Authors: Irene Maldini, Ingun Grimstad Klepp and Kate Fletcher
Abstract
Clothing and textiles are increasingly made of synthetic (fossils-based) fibres, enabling rapid growth in overall production volumes in this sector, with significant environmental impact. This research aims at understanding the strategies of companies that are actively working to confront this trend by trying to avoid or reduce synthetic content in their products. Fifteen companies are interviewed to gather their strategies in resisting synthetic fibres. These include four companies born with a plastic-free mindset, five companies that define themselves as a wool or cotton company despite using other materials, and six companies that aim at reducing synthetic use as part of a broader approach to sustainability and the quality of the products offered. The study analyses the barriers and enablers that affect their endeavours and proposes a series of policy recommendations to counter current developments. Barriers experienced by companies include synthetics’ low price, their physical characteristics enabling elasticity, durability and impermeability, the narrative of plastic recycling as a questionable sustainable solution, the bias of sustainability indicators and production technologies, and specific fashion trends calling for the material characteristics mentioned above. Some enablers mentioned are concerns from the company leadership about the growth of synthetics and associated microplastic release, the role of public policy and procurement in driving the change, resistance to synthetics by users in specific products (e.g. childrenswear), efforts to produce with the company’s own recycled materials, and to achieve a more intensive use of their products. The study concludes with policy recommendations such as stopping subsidizing petrochemicals, sanctioning overproduction practices, promoting true pricing and discriminating tax rates, improving sustainability metrics, targeted R&D support for natural and local materials and a fibre-to-fibre focus for recycling policy, so that the overall volume of textile production and the content of synthetics in it can be reduced.
Extending product lifetimes through repair is a central strategy in sustainable consumption and circular economy initiatives. This article examines how consumers evaluate textile damages and potential to repair, drawing on wardrobe interviews with 28 Norwegian households. Over a six-month period, we tracked 3211 clothing and household textile items going out of use, of which only 107 (3.3 per cent) had been repaired or altered prior to disposal, almost exclusively as home repairs. Based on participant evaluations, we developed a three-level repair scale that reflects perceived repair complexity and feasibility. This scale, combined with item-level damage data, reveals both practical and conceptual challenges in promoting textile repair. Repairability in textiles is more complex than in other product groups, such as electronics, because many common damages fall outside the scope of conventional repair schemes. We argue for a practice-based understanding of repairability that accounts for the interaction between damage types, consumer competences, cultural meanings and systems of provision. Our policy recommendations highlight the need to go beyond product design and service provision to also support social learning, cultural normalization and the integration of repair into everyday life, recognizing its social and cultural significance as essential for effectively extending clothing lifespans.
In order to set a final punctuation for two major research projects that have run parallel over the last five years, Consumption Research Norway Clothing division invited partners and interested parties to an closing hybrid seminar.
The title ‘More and more and more’ – when both projects have been about lessening the environmental burden and deplastification of textiles – must have intrigued many, as 76 people participated online and the physical attendance at OsloMet saw a healthy turn-out.
The seminar was divided into three parts: Context, New Knowledge and Offspring. Ingun Klepp set the scene in the first part, describing the context and unanticipated developments during the projects’ five-year period: the pandemic and the launch of EU’s Textile strategy. These two events impacted how the projects needed to reorient themselves relating to some of the work.
Kate Fletcher and Jens Maage led us through the middle part of the seminar.
The main part was the presentation of new knowledge from the partners, which was led with warm humor by Kate Fletcher (Manchester Metropolitan University) and Jens Maage (SIRK Norge). Short snapshots from both projects were disseminated with graphs, key take-aways and publications. Relating to key take-aways, Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen from the Norwegian Folk Museum did a stellar job of presenting how the interaction between research and historic knowledge gave grounds for new knowledge, using museum artifacts and wardrobes to better understand how the use of apparel has changed relating to variety – and also to sustainable consumption patterns and discourse.
Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen on some key take-aways from history.
