Why Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago Exists

Chicago is one of the most culturally diverse yet segregated cities in America. Through de-centralized programming, SFWC serves Chicagoans across all 77 neighborhoods, with online campaigns and virtual events reaching the city’s outermost suburbs. In three short years, SFWC has already established in-person events and activations across 16 neighborhoods. As SFWC’s funding increases, more events will be added so that all 77 neighborhoods are active participants in year-round campaigns plus the flagship series — which is the twice annual 10-day festival style Sustainable Fashion Week campaign that provides a mix of in-person and online educational, interactive, and activist-based events and workshops.

Understanding Fashion’s Impact In Chicago

While fashion is a wonderful outlet for creativity and expression, the industry has a dark side. In Chicago alone, textile waste contributes to 4.6% of the local waste system and roughly 874,000 tons of clothing end up in Illinois landfills each year. That’s equivalent to a pile the size of nearly four full-sized Willis/Sears Towers (Chicago skyscraper). Currently, there are 37 active landfills in Illinois, which makes it the State with the third highest trash output in landfills per capita — 42.7% more than the national average. Once in landfills, clothing and textiles can take over 200 years to break down. In the process, methane emissions are released into the atmosphere and as the garment and the textile break down, microplastics and dyes leach into and contaminate soil and water sources, which have extreme ecological and health impacts. Synthetic textiles also contribute massively to the microplastics crisis; up to 700,000 microplastic particles can be released from a single wash.

Chicago’s Air Quality and Health reports outline that 5% of premature deaths in Chicago are linked to the exposure of PM2.5 air pollution, which is a direct impact of Illinois landfills and the clothing and textiles increasingly ending up in those landfills. PM2.5 are tiny particles that are small enough to penetrate into human and animal’s lungs, which cause major health concerns or in some cases, death.The exposure is proven to cause lung cancer, heart disease, and asthma, particularly in children, pregnant people, and older people. In fact, Latinx and Black Chicagoans are disproportionately impacted. The City’s data outlines how BIPOC minority groups are on the frontlines of this environmental injustice; they live in neighborhoods that are the most zoned for local manufacturing, with heavier manufacturing and land use emitting harmful pollution. Not only are there ecological and health impacts, but financial as well. The health implications landfills, general pollution, and the local fashion industry are linked to illnesses that are a financial burden for over 500,000 Chicago residents who otherwise can’t afford their increased medical bills. Residents in the Greater Chicago area alone are over half a billion dollars in medical debt. This number doesn’t factor in the remainder of Illinois residents struggling with the same issue. Primarily impacted are BIPOC Chicagoans on the South and West side of the city and Chicagoans that make significantly less than the federal poverty level. Again, most of these individuals are already navigating underfunding, systemic inequality, and segregation. Unfortunately the fashion industry this isn’t just a Chicago issue. Globally, the industry is responsible for 3-5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and generates 92 million tons of textile waste, annually. There is also a widespread pattern of labor exploitation, including long hours, wage theft, unsafe conditions, and harassment. These issues are exactly why Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago exists. SFWC is dedicated to systemic change starting in Chicago, expanding throughout the State of Illinois, and ultimately shifting the national and global fashion industry for good, to prioritize people and the planet.

Sources: Earth.Org, Environment Illinois, Landfill Capacity Report 2025, Medill Reports Chicago, Metro Planning, NHSJS, Northwestern, UNEP.