Global fashion exports in the last decade increased by 35.1 per cent while global trade increased 26.4 per cent, says the World Trade Organization. India registered the strongest performance in its international clothing trade during this period followed by Brazil and other Asiatic countries excluding China. Exports by the United States increased 28.6 per cent between 2007 and 2008, those by Japan increased by 20.1 per cent and the European Union by 33.5 per cent. China, that entered the WTO in 2001, increased its garment exports by 93.3 per cent during this period. Middle East and Australia also positioned high in the list, with rises near 100 per cent.

Restrictive measures of world trade registered exceptionally high levels between October 2019 and mid-2019. The focus of the global fashion sector is turning to the environment, and the industry’s impact and role. Fashion falls just behind energy production and food as the most polluting industry, with a disturbingly large ecological footprint. It is incredibly wasteful. It takes at least 10,000 liters of water to produce a kg of cotton (enough for a pair of jeans and a shirt) and more than 75 per cent of clothes go to landfill.