Speak Volumes!

How many garments are produced every year? No one knows.
We need YOU to help us change that.

You are a Citizen? #SpeakVolumes You are a Brand? #SpeakVolumes

5 Reasons All Brands Should Disclose Their Annual Production Volumes

We do not have accurate data on the size of the fashion industry – the available statistics suggest that between 80bn and 150bn new garments are made every year. This is an embarrassing data gap.
If we are going to clean up fashion’s waste crisis, develop data-driven policies and transition from a linear to a circular economy, we need to know how many garments exist.
Despite a lack of data, textile waste is wreaking havoc on ecosystems and communities around the world such as Ghana’s Kantamanto Market, Chile’s Atacama desert and Kenya’s Dandora Dumpsite.
Unlike the carbon footprint for their products, production volume is a data point that is easy for brands to calculate. Unlike many other measurements of sustainability, production volume is a data point that is easy for the average consumer to understand.
Production volumes impact everyone along the value chain including garment workers, retail associates, designers, delivery drivers, secondhand retailers and waste pickers.

See here for the top brands ending up on Ghana’s beaches.
Please note that in August, 2024 this letter was emailed to these top brands, endorsed by over 90 Industry Insiders, inviting them to step up and publish their volumes. This follows a similar invitation which was extended to brands in person when letters were hand delivered to their UK headquarters. If you would like to take the extra step of emailing or hand delivering a letter to one of these brands, here is a template you can follow.

Join the ‘I Can Count, Why Can’t You?’ Challenge on Social

You might be wondering…"Production volumes, isn’t that data every brand has readily available?” Indeed, we aren’t asking for much. Maybe the brands just need a little encouragement!

That is where you come in…

Join the ‘I Can Count, Why Cant You’ social media challenge by counting the number of clothing items in your closet and share the number to show brands that, it is indeed easy to #SpeakVolumes.

Tag three of your favorite brands and challenge them to be brave and join you 😉

You can also challenge your friends to add their voice by taking part in the challenge and signing the petition at speakvolumes.org!

Your voice matters, so #SpeakVolumes!

Disclaimer: For some of the brands listed below we do not know if this includes licensed products or product collaborations.

Brands Publishing Their Production Volumes

“Committed, Loud & Proud”

Brands with the Megaphone badge have joined the Speak Volumes campaign by filling out our unique form which collects data on their counting methodology and includes a commitment to disclose production volumes in their sustainability reports going forward, ensuring that this is not a one time action. They also have communicated their participation in Speak Volumes and disclosed their volume count to their consumers via social media or popular press, aiding us in educating the general public and courageously stepping up their transparency game!

“Committed Long Term”

Brands with the Graph badge have joined the Speak Volumes campaign by filling out our unique form which collects data on their counting methodology and includes a commitment to disclose production volumes in their sustainability reports going forward, ensuring that this is not a one time action. They haven’t yet communicated their production volumes to consumers via their social media or popular press.

“On the Journey”

Brands without a badge have not yet agreed to participate in Speak Volumes but their production volumes have been disclosed elsewhere as identified by not-for-profit Fashion Revolution. Please note that by not participating in Speak Volumes these brands have not committed to continually disclose production volumes.

Adidas produced 328,000,000 pieces in 2023

482,000,000 pieces in 2022
482,000,000 pieces in 2021
465,000,000 pieces in 2020
528,000,000 pieces in 2019

