In recent years, fast-fashion clothing that reflects the latest trends and is inexpensive has gained popularity in South Korea.

However, behind the glamorous clothing, there is hidden pollution and damage to the environment. Statistics show that South Korea produces an average of more than 200 tons of clothing waste every day, which has also attracted the attention of the South Korean government.

The birthplace of fashion in South Korea - Dongdaemun in Seoul, integrates clothing design, production, and sales, and is characterized by quick wins.

After a piece of clothing is designed in the morning, samples can be made in the afternoon, and they can be hung on the shelves for customers to choose from within a week.

In fact, in South Korea's major clothing business circles based on fast fashion, thousands of new clothes are launched every day. In order to catch up with the trend, consumers continue to buy new products, resulting in many old clothes being discarded.

The latest data shows that South Korea has to deal with 225 tons of used clothing every day, most of which are landfilled or incinerated as clothing waste, and only about 10% can be reused.

Experts pointed out that the clothing industry, once proud of South Korea, has unknowingly caused huge damage to the environment. Based on 2020, Korean garment companies discarded more than 27,000 tons of waste fiber. Since most of the practitioners who recycle waste fibers are small traders, the lack of processing capacity also results in a large amount of textile waste.

Recently, the South Korean Ministry of Environment stated that it has begun to discuss the implementation of a system called "producer responsibility extension" for clothing companies, which means that producers are required to take environmental responsibility throughout the life cycle of products.

Since the system was first introduced in 2003, South Korea has expanded its application to more than a dozen items including batteries, tires, and packaging plastics.

South Korea is currently the fifth largest exporter of used clothes in the world, and there is an urgent need for enterprises to increase their participation in clothing recycling and processing.

Under the trend of environmental protection, the concept of sustainable fashion has become popular in South Korea, that is, reducing resource consumption at all stages from clothing production to disposal, and more and more clothing brands have begun to participate.

At present, high-end down jacket brands have recycled more than 700,000 pieces of old clothes and reprocessed the collected down to be used as new filling materials.

An outdoor brand this year launched a second-hand clothing website dedicated to selling the company's out-of-season products, for the first time in the Korean fashion industry.

People in the industry believe that with rising prices and increasing awareness of environmental protection, Korean people are increasingly accepting second-hand clothing, and the clothing industry will continue to encounter new business opportunities.

Benefits of buying second-hand clothes:

1. Second-hand clothes are safer

Second-hand clothes, such as old clothes, will become softer after repeated washing, and such clothes basically do not contain chemicals. As we all know, most of the newly bought clothes contain other chemicals such as formaldehyde, so second-hand clothes are also safer in comparison.

2. Used clothes are more environmentally friendly

Most people have sensitive skin that can be easily damaged. When choosing clothes, you should also pay attention to the fabric of the clothes. Make sure that the fabric is soft and friendly and will not cause harm. But you get what you pay for, and the price of good-quality clothes is relatively high, so it costs more to choose the right clothes.

But most of the second-hand clothes are intact, and losing them is also a waste, which not only saves money but also saves the environment.