Rachel Kibbe

I’ve worked in the sustainable fashion and used clothing sector for over a decade and saw firsthand how broken our system is—both environmentally and economically. I founded American Circular Textiles (ACT) to help drive real policy solutions that make circularity a viable business model in the U.S. rather than an aspirational buzzword. My work focuses on advocating for policies that incentivize domestic recycling, resale, and responsible production while holding brands accountable for the waste they create. Without the right incentives and infrastructure, circularity doesn’t scale—it stalls.

What’s the problem with fast fashion?

There’s a difference between fast fashion and ultra-fast fashion, and the latter is where we’re seeing the most extreme environmental and economic harm. Brands like Shein and Temu aren’t just making cheap clothes quickly—they’ve weaponized data and algorithmic production to flood the market with an obscene volume of disposable goods. This isn’t just an environmental challenge—it’s an economic one. Their business model exploits trade loopholes like de minimis to dodge tariffs and oversight, allowing them to undercut businesses that play by the rules. Meanwhile, their products—designed to be worn a handful of times, if that—overwhelm resale channels, devalue the secondhand market, and leave municipalities footing the bill for waste management.

Consumers don’t even truly benefit. Sure, the price tag is low, but the clothes fall apart fast, and the hidden costs—pollution, labor exploitation, waste cleanup—are paid elsewhere. We need systemic change, not just guilt-based consumer pressure, to address the problem. That means closing regulatory gaps that allow ultra-fast fashion to thrive unchecked while investing in policies that incentivize true circularity and responsible production.

How do you hope to see the fashion industry change?

I want to see fashion shift from an extractive, wasteful model to one that’s actually circular—and that means real investment in domestic infrastructure. That includes scaling textile recycling, resale, repair, and fiber-to-fiber innovation within the U.S. I also want to see trade policies that support responsible manufacturing in the Western Hemisphere, rather than rewarding brands that offshore production to the lowest bidder with no accountability. Circular fashion can’t be just a marketing term—it has to be built into the system.