Fast fashion in Europe - statistics & facts

Industry overview

Over the past two decades, fashion has undergone a massive transformation and acceleration in the way it is produced and consumed. Increasing trade flows of clothing and apparel, and the growing impact of Chinese and South Asian markets in garment production have lured global brands to source their products from suppliers in these locations. Today, China emerges as the leading global exporter of clothing, with more than one third of the world’s clothing exports supplied by the country. Within the European Union, the number of companies in the business of textile and clothing manufacturing has ebbed and flowed between 2009 and 2019. In 2019, the total number of textile and clothing manufacturers was recorded as 160,000.

Impacts of fast fashion

It is fair to say that what makes the fashion industry “fast”, meaning increased volumes of supplies produced at greater speed, is also what troubles the industry nowadays. One of the most pressing topics with fast fashion companies is the ethical issues that revolve around the sourcing of clothing products. The factories where brands such as Inditex, H&M, Primark, ASOS, and New Look source their products are located predominantly in the developing world, where labour costs are low and working conditions may not be of the highest standard. In this regard, the collapse of the garment factory at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in 2013 was a turning point, after which labor and production policies and practices of brands were put under the spotlight. Since then, efforts have been made to ensure fashion companies are more transparent and accountable, and brands in return have collaborated to contribute to a fair fashion industry. According to the Transparency Index 2021 report, Europe-based fast fashion companies such as H&M, ASOS, Marks & Spencer, and C&A achieved scores ranging between 55 and 78 percent, which indicated they succeeded in disclosing supplier lists in their annual filings.

Sustainability

Another problem associated with fast fashion is the environmental impact of both the quality and quantity of clothing produced. The nature of fast fashion means that huge quantities of clothing are produced, often using environmentally-damaging materials and processes. Furthermore, most of this clothing eventually ends up in landfills. Decreasing the carbon footprint and sourcing sustainable cotton in clothing products are some of the measures fast fashion retailers are pursuing.



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