environment. In African countries in particular, whole swathes of land are disappearing under the massive amount of used clothing waste.
For the factsThe ambitious ideas of a circular fashion economy cannot prevent any of this, due to high process complexity plus logistical challenges. Infrared analyses of random samples indicate a synthetic fiber content of 97%. Based on this, studies commissioned by the EU Parliament determined that half a million tons of microplastics are released into the oceans every year, meaning that 35% of the total input is clothing waste.
“The problem is that 93% of all recycled textiles today come from plastic bottles, not from old clothes”, explains Urska Trunk of campaign group Changing Markets. And while a PET bottle can be recycled five or six times, a T-shirt in recycled polyester can never be recycled again. According to the non-profit Textile Exchange almost all recycled polyester is made from PET (Poly-Eethylene-Terephthalate). At least (and certainly not only) in Europe, most textile waste is either dumped or burned. “Only 22% is recycled or reused, and most of that is turned into insulation, mattress stuffing, or cleaning cloths.”
In other words, just 1% of the fabric used to produce apparel is recycled into new apparel.
Although there is hope on the horizon. Breaking down blends of polyester and cotton – referred to as “poly cotton” – is one of the biggest challenges for the fashion industry when it comes to creating new garments from recycled textile waste. U.S. fabric generator Circ Inc., claims to be the only in-market platform to successfully separate poly cotton blended textile waste and recover both cellulosic and synthetic fibers, applying a hydro-thermal process.
The Spanish Inditex Group set funding to help the fabric recycling startup continue its commercial launches with key partners, to add core team members in engineering, R&D, management, and business development.
Meanwhile, the upheaval in consumer behavior is still a long way off: Right now, sales figures for fast fashion continue to rise worldwide, both online and in brick-and-mortar stores.However, given the above and disappointing end user experience with fast fashion, which is often sewn with a hot needle, merchandised with aggressive pricing, has a negative impact on apparel businesses all together. Fast fashion increasingly degrades all fashion products into disposable items. With all of that, our entire industry is at risk of suffering immeasurable damage to its reputation.
Even worse, indeed, the damage Ultra-fast fashion à la Shein and Temo causes. Both targeted consumer education and regulatory restrictions on direct imports, which flow into the markets under the radar every single day, are urgently needed in order to at least limit the economic and ecological damage. This, while there is a predominantly trustworthy indication that the “De-Minimis-loophole” for parcels from China under a certain value to enter the US and indeed the EU market without inspection for content and tariff-free finally shall finally be closed. And yes, economically successful fast fashion brands such as Boohoo, Forever 21, The Gap, H&M, or Primark, all have concepts presenting efforts to somewhat diminish the damaging impact on the environment in various ways. Investigations by independent institutions, though, in-transparency for those marketing claims and also a number of scandalous exposures for pure green-washing, regrettably destroy trust before it has even been built up.
Now, to answer the initial question – Fast Fashion – can it ever be good?
The answer can only be a clear, loud, action-oriented NO. This goes for both, ecologic and economic reasoning – in an industry, where we make 10 pieces to sell 3 at full price, 4 at a discount, and 3 not at all, as John Thorbeck carefully evaluated in his role as lead author for the “Under the Banyan Tree Report - Buyers and Suppliers in Fashion” published by the International Apparel Federation (IAF) end of 2024 (The Needle’s Eye, edition February 2025).
The cost of inactionAnd yet, profitable business practices while indeed substantially complying with all ESG standards can go hand in hand with futuristic fast fashion. None other than the key player in the global fast fashion retail business, Spanish Inditex Group, is one living proof for this. Above all, by continuously investing massive capital resources into systematic near-term as well as long-term transformation toward sustainability across the product supply chain. From a short-term perspective, most of all the good Inditex Group finances it enables is certainly primarily a form of compensation. This, while using funds generated from 50 years of fast fashion business.
The strategy of the Spanish retail group is not only ecologically sound, but also economically clever. The warnings issued by two major players in the financial world these days are proof once again. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) are unanimously announcing the considerable financial risks to which companies are exposed if they do not take measures to decarbonize now. In their latest joint report, “The Cost of Inaction: A CEO Guide to Navigating Climate Risk”, BCG and WEF quantify their estimates of consequential financial losses.
And so Inditex is setting the right example – undoubtedly is a role model for responsible fashion entrepreneurship.
With the previous (June 2025) and this edition, The Needle’s Eye introduces the frontrunner in detail. Our cover story with its Part 1 and Part 2 is also about successful entrepreneurship, pro global sustainability, innovation in textiles and apparel, and aid projects. Those spanning education, emergency relief, and environmental conservation align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Take a look for yourself, get inspired by “The Inditex Phenomena, Part 1 and Part 2” - herein.
