Overconsumption is a mode of excessive consumption, that outpaces both the real needs of people and the capacity of the global ecosystems to regenerate. The rates of fashion consumption in the Global North have been on the rise since the 1950s, followed by similar developments in emerging economies such as India and China. Yet, fashion consumption has especially accelerated since the 1990s with the introduction of the fast fashion model. High turnover of fashion products is now a widespread practice across many areas of the world and research shows that garments are often used for less than a season.(1) It is estimated that the number of times a garment is worn before disposal has decreased by a worldwide average of 36% percent within the last two decades(2) and the average number of times a garment gets worn is now lower in China than in Europe.(3) Large quantities of valuable clothes are regularly discarded and because only a small fraction can be recycled, most are destined for incineration or end up in landfills.(4-6) Apart from the alarming volumes of waste, the “endless cycles of desire and disappointment”(7) linked to fast turnovers of styles have also potentially negative effects on the well-being of fashion users.(8)
OVERCONSUMPTION
