On average an American throws away 68 pounds of clothing each year, which gives rise to a sorting industry, as such large amount of clothes can’t be given away or sold in charity shops either. The clothes that are thrown away end up in one of the three places; recycling plants where they are turned into rags and wiping cloths, ships carrying clothes to developing countries or vintage and consignment stores if they are valuable. Romerovski Corp is one such facility where the sorting of clothes is done usually by workers working on minimum wages. These rag yards are mostly the result of unsustainable practices of fast fashion brands like Forever 21 and H&M. Reformation is a brand involved in selling recycled clothes, it has revenues of over $25 million. 10% of their business comes from vintage clothes. The clothes are priced at $50 to $200 usually. The demand for vintage clothing has been on a rise in the recent years and Reformation has celebrity customers like Taylor Swift who has been sporting their collection on Instagram, thus giving the brand more visibility. Read full article here.
