Where does the UK’s fast fashion end up? I found out on a beach clean in Ghana

There are enough garments in the world to dress the next six generations. Yet the number of clothes being produced in the global north is soaring – and poisoning poorer countries

This is how the conversation always goes whenever my 12-year-old daughter, Evie, asks me to buy fast fashion for her. “Please, please, please can I have this,” she’ll say (it’s usually from Shein). Sorry but no, I’ll reply – I’m sure we can find an alternative on Vinted. “One person buying something new won’t make any difference,” she argues. “And besides, it’s so cheap!” There is sulking (her), tutting (me), and dissatisfaction all round.

As a fashion writer focused on sustainability (or lack thereof), my daughter’s pestering grates, yet I sympathise – what tween doesn’t want to fit in? Meanwhile, my role-modelling of wearing the same old clothes to death probably has the opposite effect on her. And it’s complicated: as a freelance journalist, newspaper editors often reply to my pitches with: “Sorry – readers aren’t interested in sustainability.” To pay the bills, I’ve definitely played a part in propagating trends and fuelling the “cerulean” machine, to borrow from The Devil Wears Prada.

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