Burning Clothes - Do I have to Set Myself on Fire to make you Aware? By: Milan Flíček, with editing support by Barbora Sura
Introduction
Have you ever asked yourself what happens with the unsold clothes or with the clothes you recycle? The ugly truth of our otherwise glamorous fashion industry is that there is a massive overproduction of clothes and that is why tons of clothes are burnt. I will walk you through various cases of companies that have been burning or have burnt clothes in the past, with a primary focus on the group BESTSELLER. After an email communication with this group’s representative, it is clear that the brands under the BESTSELLER umbrella do not aim to make a real change or at least act transparently. I conclude that the current situation asks for activism. I will suggest some solutions on how to stop this practice and ways to move towards a more sustainable solution.
In half a year, in a year it will be too late” (Palach 1969). On the morning of January 16, 1969, Jan Palach set himself on fire in the main square in Prague. Palach’s death did not immediately change the regime in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It was forbidden to speak about his activism. Only after 20 years when the regime switched from socialist to democratic in 1989, his act was celebrated and acknowledged by the authorities as something we shall never allow to happen again. After reflecting on this type of activism, and connecting it to the fashion industry and the practice of burning unsold clothing, I began to ask what it would take to reform the current, unsustainable and unethical fashion system.
Activism
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Photo by Kat Sark
In 1968 in socialist Czechoslovakia, the events and protests of the Prague Spring aiming for political liberalization from Soviet control were having a bigger and bigger impact. However, in August 1968, the armies of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia to suppress the reformative demonstrations. Jan Palach, who until then was taking part in public demonstrations, began to understand that the spirit of the Czech and Slovak nations was slowly beginning to be taken over by the occupiers. A great activist work needed to be done to boost the trampled national self-confidence. He stated, ”there are certain times in history when something needs to be done. Now is the time.
Fast Fashion Exhibition in Berlin
Activism is perceived as a great way to inform people about critical issues in any industry. I took inspiration from Jan Palach, a twenty-year-old student in 1960’s Czechoslovakia. With his activist act of self-immolation he motivated crowds of people to demonstrate, who later managed to make the necessary political changes. This example works as a great parallel between the current problem of burning clothes and our understanding that activism is a way to open people’s eyes and encourage them to act.
Overproduction and Burning Clothes
The reason behind fashion brands burning tons of clothing is their overproduction. Based on BBC data from the period between 2018 and 2020 (Abigail Beall), approximately 677 tons of new clothes have been thrown away every year. That equates to about 2.7 million t-shirts per year. Globally, an estimated 92 million tons of textile waste is created each year. This amount is equivalent to a single
