Producing and consuming garments more sustainably could boost the global economy by almost $200 billion by 2030. However, this requires collective action by industry leaders, manufacturers and consumers.
Textile and garment production and trade have expanded rapidly in the past two decades, driven by falling production costs and rising consumption.
Technological innovations have made it possible to produce clothes with shorter lead times, enabling the rapid turnover of new clothing lines and facilitating the emergence of fast fashion. This has contributed to significant over-production and means clothes are often worn only a few times before being discarded. Globally, the average number of times a garment is worn has declined by 36% since the early 2000s.