Other highlighted learnings were results presented by Kirsi Laitala on how there is a lack of correlation between more repair and reuse and less buying of new stuff, an assumption often misused in EU’s policy work. And that we must look much more at the constant and aggressive marketing that is bombarding consumers, ie the bigger picture of what pressures we are being exposed to. This also surfaced in Vilde Haugrønning’s PhD work with couples’ wardrobes, where it is clear that women do have much larger wardrobes than men, and men find it easier to actually find what they are looking for in the market to serve their clothing needs. More research on what societal pressures and expectations are underlying these dynamics begs exploring. Anna Schytte Sigaard’s PhD work – which is on the disposal drivers – also brought forward the societal acceptable mechanisms that encourage the flow-through of ever-increasing apparel. That 10 percent of what is discarded is as good as new, and only 20 percent is deemed as ‘used up’, shows the uselessness of the EU Textile strategy’s focus on more durable and repairable goods. The triangle of consumption, capitalism and care will be interesting to read more about!
Gisle Mariani Mardal from NF&TA on industry and education dilemmas.
We also learned through SINTEF’s Meron Assefa Arega’s presentation that the size of an EPR fee will decide how effective it is, which is in line with Ingun’s Targeted Producer Responsibility idea that we have been trying to sell to the EU as a much better idea than the current EPR set-up. Gisle Mardal from NF&TA did his best to deflect any radical ideas on how the sector could be curbed or capped, while Irene Maldini showcased how the EU doesn’t want to hear anything relating to degrowing the massive overproduction – so much in line with the industry’s wishes to keep on doing what they are doing. Irene’s presentation also showcased the desk-top research that has unearthed how the assumption that durability is going to save us and limit overproduction, has no solid foundation in research.
SINTEF’s Meron Assefa Arega
Kerli Kant Hvass spoke about the upcoming EPR legislation, our engagement with TPR (as mentioned above) and the market experiences from ‘circular business models’ like reuse, repair and recycling – and how they struggle in a capitalist, growth-driven economy.
In the last part of the program, Ingun presented examples of budding projects, both some that are operational and others that will hopefully come to fruition. To wrap it all up, both Kate and Ingun spoke about the newest ‘win’, the project Green Blood which will start off in 2026. More to follow shortly!
Kerli Kant Hvass joined online.
Back to the title of the seminar ‘More and more and more’ which is borrowed from a book title, and was used since all the tools and measures so far suggested or implemented are drivers for more, not for less. And if we are to actually reduce the environmental burden on the planetary boundaries, we need less of everything – not more. In Jean-Baptiste Fressoz’ book, he describes how energy innovation has not led to energy transitions, but rather the use of more and more and more energy. Very much the same dynamic we see in the textile and fashion sector.
Authors: Ingun Grimstad Klepp, Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen, Marie Ulväng, Pernilla Rasmussen, Ingrid Haugsrud
This study explores how ideas of variety were created and practised among women and men of different social strata in Norway and Sweden before the big changes in the second half of the nineteenth century. Three researchers with in-depth knowledge of clothing during that period look at their material through questions they developed based on current clothing and sustainability discourse. The material consists of both written (diaries, inventories, etc.) and oral sources and clothes. We look at acquisition and use of clothes in the period of 1780–1850 to understand how variety was achieved to discuss whether historical research can inform today’s debate on clothing and the environment. Despite strong limitations in terms of regulations for trade, strict dressing codes, expensive textiles and a restricted economy, variety was achieved. An important prerequisite was that the fabrics themselves were seen as valuable and durable, while the shape, trimmings, accessories and the like could be varied. Buying new ready-made clothes was not yet an option. Access to clothes and accessories was an intricate web involving both caring, sharing (lending, renting, inheritance and shared access) and alterations done by amateurs and professionals. The wardrobe was a well-planned system with movement between occasions and over time, consisting of clothes with different functions and temporalities. The present debate with an emphasis on circular economy solutions and the industry as the main stakeholder overlook clothing as a complex cultural and historical phenomenon. Variety in clothes can be achieved in much less resource-intensive ways by focusing on more valuable fabrics.
