Fashion has a dirty little secret – fossil fuels make up the bulk of fibers used in clothing, but there is a path to change
Photo: Getty
I have been writing on this platform for three-and-a-half years now and my activism against fast fashion and slave labor in the fashion industry comes as no surprise. What may cause a different reaction is my recent obsession with the second “power engine” of this industry and what may be, quite literally, the burning issue of today: fossil fuels. We are all wearing oil. Every single day.
Or at least, most of us are. And we are not even aware of it, which is why I loved working with young Iranian-American leader and disruptor Sophia Kianni on a shoot for the December 2023 issue. Kianni got drenched in oil for the latest Fossil Fuel Fashion campaign, imploring people to rewear their clothes instead of buying new. While we may have swerved unnecessary plastic packaging and swapped our petrol cars for electric ones, the clothes in our closets are inextricably linked to oil. Why is this still hidden?
Cheap, fossil fuel-based materials such as acrylics, elastane, and polyester make up 69% of fibers produced today. These synthetics are extremely cheap, allowing brands to massively overproduce, thereby also contributing to fashion’s waste crisis that we see particularly in the Global South. The system is grotesque: A supply chain powered by fossil fuels, operated by underpaid workers, and using cheap materials made from oil, make the perfect marriage for fast fashion brands to keep doing business as usual.
The most recent statistics reveal that synthetic fiber production uses more oil per year than the entire country of Spain, and polyester production alone yields the equivalent emissions of 180 coal-fired power stations annually. Synthetic fibers and plastics are emerging as the fossil fuel industry’s cash cow, accounting for up to 95% of future growth in demand for oil. In a recent interview, Dr Sultan Al…
