Sustainable fashion is a difficult concept to define, as there are many different criteria and phrases used to assess a clothing item’s sustainability: ‘plastic-free’, ‘organic’, ‘recycled’, among others, Statista writes.
Some of these can even be contradictory; an item made of recycled plastic could be considered sustainable, but others would argue that the plastic still has a negative effect on the environment.
This means that items can often be branded as ‘sustainable’ by retailers, even though they still have a negative environmental impact, making it challenging for consumers trying to shop for environmentally friendly fashion.
This is reflected by over half of consumers in the United States saying that they find it confusing to work out which fashion items are environmentally friendly.
Nevertheless, the sales share of sustainable clothing has steadily risen over the past decade, and the trend is forecast to continue, with the market share set to reach over six percent by 2026. This growth is driven by the younger generations, for example millennials and Gen Z accounted for an estimated 68 percent share of sustainable apparel revenue in the United States in 2022.