Where old clothes go

On a Sunday morning in a café in District 1, about fifty people are going through tables piled with shirts, jeans and dresses. Nobody pays. You bring clothes you no longer wear and take home ones you will. 'Half my wardrobe still had the labels on,' says Vy, 24, the student who organises the swaps. 'I bought things because they were cheap, not because I needed them.'

Vy's wardrobe isn't unusual. Over the past twenty years, clothes have become cheaper and faster to make. Big brands release new styles all the time, and online shopping lets you buy an outfit in seconds. Plenty of items are worn only a few times. The result is a mountain of clothing that gets thrown away long before it's worn out.

Much of it is made from polyester, a synthetic fabric produced from oil. It's cheap and hard-wearing, but washing it can release tiny plastic fibres into the water. Many garments also mix materials, such as cotton and polyester, and these blends are very hard to separate and recycle. Only a small share of old clothes is turned into new ones. Most are burnt, buried or shipped abroad.

That last route surprised Vy most. In rich countries, giving clothes to charity feels like the responsible choice. In reality, charities can sell only part of what they receive in their own shops. Much of the rest is sold in large bales to traders, who ship it to markets in Africa, Asia and elsewhere. Reports from West Africa describe bales in which much of the contents can't be sold at all and ends up in landfill or on beaches.

Second-hand shopping is having a moment in Vietnam's cities, though. Students hunt for unusual pieces in small second-hand shops, and swap events like Vy's are appearing in cafés and community centres. Repair is coming back too, and some young designers turn old shirts and jeans into new clothes. Vy is realistic about what a swap can do. 'The real problem is how much gets made,' she says. Her own rule is simple: she doesn't buy anything new unless she can picture wearing it thirty times.