Global clothing sales have risen dramatically in recent years. Fast fashion businesses have aggressively cut costs and streamlined supply chains, causing the price of clothing to fall relative to prices of other consumer goods.

Emerging economies have seen a large rises in clothing sales as more people have joined the middle class. In five large developing countries—Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and Russia—apparel sales grew eight times faster than in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Clothing prices dropped by more than 50 per cent in the UK between 1995 and 2014. This has been encouraging shoppers to buy more. Sales have risen dramatically in recent years in the UK. The number of garments produced annually has doubled since 2000. Clothing prices dropped in the UK 53 per cent from 1995 to 2014, while the US recorded a three per cent fall. Shorter lead times for production have allowed clothing makers to introduce new lines more frequently. Zara offers 24 new clothing collections each year while H&M offers 12 to 16 and refreshes them weekly.

But given the environmentally damaging nature of clothing production, this trend for western style consumerism spreading to the developing world could spell serious problems further down the line.