Abstract
The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industrial sectors in the world and its environmental impacts are huge. Garments are produced effectively at a low price, are of low quality, and are used for a very short time before ending up in increasing textile waste streams. One critical aspect in this context is the lifetime of a garment. Short garment lifetimes are the results of low quality and consumer dissatisfaction, or consumers’ constant search for newness, resulting in the early disposal of garments. This study focused on the issue of garment quality and how it can be connected to product lifetime. The research used a case study approach, including company interviews about working for quality, and aimed to expand on the topic of how quality impacts product lifetimes. Data analysis was conducted according to the principles of descriptive analysis and the discussion expanded to the circular economy context, creating an extended understanding of garment quality in a circular economy.
Highlights
The scale and speed of current apparel consumption and production have multiple negative environmental impacts
As the goal of the study was to gain an insight into what quality is and how it is defined in companies working in the textile and apparel industry, as well as to determine how quality relates to product lifetimes and lifecycles, we selected a qualitative case study as our research strategy
The main goal of this study was to find the connections between textile/garment quality and lifetimes by answering the main research question: how can the lifetime of a product be extended by imposing good quality? Based on the findings of this study, quality and lifetime are highly connected
Summary
The scale and speed of current apparel consumption and production have multiple negative environmental impacts. It is believed that producing the best quality is not worthwhile, and garment quality can only be average or lower in the current linear system [7]. This is especially true in these times when fast fashion is the dominant reality, and production happens through cost savings on the other side of the globe. It seems that quality is systemically fading in terms of the way in which products are designed and manufactured. This, in turn, may encourage consumers to buy more clothing, and to use and discard them in faster cycles [12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
