If we had to guess how many items of clothing we buy each year, we would probably underestimate the number. Fast fashion has made buying a new garment so quick and inexpensive that it has become almost invisible: a few euros, one click, and within a few days the package arrives at home. But behind this apparent lightness lies enormous resource consumption, and the numbers, when lined up, tell a story worth knowing.
How much we buy, in Europe and Italy
According to data collected by Cascale, an international alliance for sustainability in textiles, each European consumer buys an average of 42 items of clothing per year, almost one new garment every 8–9 days. This figure is consistent with findings from the European Environment Agency (EEA): in 2022, per-capita consumption of clothing, footwear, and household textiles in the European Union reached 19 kg per person, an all-time high and a 13% increase over 2019, driven primarily by footwear (+38%).
Italy is no exception. According to a Stileo survey (Fashion Research 2024) conducted by the Piepoli Institute for Udicon, 63% of Italians have purchased clothing from ultra-fast-fashion platforms at least once, and 66% cite low prices as the main reason. These figures describe a now widespread consumption habit, fueled by collections that are constantly renewed and prices designed to overcome any resistance to impulse purchases.
How much we throw away
As buying increases, throwing away follows the same pace. According to the latest ISPRA data, Italy produces around 900,000 tonnes of municipal textile waste every year, equal to approximately 15 kg per person (compared with a European average of 16 kg according to the same source, or 12 kg according to Cascale estimates: the figures vary slightly depending on the methodology, but the overall picture does not change). Of this waste, in Italy 81% still ends up being incinerated or sent to landfill, while only around 19% is collected separately—a lower proportion than the European average, estimated at around 22%.
Perhaps the most surprising figure concerns garments that are never even worn: according to EEA estimates, between 4% and 9% of clothing marketed in Europe is destroyed without ever being used, amounting to between 264,000 and 594,000 tonnes per year of clothing, accessories, and footwear. Garments produced, transported, and never truly given a life in anyone’s wardrobe.
The hidden price of an inexpensive garment
Every sweater or T-shirt costing just a few euros hides a cost that does not appear on the receipt: water and energy used in production, often synthetic raw materials derived from petroleum, lengthy international transportation, and CO2 emissions that, according to Cascale, place the global textile industry at around 1 gigatonne of carbon dioxide per year. Added to this is the less familiar but equally significant issue of microplastics released from synthetic fabrics with every wash, which end up in rivers and seas.
It is a model that works as long as we look only at the purchase price, and stops holding up when we broaden our view to the complete life cycle of a garment: from production, through brief use, to disposal.
Lanaioli’s answer: buy less, choose better
At Lanaioli, we believe there is another way to dress, and this philosophy begins with these figures. We do not produce disposable collections: we work with short-supply-chain merino wool sourced from farms in Central Italy, as well as regenerated yarns, to reduce at the root the need for new raw materials and the lengthy transportation that harms the environment. Each garment is made by the hands of Italian artisans, designed to last for years rather than a few weeks, and when needed we offer a repair service to extend its life even further.
“Buy less, but choose better” is not a slogan for us, but a precise and practical direction: it means preferring one garment that lasts over ten garments that soon end up as textile waste; it means truly knowing where the wool we wear comes from; and it ultimately means restoring value and dignity to an everyday act such as getting dressed. If the figures surrounding fast fashion show us the problem clearly, the good news is that the solution is already in each of our hands, beginning with our next purchase.
Sources:
- Consumption of clothing, footwear and household textiles per person — European Environment Agency
- Textile waste: nearly 80% ends up in landfill in the EU — Circular Economy Network
- “That would be a huge mistake”: Fashion Alliance fears watering down of environmental legislation — Euronews
- Fashion: how many Italians buy from fast-fashion websites? — TeleAmbiente
