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A counter intuitive strategy...

According to rough estimates, the fashion industry produces anywhere between 80 billion and 150 billion garments annually. Within this range, another rough estimate suggests that 10% to 40% of these garments will ultimately go unsold.

Even if we play it safe and take only the smallest of both these figures: 8 billion garments are produced and never sold! But why would a business spend resources and money in producing clothes that won’t sell? Well, first of all, the companies that we talk about here are not normal businesses, they are tentacular monstres on the market. And they have their reasons to operate this way, led by profit seeking. As counter intuitive as it seems, overproduction is a choice, and a lucrative one.

...That pays off

In the fast fashion world, making something that won’t sell to make more money is perfectly logical. It all comes down to economies of scale. Making lots of clothes at once actually saves brands money. When they produce a ton of items, the cost to make each one goes down. That means they can sell these garments at extremely cheap prices, allowing and encouraging high consumption while maintainting a proportionally higher margin than they would on smaller batches. It's a win-win for the brand and the customer, but a lose-lose for the planet and garment makers.

Shorter production cycles

Ever noticed how fashion trends change in the blink of an eye, or over a Tik Tok? Brands love it. And Overproducing allows companies to maintain a steady stream of inventory by ensuring they have a surplus of products readily available. This surplus enables them to quickly respond to changing fashion trends and consumer demands. When a particular style or trend becomes popular, companies can immediately fulfil orders without the delay of production time.  That tecnical system in place is accompanied by billions put into marketing to induce sells and trends.

...That rely on heavy marketing...

Brands want you to stay loyal to them. By frequently releasing new collections and styles, they keep you engaged and encourage purchase. In reality, even if half of a collection doesn’t sell, they will have been on top of the trend, and that’s what matters (to them). It keeps you interested and makes you want to come back for more, building a bond between you and the brand.

Another more recent strategy is the constant sales. It seems like clothing store always have something on sale. Where sales were previously serving the purpose of destocking remaining items of a season (therefore happening twice a year), it is now more of another marketing tool used all year long. Worse, during the specific sales season, they produce new items, at even cheaper cost (squeezing each link in the chain to the highest point) to allow sales on already ridiculously cheap items. An yet, that is all part of the plan to make us feel like we need to buy things before they're gone, even if you don't really need them.

Abundance is at the heart of their marketing strategies. The hook is in the possibility of scrolling endlessly or walking down packed aisles, filling virtual and physical baskets, wether or not we can afford it. It's almost like a game, which revolves around the shopping experience rather than the need or true desire for the product itself.

...To dominate and control the supply chain and competition

This fast fashion model ultimately feeds from the almost monopoly these few brands have on the market and on the entire supply chain. Suppliers are heavily reliant on a few major buyers and are at significant risk of financial ruin if orders are withdrawn. So much so that they are sometimes forced to accept orders at a loss to secure future ones. This continuous pressure results in financial strain, poor labor conditions, and economic instability in regions dependent on garment manufacturing. This dependency prevents any further social and economic development as it would drive companies out of the country, to find a cheaper labor force elsewhere.

Finally these brands make it impossible for new midrange actors to emerge. Brands with more ethical and sustainabile principles cannot compete in this climate, pushing them to become more high end brands.

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Towards a more regulated and sustainable fashion industry

Now these are all pretty “smart” strategies if you don’t care about destroying livelyhoods and ecosystems in the process to see only yout own profit and your shareholders'.  

We hoped saying “not cool” was enough, but as an environmental NGO, we’ve learned that it usually isn’t the best argument against big corporations. That’s why it is so important to advocate for better regulations in the sector: starting with better data and transparency. No one knows exactly how much textile and clothing is produced every year. Why? Because brands don’t want us to know, and nothing mandates them to disclose that information. Even among the 250 brands that voluntarily took part in the Transparency Score initiative (Fashion Revolution), 88% refused to disclose that information... Additionally, there is very little peer-reviewed research on the reality of the fashion industry.

Why? Well, because it would most likely expose them as overproducing maniacs.

That’s why at VOICE we advocate first and foremost for clarity and transparency. Only then will we be able to properly address the numerous social and environmental offenses of the fashion industry with measures such as the introduction of an Extended Producer Responsibility to essentially tax the producers per item put on the market. Strong regulations must be put in place to detrimental business models, while incentivising virtuous ones that focus on circularity, sufficiency and wellbeing.

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