Textile Waste

5 articles

A fashion designer in a studio, surrounded by fabric scraps and unfinished garments, contemplating the challenges of circular fashion longevity.

Spotlight

Circular Fashion Longevity: Challenges for Designers

Less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new garments.

Marcus Chen·August 23, 2026

A split image showing a high-fashion runway juxtaposed with a massive landfill of discarded clothing, illustrating fashion's societal role and environmental consequences.

Culture

How Fashion Trends Reflect Societal Shifts and Identity

The global fast fashion industry, a titan of trend and consumption, generates a staggering 15 million tons of textile waste annually, according to Fashinnovation .

Meera Krishnan·August 6, 2026

College students creatively mending and upcycling their clothes in a workshop, promoting sustainable fashion practices.

Trends

Students tackle fast fashion costs with craftivism, fighting waste.

At the Rochester Institute of Technology, a class called “Global Craftivism, Gender and Handwork” teaches students to mend their clothes.

Marcus Chen·June 21, 2026

A massive landfill filled with discarded clothes, symbolizing the severe environmental and social consequences of the fast fashion industry.

Style Guides

What is the environmental and social impact of fast fashion?

Every year, the global fashion industry consumes 79 trillion liters of water and generates 92 million tonnes of waste, contributing up to 10% of global emissions.

Marcus Chen·June 5, 2026

A desolate, cracked earth landscape with a discarded t-shirt, symbolizing the severe environmental impact of fast fashion's water usage.

Wellness

Fast fashion's water use is a ticking time bomb for the planet.

Each year, 85% of all textiles produced for clothing are dumped into landfills, a staggering waste fueled by an industry projected to grow to over $2.

Marcus Chen·May 19, 2026