Reference
Klepp, Ingun Grimstad ; Haugen, Bjørn Sverre Hol; Ulväng, Marie; Rasmussen, Pernilla; Haugsrud, Ingrid (2024). ‘Creating’ variety without waste: Pre-industrial dress practices as inspiration for updating the sustainability discourse. Clothing Cultures. Vol. 11. https://doi.org/10.1386/cc_00088_1
The paper looks at the acquisition and use of clothes in the period of 1780–1850 to understand how variety was achieved and to discuss whether historical research can inform today’s debate on clothing and the environment. Three researchers from Norway and Sweden with in-depth knowledge of clothing during that period look at their material through questions based on current clothing and sustainability discourse, provided by the last two authors. The paper explores how ideas of variety were created and practised before the big changes in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Despite strong limitations in terms of regulations for trade, strict dress codes, expensive textiles and a restricted economy, variety was achieved among women and men of different social strata in the two countries. An important prerequisite was that the fabrics themselves were seen as valuable and durable, while the shape, trimmings, accessories and the like could be varied. Buying new, ready-made clothes was not yet an option. Access to clothes and accessories was an intricate web involving both caring, sharing (lending, renting, inheritance and shared access) and alterations done by amateurs and professionals. The wardrobe was a well-planned system with movement between occasions and over time, consisting of clothes with different functions and temporalities.
Scene from an auction. Drawing by Carl Johan Ljunggren, c. 1810–1825, Uppsala University Library
The present debate, with an emphasis on circular economy solutions and the industry as the main stakeholder, overlooks clothing as a complex cultural and historical phenomenon and the importance of the crucial informal economy around clothing. Variety in clothes can be achieved in much less resource-intensive ways by focusing on more valuable fabrics.
Anon, Kvinnor från Embriks i Härjedalen d 4/6 1869, 1306. Drawing in colours. Courtesy of Mandelgrenska samlingen, Folkminnesarkivet i Lund.
The work on the article was an attempt to explore new ways of collaboration between researchers with deep historical knowledge and researchers working on contemporary clothing habits and the environmental debate. We need to explore such methods of working to better activate the wealth of possibilities the past can offer in a time when more and more resources are being spent on clothing, while we are becoming increasingly similarly dressed. We thank our co-authors Marie, Bjørn Sverre, and Pernilla for the trust they showed in believing in our proposal to use their knowledge in new ways.
You can find the article here (intellectdiscover.com).
The overproduction of garments, often of low quality, contributes significantly to environmental degradation, especially in the Global South. Therefore, assessing the durability of garments has attracted the attention of industry organizations and legislators. Recent research has identified both intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions of durability and their links to a circular transition. This study aims to deepen the understanding of garment durability by incorporating the local perspectives of five different global communities. Using a participatory action research methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders across value chains in France, Ghana, Indonesia, Norway, and South Africa. The key findings of this study have been grouped into 8 trends that characterize garment durability: (1) quality is preferred over durability, (2) garment durability is dynamic, (3) price and brand are related to perceived durability, (4) local refers to geographical proximity, (5) local involves value creation, (6) local touches tradition, (7) traditional garments and textiles are more durable, and (8) local contexts influence garment durability. These trends indicate that local factors significantly influence the definition and practice of durability, suggesting that global legislation must consider such nuances when describing and quantifying durability in the context of garments and textiles.
Vanacker, H., Lemieux, A.-A., Laitala, K., Dindi, M., Bonnier, S., & Lamouri, S. (2025). Understanding garment durability through local lenses: a participatory study with communities across the globe. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 34962. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-19087-3
A new open-access article in Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio) explores how communities across the globe define and practice garment durability. The study, titled “Understanding garment durability through local lenses: a participatory study with communities across the globe”, was led by PhD candidate Hester Vanacker and co-authored with an international team of researchers: Andrée-Anne Lemieux, Kirsi Laitala, Michelle Dindi, Sophie Bonnier and Samir Lamouri. Kirsi Laitala is one of Hester’s supervisors and contributed to this article through Lasting project.
Addressing global challenges in fashion and sustainability
The fashion and textile sector is highly resource-intensive industry. The overproduction of low-quality garments contributes significantly to environmental degradation, particularly in the Global South. As policymakers and industry actors work toward more sustainable and circular systems, garment durability – how long clothes last and why they are kept or discarded—has become a key issue.
While durability is often understood in technical terms such as fabric strength or wear resistance, this study broadens the concept to include social, cultural, and local dimensions. It asks how people in different parts of the world define, value, and maintain the longevity of their clothing.
