Globally, over 150 billion items of clothing are produced, worn and thrown away each year, largely driven by ultra-fast fashion brands selling clothing for prices too tempting for consumers to resist.
Even though most of it is produced offshore, the impact is felt here in Aotearoa, where it’s harming our environment and undermining our fashion industry.
Designer Kiri Nathan is a key industry leader questioning the fast-fashion model built on careless production and endless consumption.
“It’s just a consumer of the world and all things that are good. It’s an awful, awful place that exploits workers all around the world, marginalised communities, women specifically. It’s such a gross, gross thing,” says Nathan of Ngāpuhi.
The mountain of waste we create
In Aotearoa, 52,000 tonnes of clothing are sent to landfill each year, the equivalent of 500kg of textile waste dumped every five minutes, according to not-for-profit organisation Mindful Fashion.
Chief executive Jacinta Fitzgerald says, “Items of clothing that are going to our landfill are made of polyester. They shed microfibers because they’re often poor quality, and microfibers… are in our brains, they’re in our bodies. We don’t know the degree of harm that they’re doing, but we know they’re doing harm.”
Every time one garment made from polyester is washed, it contributes to the estimated half a million 500,000 tonnes of microfibres leaching into our oceans every year, equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles.
A report by the International Cotton Advisory Committee found that producing one kg of cotton fibre requires 8,920 litres of water globally - 70 per cent from rainfall and 30 per cent from freshwater extraction.
Even producing a single cotton T-shirt can require 2,700 litres of water, while a pair of jeans needs up to 10,000.
“The effect of fast fashion on te taiao is emptying oceans. It’s the chemicals that are required to clean off a cotton plant that then run off into the whenua, and whether it’s happening on the other side of the world, it’s still going to affect Aotearoa,” says Nathan.
“For us as Māori, we’re more aware of our responsibilities to the whenua and to te taiao, and therefore it’s fundamentally our responsibility to take care of her and ensure that she’s going to be okay for our moko generations.”
The human cost “a form of slavery”
Much of what remains hidden in clothing production is the reality of working conditions.
“If you were to go to Bangladesh, which is the hellhole of manufacturing in the world, you’ll see that the systems that are in play will be non-indigenous ownership, non-indigenous management of indigenous people that are working insane hours for not enough money to even pay half of their living costs.”
“That in itself is, this is a terrible word to use, a form of slavery and that system will never allow the marginalised indigenous people who are workers to own land or move forward into a space where they can thrive.”
The human toll became impossible to ignore after the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh, killing 1,100 people and injuring 2,500. Cracks were seen in the building before it collapsed. Before it happened, workers raised their concerns but were told they’d lose their jobs if they didn’t continue working there.
In China, Shein clothing is manufactured. High-profile investigations have examined the human cost and how workers are paid. The BBC found workers reportedly on the job 75 hours a week with only one day off a month, contrary to Chinese labour laws.
Nathan travelled to take part in Fiji Fashion Week and visited manufacturing outlets there for major global sports codes. Machinists were being paid $2.30 an hour, preparing to strike for $2.50.
“This is like a few hours flight away from here… I felt really ignorant,” says Nathan.
The rise of ultra-fast fashion
Shein, the ultra-fast-fashion leader, even putting Zara and H&M to shame, has at least 200 million app downloads globally and produces about 6,000 new garments daily.
Ashley McInroe is a māmā, plus size model, content creator and shops from fast fashion outlets, because that’s all she can afford.
“I have two kids, I have a very strict budget,” she says.
“Nine times out of 10 I can’t find what I need in a physical store. If I have to get something quickly it’s going to be The Warehouse or Kmart or something like that, or even places like Shein realistically because I don’t have a lot to spend. I live in a bigger body and they have my size.”
That’s the reality for many consumers in Aotearoa. Nathan can understand the struggle.
“Any brand that is made sustainably and ethically is always more expensive. So only certain people can afford to buy those clothes, and it is grossly unfair for society to judge or ridicule people who cannot afford choice. If you are in a position where you can afford to have choice, please make the right decision,” says Nathan.
Thrift shopping is an alternative way to buy, and shoppers like Natua Kaa Morgan swear by it.
“He tino pai ki a au te mahi hokohoko. Tuatahi ake, ehara tēnei i te whai rawa. He wahine haere au ki te mahi, whai hoki, he kaiako ahau. E noho ana ki te taone nui ki te pito o te taone nei. He whānau tōku. Nō reira he mea nui ki a au kia penapena pūtea.”
“I really like second-hand shopping. Firstly, it’s not about getting rich. I’m a working woman and a teacher. I live in the middle of a big city. I have a family. So it is important for me to save money.”
But most pieces donated to thrift shops can’t even be sold, like this Raglan store that has banned garments from Shein.
Fitzgerald says, “about 80% of what is donated, they’re unable to sell because of poor quality, poor design, rubbish fabrics… One chain of charity shops in the first four months of the year spent $250,000 on sending their product to landfill.”
Māori designers driving change
A group of Māori designers, founded by Nathan, called the Kāhui Collection, are championing ethical design through using local fabrics and upcycling.
Ngāti Tūwharetoa designer Mitchell Vincent works with deadstock and end-of-line textiles to keep fabrics out of landfill, and prioritises locally made garments to reduce carbon emissions.
“Our ancestors created their kākahu with purpose, garments that could be repaired and handed down to the next generation. I would love to see something similar happen today… Each garment has the potential to be worn by multiple people, extending its life beyond a single wearer,” says Vincent.
Tūhoe designer Nichola Te Kiri uses deadstock fabrics and circular packaging like recycled bubble wrap and compostable courier bags.
“Today, as designers, we have a duty to create in ways that help both Papatūānuku and the consumer. We need to encourage people to buy consciously, care for their garments properly, and think differently about disposal.”
AWWA period proof underwear, co-founded by Michele Wilson of Tainui and Ngāti Paoa, is another leading the way.
“We have three different types of materials that we use with our AWWA period care. The first is an organic cotton, second is our textile range, which is a recycled beach pulp, and the third is a recycled nylon. So we are not using any fresh nylons or plastics in our period underwear.”
Local fashion is now facing some of its toughest times.
Nathan says, “We are really screwed at the moment. Things are worse than they’ve ever been. I hear that across the board from manufacturers… and many of them have been in business for 20 to 25 years.”
Major brands moved production to Asia decades ago to cut costs.
“It’s seven times plus cheaper to do it offshore. In some cases, it’s way more than that… Fabric that I might purchase here for $22 a meter, I could get over there for $6 a meter.”
Meanwhile, fashion remains big business in Aotearoa, contributing $8 billion to the economy. Mindful Fashion met with the Minister for Trade and Investment this month to consider ideas to help build the industry, like increasing jobs for skilled workers, more use of local materials and manufacture, recycling and addressing textile pollution.
Fitzgerald says, “The really important thing is to have these conversations at a policy level so that we can start to understand what are the implications and what is going to work best for us.”
Nathan remains hopeful.
“I’m always hopeful for better practice and better spaces. However, what it would take to move into a more sustainable fashion industry overall for New Zealand is a continued shift in mindset, a continued shift in commitment to sustainable practice.”
