Consumers have little idea how their own fashion shopping – and expanding their wardrobe – impacts the environment on a day-to-day basis. It can be beneficial to occasionally sell unloved clothes through a resale app like Vinted, buy used products at your local vintage store, or find other ways to join the circular economy. But is that enough?
While luxury brands like Gucci have been hesitant to enter the resale market, and mass-market retailer Zara has even set up its own resale platform, what this means in terms of carbon reduction is far from clear. Especially as global fashion emissions soar.
Fashion tech giant Reactor’s first conference in June, titled ‘Tech for Fashion’, took a close look at sustainability, with some valuable takeaways that apply not just to fashion industry insiders, but to individual consumers as well.
The day-long event in Amsterdam was attended by influential names such as Adidas, Highsnobiety, H&M, IKEA, PVHPVH, Timberland and Zalando, but one of the most useful insights – from the perspective of individual buyers – came from Reaktor’s own principal strategy and business design advisor, Olof Hoverfält.
His inner geek drove him to find a way to track the use of each and every item in his clothing collection. He set up a website called the Wardrobe Diary Project to spread the word about how this was going, and it wasn’t long before other people got involved. Anyone can track the real costs and environmental impact of their own clothing collections through its website – and contribute to The Data Pool.
Speaking at the industry gathering, he said, “What fascinates me is that we know very little about what goes on in people’s homes when it comes to buying clothes.” For perspective, I created my own wardrobe diary about five and a half years ago .”
Hoverfalt listed everything he had, started tracking what he wore and didn’t wear each day, and put it online for everyone to see the results. He started the service two years ago and now has a community of around 800 people, actively tracking 25,000 items of clothing. To account for all seasons, a user must be on the site for a full year before their data is logged.
An average wardrobe consists of 184 items
Based on the current sample – mostly men and women from western countries – the average wardrobe consists of 184 items, including socks and underwear, with a value of about €8,000 ($8,740). However, there is a wide range: some minimalist wardrobes only come in at 80 items, and the largest one on its website has over 600 items.
the year and limited ways to wear a garment.”reactor
The purchase price is between 2,500 and 30,000 euros (about 2,730 to 32,770 US dollars). Some of these more expensive breakaway collections were bought used on designer website Vestiaire Collective, so the price (for new) would be even higher.
This is just the assets side; Usage data tells a different story. “Only when a garment is worn does it offer value. One thing that really stood out in the data across all categories – from jackets and coats to shoes and footwear to trousers and jeans – is that around 35-50% of items are used in “normal” ways, say five to 50 times a year year,” Hoverfalt said. “And around 5-10% of the garments across all categories are favourites: they are worn once a week or more. That’s a very small number.”
The downside to favorites is that some garments – up to 70% – are worn four or fewer times a year. “That’s the hard truth when you really start looking in detail. That tells me that, in general, almost half of our wardrobes are heavily underutilized,” said the Principal Adviser.
Comprehensive tracking like this creates a benchmark for, for example, total annual demand in terms of actual wear and tear in specific categories. It could offer brands some guidance on how much to produce, rather than over-producing, to be truly sustainable.
Clothing competes for the scarce resource of mere wear. “There are limited days of the year and limited opportunities to wear a garment. So who is the loser in this game?” Hoverfalt asked. Ultimately, it’s the environment. However, he pointed out that in order to reduce the cost per wear, you need to make sure you wear your clothes regularly – and thereby minimize your environmental impact. The price of a piece of clothing is less important than its usefulness.
The cost per wear counts
Based on data from the Wardrobe Diary Project, the cost per wear of an “efficient” garment should typically range from 55 cents to $2.20, but some cost as much as $33. Consumers are not aware of this because they don’t think about it and fashion brands don’t encourage them to think about it.
“The linear model, in a way, pushes a lot more products into the system than could ever be put to productive use,” Hoverfalt said. While fashion brands don’t want to see a drop in sales, analyzing clothing usage can be beneficial. Surveying consumers about what they wear and how often is next to useless because they have no idea. Hoverfält data can therefore be useful to get closer to the customer and learn about their habits and preferences.
Subscription service to bring closed product lifecycles to life.At
From this starting point, fashion retailers can then, more specifically, consider engaging in a redistribution system. “It could be re-commerce, resale, second-hand, subscription… whatever form it takes,” Hoverfalt said.
Lotta Kopra, senior adviser on sustainability and former CCO at Finnish sustainable materials company Spinnova, which went public, said: “None of us really need new clothes. So is it even ethical for brands to convince us to buy that new pair of shoes?” The more we think about it, the harder it gets and the more relevant this redistribution notion becomes.”
Kopra has gone out of his way to rarely buy new clothes, instead buying from Vinted. “If I want to buy something new, I should sell at least two or three pieces from my closet to someone else who will enjoy it. The more technology makes this easier, the more brands can find ways to get involved.”
And they do. On, one of the fastest growing athletic footwear brands in the world, has gone in that direction with Cyclon, a circular economy subscription program where the consumer doesn’t hold on to products, instead sending them back for a replacement every six months. The worn parts are then used as raw material for new products.
Benjamin Gallis, senior product manager at On, based in Switzerland, commented: “If you want to implement circularity, you will face many obstacles and challenges. One of the first learnings was to just try the concept and not perfect it from the start. Keep it simple and try it.”
Fashion must embrace circularity. Hoverfalt admitted that an efficient wardrobe of say five t-shirts, two pairs of jeans, a jacket, a coat and two shoes wouldn’t work, partly because people want variety and choice. “But it doesn’t change the fact that we hold on to these assets and as an industry we can help manage that,” he said.
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I cover the global travel retail channel and broader retail trends, using data to tell a story wherever possible. I have expertise in beauty, beverages and luxury goods, and follow industries such as aviation and tourism that underpin travel buying. You can also read me at BeautyMatter.com, JingDaily.com, AirportIR.com, and MoodieDavittReport.com. I have freelanced for The Mirror, The Times (London), Elle (Hong Kong), South China Morning Post and Jane’s. Find me on Twitter if you have any leads or relevant research. I live in London, UK
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