The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the ...

Changes in
consumer
behaviour
In this theme we explore the positive
impacts that UK consumers could have
on the clothing and textiles sector – by
changing either their buying patterns
or their laundry practice. Two scenarios
are compared with the base case from
the previous section.
A key current trend in UK clothing demand is the
growth in fashionable, low priced, ‘disposable’
clothing F1 . H&M, Topshop and Inditex are examples of
companies providing relatively low priced fashionable
clothing through flexible, fast supply chains which
allow clothing collections to be changed every two
to three weeks. This encourages consumers to shop
more often and the number of items bought annually
is growing. In response to this trend, supermarkets
like Asda and Tesco and clothing chains like Primark
and Matalan, have developed high fashion brands at
very low prices. In some cases these outlets are able to
make rapid copies of famous designers’ fashion items.
In 2005, 19% of all clothing and footwear was bought
in supermarkets F2 : the combination of convenience
and affordability is attractive.
Scenario 1: Extending
the life of clothing
There is a clear environmental disadvantage to the
increased flow of goods associated with ‘fast fashion’:
the most sustainable management of clothing and
textiles products would be to use them until the end
of their ‘natural’ life – but fast fashion supposes a
rapid turnover of clothing which will be discarded long
before the product is degraded. The first part of this
theme therefore explores ways to extend the life of
garments prior to disposal: leasing, buying secondhand
clothing and repairing clothing to extend the
life after minor damage. All three approaches in this
scenario have the same broad effect in extending
product life, so we have performed our detailed
analysis for second-hand clothing only.
Leasing clothes instead of buying them
Initially the idea of leasing clothing rather than
purchasing it seems unattractive to many consumers.
However, for some clothing and textile products
leasing is already common practice. Examples of
leasing include: formal and evening wear; maternity
clothes; school uniforms; sports clothing; linen for
restaurants or hotels; uniforms for hotels; protective
clothing in industry; wedding clothes. Typically such
uses are either for work or for a specific short term
purpose, so the consumer does not feel an emotional
attachment to the product. Leasing is an effective way
to use products for more of their potential life.
Second-hand clothing
The idea of taking used clothing to a charity shop or
clothing bank is well established in the UK and around
30% of clothing disposed in the UK is collected in this
manner. The remaining 70% is sent to landfill (60%)
or incineration (10%) (refer to the UK clothing and
textiles mass balance in this report). However, very
little of this clothing is re-sold in the UK – most of it is
baled and sold on a commodity market abroad. The
38 WELL DRESSED?