Sustainability, profitability, and resiliency of the fast fashion industries during a pandemic

Meriem Meskini, Tanvir S. Mahmud, Sagar Ray, Amy Richter, Tahlima T. Sithi and Kelvin Tsun Wai Ng

Energy & Environment, 2026, vol. 37, issue 1, 266-281

Abstract: The size of the global textile market was estimated at nearly one trillion USD in 2021 and the circularity of fashion items are of utmost practical and economic interests. Many postconsumer textile wastes are not recycled, and are sent to landfills for permanent disposal. This study examines the profitability of the selected fashion companies and compares the financial performance through weighted average net profit margin and business characteristics. The 10 companies are divided into 2 groups (conventional and sustainability) for analysis. The conventional fashion companies have a total sales revenue approximately 23 times higher than that of the sustainability fashion companies. The weighted average net profit ratio of the conventional fashion industry averaging +4.7 during the 5-year study period, much higher than the sustainability fashion group. Sustainability fashion industry is emerging and appears more sensitive to fluctuations in business expenses and COVID lockdowns. Net profit was negative for the sustainability group in 2022, and more aids such as government initiatives and incentive programs may be critical to the growth of the sustainability fashion sector. Both sustainability and conventional groups have positive relations between net profit and number of employees and net profit and market shares, respectively. The results suggest that fashion industry has opportunities to be more profitable by adopting socially responsible goals.

Keywords: Clothing and textile waste; fast fashion; environmental sustainability; profitability and sales revenue; business characteristics; regression analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:engenv:v:37:y:2026:i:1:p:266-281

DOI: 10.1177/0958305X241239896

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