ARMEDANGELS produced 2,222,986 pieces in 2023

Ashanti Empress produced 1,532 pieces in 2023

ASKET produced 231,383 pieces in 2022

Bally produced around 650,000 pieces in 2022

BLOOM BY EDZI produced 250 pieces in 2022

BORBALA produced 515 pieces in 2023

400 pieces in 2022

Brave Soles produced 500 pieces in 2022

Buno Behen produced 154 pieces in 2022

BUZIGAHILL produced 597 pieces in 2022

Church of Sanctus produced 432 pieces in 2022

Collina Strada produced 20,000 pieces in 2022

Day Owl produced 30,280 pieces in 2022

EKUAADDO produced 180 pieces in 2022

E.L.V. DENIM produced 4052 pieces in 2023

Esme New York produced 2,500 pieces in 2023

Fendi produced around 3,000,000 pieces in 2023

Finisterre produced 359,164 pieces in 2023

450,643 pieces in 2022

Foschini produced 50,800,000 pieces in 2023

44,700,000 pieces 2022

Goose Studios produced 1,823 pieces in 2022

Guess produced 58,000,000 pieces in 2023

62,000,000 pieces in 2022

Humphries & Begg produced 1,992 pieces in 2022

Hyer Goods produced 2,800 pieces in 2023

In Our Name produced 3,000 pieces in 2022

Jermaine Bleu produced 200 pieces in 2022

Kathmandu produced 3,841,203 pieces in 2023

K.Becker produced 174 pieces in 2023

Kmart Australia produced 231,000,000 pieces in 2023

LATER… produced 1887 pieces in 2023

Leisurely produced 1,201 pieces in 2022

Loom produced 90,040 pieces in 2023

150,000 pieces in 2022

Loud Bodies produced 1,836 pieces in 2022

Lucy & Yak produced 930,023 pieces in 2023

760,951 pieces in 2022

Lululemon produced 141,088,000 pieces in 2022

142,040,000 pieces in 2021
95,526,000 pieces in 2020

MaisonCléo produced 4,462 pieces in 2022

Mango produced 155,159,011 pieces in 2021

MEEKO produced 5,000 pieces in 2023

MLAMBO produced 100 pieces in 2023

100 pieces in 2022

Moi Namaste produced 700 pieces in 2023

250 pieces in 2022

Morrisons produced 35,000,000 pieces in 2023

NKWO produced 1,126 pieces in 2022

No Sweat produced 28,900 pieces in 2023

Noyoco produced 15,670 pieces in 2023

Organic Basics produced 306,037 pieces in 2023

182,714 pieces in 2022

Osei-Duro produced 4,435 pieces in 2023

9,541 pieces in 2022

OVS produced 196,740,204 pieces in 2023

Planeta Incora produced 200 pieces in 2022

Picture produced 1,036,380 pieces in 2023

RAQ Apparel produced 10,637 pieces in 2023

Revival London produced 32 pieces in 2023

Sailaal produced 211 pieces in 2023

s.Oliver produced 35,000,000 pieces in 2023

Stripe & Stare produced 325,560 pieces in 2023

Superdry produced 23,000,000 pieces in 2023

33,200,000 pieces in 2020

Target Australia produced 78,000,000 pieces in 2023

The Emperor’s Old Clothes produced 1,215 pieces in 2023

1,764 pieces in 2022

The Fruit Moth produced 750 pieces in 2023

THERAPY produced 1000 pieces in 2023

700 pieces in 2022

The Sleep Shirt produced 8,600 pieces in 2022

TOMO Clothing produced 4,231 pieces in 2023

Tom Tailor produced 39,829,219 pieces in 2022

TWOTHIRDS produced 216,000 pieces in 2023

United Colors of Benetton produced 60,540,044 pieces in 2023

67,000,000 pieces in 2022

Urbànima produced 617 pieces in 2022

Vivobarefoot produced 1,075,897 pairs of shoes in 2023

Wrangler produced 175,000,000 pieces in 2022

Xandres produced 486,705 pieces in 2023

1083 produced 50,000 pieces in 2023

What are the Types of Production Volumes Listed ?

Please Note!

For some of the brands listed above, especially those without a badge, we do not know if their number includes licensed products and/or product collaborations.

We DO NOT accept volumes reported by weight and will not list any brand that does not disclose their volumes by units. Why? One, there is no standardized weight to garment ratio since weight varies drastically between a wool suit and a childrens onesie. Given that we do not have transparency on how many of each type of garment is produced every year, we would have to rely on context specific calculations that are not representative of the global industry. Two, this answer is for fashion sustainability nerds…Developing a circular economy for the fashion industry is complex because unlike other commodities that enter our waste stream such as a plastic bottle or a beer can, clothing has the most market potential outside of recycling with opportunities to be recommodified through resale, repair or remanufacture before being recycled. This means that we are not developing infrastructure with the sole mission of moving a pre-consumer scrap material by the tonne to a recycling plant. On the contrary, for a true circular fashion industry to function, we must develop the infrastructure for individual garments to be resold, repaired, remanufactured and then recycled. Anyone who has attempted to remanufacture post-consumer fashion waste (whole garments) knows that a great deal of labor is required to disassemble and reassemble. Similarly, anyone who has attempted to recycle post-consumer fashion waste (whole garments) knows that a great deal of labor is required to prepare an individual garment to become feedstock, steps such as the removal of prints and notions. In summary, when production volumes are reported by weight we do not receive the nuanced information we need to develop an effective circular economy.

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