A participatory global study
The research team employed Participatory Action Research (PAR), conducting semi-structured interviews with 73 participants across the garment value chain in France, Ghana, Indonesia, Norway, and South Africa. The participants represented a diverse range of roles, including artisans, designers, second-hand sellers, educators, activists, and members of NGOs.
This inclusive approach allowed the researchers to capture perspectives from both the Global North and the Global South, offering insight into how local conditions, such as climate, culture, and available materials, influence the meaning and practice of garment durability.
Eight trends shaping the understanding of durability
The study identified eight interconnected trends that illustrate how notions of “durability” and “local” intersect:
Quality is preferred over durability – Many equate durability with quality and craftsmanship.
Garment durability is dynamic – Clothing gains and changes value through care, repair, and reuse.
Price and brand influence perceptions of durability – Branded or expensive garments are often assumed to last longer.
Local refers to geographical proximity – Locally produced and used garments carry added meaning and value.
Local involves value creation – Garments that support local livelihoods and skills strengthen communities.
Local touches tradition – Traditional garments reflect heritage and collective identity.
Traditional garments and textiles are more durable – Cultural significance often encourages better care and longevity.
Local contexts influence durability – Climate, culture, and social practices affect how long garments stay in use.
A framework for more inclusive policies
Based on these findings, the authors propose a revised framework for garment durability that integrates local contexts alongside technical and environmental considerations. The framework emphasizes the need for context-sensitive approaches in emerging sustainability regulations and industry standards.
“Policies developed in the Global North often have unintended consequences elsewhere,” says Hester Vanacker, “Our findings show that a meaningful understanding of durability must include the perspectives and practices of local communities worldwide.”
Garment durability and resilience framework (a) Original and (b) revised version including the local context
Towards a locally grounded circular transition
By highlighting the connections between global trends and local experiences, the study contributes to a more holistic understanding of durability in the context of circular economy and sustainable fashion. It calls for legislation and industry practices that respect cultural diversity and the lived realities of garment users and producers around the world.
The research also demonstrates how participatory methodologies can bridge academic and community-based knowledge, ensuring that sustainability transitions are both equitable and grounded in real-world contexts.
Vanacker, H., Lemieux, A.-A., Laitala, K., Dindi, M., Bonnier, S., & Lamouri, S. (2025). Understanding garment durability through local lenses: a participatory study with communities across the globe. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 34962. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-19087-3
Hybrid seminar Thursday, 6th of November 2025, 13:00-17:00 CET. OsloMet, Pilestredet 35 / Online.
We cordially invite you to the combined end seminar of the CHANGE and Wasted Textiles projects.
The title and the illustration of the seminar are inspired by the book «More and More and More: An All-Consuming History of Energy» by Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, which describes how energy innovation has not led to energy transitions, but rather the use of more and more and more energy. We found this to be a suitable title also for a seminar that concludes two projects, which have studied the drivers of the increasing volumes of clothing from two different angles.
The seminar will be chaired by Prof. Kate Fletcher, MMU, and Jens Måge, SirkNorge and present central findings from both projects, ranging from historical knowledge to contemporary consumption and political implications of the research, through to following and future research.
PROGRAMME
13:00 – Welcome
13:05 – Context
Two projects, two approaches to the same problem // Ingun Grimstad Klepp, Professor in Clothing and Sustainability, SIFO, OsloMet
13:20 – New knowledge
Circular Habits, Linear Results – Do Repair and Reuse Slow Wardrobe Growth? // Kirsi Laitala, Senior Researcher, SIFO, OsloMet
More than enough: Gender and clothing volumes in Norwegian wardrobes // Vilde Haugrønning, PhD Candidate, SIFO, OsloMet
Textile disposal volumes from Norwegian households // Anna Schytte Sigaard, PhD Candidate, SIFO, OsloMet
The limitations of product durability and longevity to reduce environmental impacts // Irene Maldini, Senior Researcher, SIFO, OsloMet
Sustainability impact analysis of Extended Producer Responsibility for the Norwegian consumer textiles sector // Meron Assefa Arega, Senior Researcher, SINTEF
Working to reduce plastic and production volumes in fashion education and business // A conversation between Gisle Mardal, NF&TA and Tone Skårdal Tobiasson, NICE Fashion
The upcoming EPR legislation and the market experiences we have gained to date // Kerli Kant Hvass, Assistant Professor, Aalborg University
Direct impact: Experiences from open discussions over museum objects // Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen, Norsk Folkemuseum
16:00 – Offspring
New projects and applications: Continuations of and reactions to the examined perspectives // Ingun Grimstad Klepp, Professor in Clothing and Sustainability, SIFO, OsloMet. and Kate Fletcher, Professor of Sustainability, Design and Fashion Systems, MMU
Exhibition and seminar, 17th of Octobre 16:00-19:30, 18th of Octobrer 2025, 12:00 – 17:30 Deichman Library, Bjørvika, Oslo
A powerful art project that stitches together stories of fashion, environment and colonial structures.
