The Hidden Price Behind a Cheap T-Shirt
A cheap T-shirt looks simple on a store rack. The economics behind it are not. A 2026 report by Public Eye and the Clean Clothes Campaign found that global T-shirt exports grew from $15.5 billion in 2001 to $56.8 billion in 2024, while sourcing prices for basic garments have failed to keep pace with rising costs. Bangladesh now accounts for about 20% of global cotton T-shirt exports and has become especially important to European fashion markets.
The report exposes a striking imbalance. Research cited in the study estimates that for a basic cotton T-shirt made in Bangladesh, only about 2% of the final retail price reaches workers as wages. At factory level, a typical $2 production price may leave roughly $0.24 for direct labor.
This made me question what “affordable fashion” actually means. Low prices do not erase costs; they redistribute them. Consumers may pay less, while suppliers absorb smaller margins and workers absorb the pressure through low wages and intense production demands.
Sustainability campaigns often focus on recycled fabrics or lower emissions. But a fashion system cannot be truly sustainable if its business model depends on paying suppliers too little to provide decent work. Ethical fashion should therefore begin before the product reaches the store, with the price brands are willing to pay for making it.
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