How to make your wardrobe sustainable

When a report concluded that a planet-friendly wardrobe should have no more than 74 garments, three writers decided to conduct personal wardrobe audits, with surprising results.

It wasn't long into the process of auditing my wardrobe that I feared I would fail. Camisoles hanging under shirts; dresses hidden by jackets; crumpled jumpers fighting for drawer space. Halfway through, I'd already sured 74 garments. And that was before I ed the suitcase in storage, containing my summer-only clothes.

A report published in 2022 by Berlin think tank Hot or Cool Institute suggests that a "sufficient" wardrobe consists of 74 garments and 20 outfits, with purchases of new garments limited to an average of five items per year. Based on the "conservative estimate" that 4% of global emissions come from fashion, the report's researchers said that the fashion industry would have to reduce its emissions to 1.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in order to meet the Paris Agreement target of keeping global temperature rise below 1.5C. This equates to a roughly 50% reduction compared to the 2018 level of 2.1 billion tonnes, according to global consultancy McKinsey & Company.

The figures for what constitutes a sufficient wardrobe were worked out by analysing fashion's carbon footprint in the world's 20 richest countries and establishing a fair footprint target for each person.

As I looked through my wardrobe, my fear turned to shame. I checked in with fellow journalists Martha Henriques and Will Park, who were also carrying out a wardrobe audit. They, too, owned more clothes than the "sufficient" 74 items. And we were about to reveal our findings to Dilys Williams, director of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, who had agreed to cast her expert eye over our clothing choices and make recommendations.

"My first thought is that it's a shame all three of you feel guilty and embarrassed – that's a harsh judgement on yourselves and the last thing the report should do," she says. "Instead, it should encourage us to ask: what kind of lifestyle am I part of? Why have I got this number of pieces in my wardrobe? Is it because the fashion system is selling an ideal that doesn't exist">window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'alternating-thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article', placement: 'Below Article', target_type: 'mix' });