re-(t)exHile is an international artistic research project that investigates the consequences of the global textile waste crisis. The project started in Lagos and has since grown through collective sewing and textile installations in Slovakia, Chile – and now Oslo.
In October, the project will come to Deichman Bjørvika in collaboration with KORO, with an installation and an international seminar. Here, the audience is invited to reflect on fast fashion, overproduction and Europe’s role in the global flow of used clothing. The artwork is expanded through collaboration with students from KHiO and volunteers from diverse backgrounds. The project concludes with a performative intervention in Oslo City Hall, where textiles from all the project chapters are gathered – as a visual and symbolic gesture against the recurring colonial patterns in the fashion industry.
A project by Maria Alejandra Gatti, Martinka Bobrikova, Oscar de Carmen and Anto Lloverasre-(t)exHile is an international artistic research project that investigates the consequences of the global textile waste crisis. The project started in Lagos and has since grown through collective sewing and textile installations in Slovakia, Chile – and now Oslo.
In October, the project will come to Deichman Bjørvika in collaboration with KORO, with an installation and an international seminar. Here, the audience is invited to reflect on fast fashion, overproduction and Europe’s role in the global flow of used clothing. The artwork is expanded through collaboration with students from KHiO and volunteers from diverse backgrounds.
The project concludes with a performative intervention in Oslo City Hall, where textiles from all the project chapters are gathered – as a visual and symbolic gesture against the recurring colonial patterns in the fashion industry.
A project by Maria Alejandra Gatti, Martinka Bobrikova, Oscar de Carmen and Anto Lloveras.
Organisert av KORO.
Program
Friday 17th of Octobre
16:00 Welcome by KORO and Erik Kaspartu
16:10 Introduction to re-(t)exHile and round table conversation
17:00 Lecture: Making fast fashion out of fashion – Ingun Grimstad Klepp
17:50 Lecture and documentary: Sowing imagination – Andrei Fernandez
18:40 Lecture: The violence of donated clothing – Sunny Dolat
19:00 Film screeing: Delivery Details – The Nest Collective
19:20 End
Saturday 18th of Octobre
12:00 Welcome
12:05 Lecture: Responsible Consumers and the Environmental Impact of Fashion – Outi Pyy
13:10 Workshop: Broken No More: The Art and Joy of Repair – Marium Durrani
The Product Lifetimes and the Environment (PLATE) conference aims to be a conference that brings together leading researchers trying to address ways for us to align our consumption more realistically within our planetary means. But despite this, there was little will to discuss how product lifetime is related to environmental issues during the three hot summer days in Ålborg.
From SIFO Irene, Ingun, Kirsi and Lisbeth took part in the conference, and our experience was very much influenced by the fact that the two papers on the limitations of durability newly had been published.
