Fast fashion brands post 364k tons output in 2025 despite sustainability claims
Fast fashion brands reported higher output in 2025 while promoting sustainability initiatives, with H&M producing 364,093 metric tons of products. Inditex’s raw material use rose to 705,554 metric tons in 2025, up from 678,596 tons the prior year.
Shein’s platform listed as many as 600,000 items for sale at any time, underscoring the scale of its fast‑fashion model. In 2025, H&M, Zara and Shein generated roughly $23.5 billion, $46.3 billion and over $50 billion in sales respectively. Despite claims that 91% of H&M’s materials and 88% of Inditex’s fibers are lower‑impact, the companies together produced over a million metric tons of apparel, contributing to significant waste streams.
“Our starting point is always our business idea: fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way,” Daniel Ervér, CEO of H&M said.
“The fast fashion business model, by design, is difficult, if not altogether impossible, to be made sustainable,” Javad Nasiry, professor of operations management at McGill University said.
In 2016 H&M pledged to become a circular company by 2040 through a partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The goal involves creating products designed to last from safe, recycled or sustainably sourced materials that can recirculate multiple times.
What we know
H&M reported that 91% of the materials used to make its products were sustainably sourced.
H&M created 364,093 metric tons of products in 2025.
Inditex used 705,554 metric tons of raw materials in 2025, up from 678,596 metric tons in 2024.
Shein lists as many as 600,000 items for sale at a time on its online shopping platform.
In 2025, H&M, Zara and Shein reported about $23.5 billion, $46.3 billion and over $50 billion in sales respectively.