As Irene wrote on LinkedIn:
‘After the results of our recent publications, we decided it was time to put the discussion about production volumes or quantities at the center of the table in an academic community mainly dedicated to extending the lifetime of products. Production volumes mediate the relationship between product lifetimes AND the environment (the full name of the PLATE conference). This is because the main environmental advantages of extending the lifetime of products would be the reduction of new stuff made, and this applies to all consumer goods. However, believe it or not, this is seldomly mentioned in this community. There is a lot about “product lifetimes”, but very little on “the environment”. ‘
Ingun, Kirsi, and Irene together with other scholars that have been active in this space Harald Wieser and Eléonore Maitre-Ekern organized a session that we hoped would bring in more critical views and also linking environment to lifetime. The organizers renamed the session and put it together with “Rebound effects” – making it a rather imbalanced mix. With all respect, rebound is both important and the presentations on this topic were very good. BUT…. Rebound is an unwanted side effect. We, however, wanted to discuss the missing evidence for the effects. How, when, if and in what way more durable products reduces environmental impact. Citing from the overview of sessions on PLATE’s website: “it is taken for granted that product lifetime extension (PLE) and durability lead to environmental and social benefits in line with circular economy objectives.
These advantages are expected to materialize in lower demand for new products by consumers and reduced volumes of production by industry“. The critical sessions hosted by Irene and Ingun were well attended, though some of the papers missed the mark, e.g. ‘designing for reduced material usage in a value chain’ echoes the old eco-efficiency measures, rather than approaches sufficiency. This shows both some openness and interest in the topic and that there’s a long way to go for the PLATE community to take the issue of volumes seriously. In our experiences, the younger scholars were open for our views, but we did not manage to have the discussion we aimed for. Have we missed something? Is there a (researched) link between “more durable” and “less” that we have missed?
Besides this, the conference was pleasant and filled with interesting people and topics and a lot the presentations were about wardrobes. Some examples: Aniko Gal’s talk “Connecting transition design and everyday fashion practices: a case of body change and the wardrobe” showed a good example of how life-events impact clothing longevity: documenting the changing relationship with clothing of women in Hungary and Italy throughout pregnancy, The study showed a changing perception of self, and highlighted cultural norms, e.g. the Italian women often changed their clothing style post-partum to conform to clothing norms dictated by motherhood: “I don’t want to look like a little girl anymore”.
In the talk “Hyper-Local Recirculation of Second-hand Clothing Through Donation-Thrift Networks” by Anika Kozlowski, Rachel McQueen, Liam Roy, and Charlotte Little, we learned about the informal secondhand clothing systems in Canada that have formed due to geographical obstacles and how these are focused on serving their communities, as opposed to the centralized facilities, that are focused on meeting daily quotas of product rotation in stores.
In their presentation “Gendered threads: Policy barriers to sustainable textile lifecycles”, Tiziana Ferrero-Regis and Chamari N. N. Pushpamali asked “Is textile policy gendered?”, highlighting how policies that are not scrutinised through a gender lens could perpetuate existing inequalities and create further gender disparities.
A particularly enjoyable part of conferences is meeting people who have read our work, or who we have worked with online. We all particularly appreciated meeting Hester Vanacker, who Kirsi mentors for a PhD on the intersection of clothing sustainability and just transition at l’ENSAM Paris, exploring how local upcycling centers can provide solutions to the global textile waste crisis. Through the research process, she critically examines colonial legacies within the scientific field, prioritizing action research methods appropriate to the local conditions in which the work is carried out.
Another person it was very nice to meet was Veerle Vermeyen, who also attending the Degrowth conference. She has published on an impressive wardrobe study with 156 Belgian individuals (and a lot of clothes, but presented two papers at the conference, one about unused garments showing that in wardrobe audit of 30 individuals in Flanders (Belgium) it was revealed that participants owned, on average, 169 garments, of which 138 were used in the past year (81%), and 90 were considered essential (53%). Participants’ perceived essential clothing needs varied strongly, ranging from 36 to 275 garments, or alternatively, 28% to 98% of their current wardrobe. She also presented a paper on clothing swap events. A lot to learn!
Lisbeth hosted the workshop “Exploring product lifetimes from a product ecosystem perspective”, where the participants were guided through a mapping of a furniture or clothing product’s ecosystem, taking into account other products the item may interact with, as well as the user and their life events through gradually adding prompts and prompt questions. Although limited by the 45-minute timeslot, the exercise effectively demonstrated the complexities of product lifetimes, encouraging a deep dive into a single product that participants expressed an interest in pursuing in other contexts. There is potential for developing this work further, in particular, to better capture the influence of product(ion) volumes on product lifetimes.
We went with a mission, but did not succeed. Good then that our thoughts have been picked up by others, such as Apparel Insider.
