Louis Vuitton can't destroy unsold bags anymore...

We're living in the age of instant everything. Software launch in days, websites are online overnight, and AI churns out “designs” faster than you can say ChatGPT.

Looking back, fast fashion caught this wave early, Shein, Zara and many more drop 100s of new styles weekly while algorithms predict your next purchase before you know it yourself.

But Europe wants to stop that and the regulations are pumping the brakes hard.

Europe's War on Overproduction

The EU just dropped the hammer in September 2025 with new textile waste rules that make fashion brands financially responsible for their end of life products. Every company selling into Europe, including Aussie e-commerce brands, must now join Extended Producer Responsibility schemes and cover the costs of collecting, sorting, and recycling textile waste.

By mid-2028, brands will need to foot the bill for their overproduction. And the interesting take here is that the EU is actively encouraging higher fees for throwaway clothing through "eco-modulation", essentially a fast fashion tax. France has already piloted this, and now it's looking more like an EU-wide policy.

Europe is banning the destruction of unsold fashion products entirely. No more quietly incinerating last season's excess, brands must donate, reuse, or recycle everything. The message is crystal clear: overproduction just became financially toxic.

Small Initiatives lead to Global Ones

France didn't wait for EU. Since January 2022, French brands have been legally prohibited from trashing or incinerating unsold clothing. They also launched a €154 million "repair bonus" program giving shoppers €6-25 credits to get clothes mended instead of binned.

The Dutch followed suit in July 2023 with 50% textile collection targets by 2025, rising to 75% by 2030, backed by an EPR levy of roughly €0.24 per kilo.

How does Technology come into play?

Here's where it gets interesting. Faced with this regulatory stranglehold, brands are scrambling for tech solutions that eliminate overproduction entirely. There are a lot of different tech angles brands can adopt to fight this (secondary markets & AI-enabled fashion buying come to mind). In saying that, I’m discussing the tech I’m very bullish on, which is on-demand manufacturing, the "sell first, make later" model that's finally becoming viable.

CreateMe

CreateMe Technologies just unveiled their MeRA robotic system that cranks out 250 garments per hour, 20x faster than human sewing lines, in a compact microfactory. This became possible with their invention, Pixel, micro-adhesive technology that literally "glues" garments together with precision bonding instead of traditional stitching.

Leading to 70% reduction in lead time from concept to finished product, with cost parity to offshore manufacturing. Meaning you can now run a microfactory in Melbourne at the same unit economics as a massive factory in Vietnam.

Rodinia Generation

In Copenhagen, Rodinia Generation operates a microfactory delivering finished garments in 48 hours with a minimum order quantity of literally one unit. They use waterless digital printing and can custom-print fabric panels on demand with zero waste.

Compare that to typical offshore production: hundreds of units minimum and 3-6 months lead time. Brands using Rodinia report drastically reduced overproduction because they can test styles online first, then produce only actual orders.

That being said, I believe there are still a lot of barriers which need to be overcome for this technology to be ubiquitous and useful for every type of garment. With the pace of technological development, I’m confident that this will become a scalable reality sooner rather than later.

The Personalisation Promise

75% of Gen Z want custom fashion, and nearly half are willing to wait longer for it. We're witnessing a tech-enabled return to the pre-industrial model where clothes were made personally, not generically. AI algorithms and automated manufacturing can make bespoke accessible at mass-market speed.

3D knitting slashes fabric waste by 30% and energy usage by 40% compared to traditional cut-and-sew. Meanwhile, AI-driven pattern generation enables personalisation at scale, quick digital-to-fabric capabilities that allow brands to customise designs and sizing without excess inventory.

Geo-Politics & Sustainability

The regulatory pressure isn't happening in isolation. The US tariffs (10-50%) on textile imports have brands scrambling to near-shore operations anyway. Autonomous manufacturing in Australia provides exactly the supply chain resilience needed while meeting increasingly stringent carbon disclosure requirements.

For ANZ brands exporting to Europe, this gets personal fast. Any Australian brand selling into the EU will need to register for textile EPR and start paying per-kilo eco-fees. Digital product passports will hit by 2030, meaning every garment shipped to Europe needs digital documentation of its lifecycle.

Why It Matters Now

Overproduction isn't just an environmental problem, it's becoming a business liability. EU rules make excess inventory a financial burden, while on-demand tech finally offers an escape route. Brands embracing micro-factories report not just waste reduction but healthier cash flow, no more speculative inventory tying up capital.

The convergence is perfect: regulations make the old model expensive just as technology makes the new model viable. Early adopters of on-demand manufacturing will enter 2026 with agile supply chains, lower inventory risk, and compliance-ready operations. The laggards will be paying escalating EPR fees while managing stranded stock.

Pop-Feature

Bodd (Melbourne, Australia)

What they do: This Melbourne startup has cracked the measurement problem that was blocking made-to-order fashion. Their phone booth sized 3D scanner captures over 400 precise body measurements in under a minute using optical sensors and a rotating platform. Founded in 2017 by Rob Fisher and Dave McLaughlin, Bodd manufactures locally in partnership with Bosch Australia and provides a cloud platform that integrates seamlessly with brands' ordering systems.

Why it matters: Bodd is enabling the return to tailoring at scale. Retailers install the scanners in-store, customers get a quick contactless scan, and those measurements feed directly into pattern-making systems for perfectly fitted garments. No more multiple fittings, no more size-based returns, no more stocking standard sizes. Every customer's body becomes a data input for a one-off product, exactly like the old tailoring system, but with digital precision and micro-factory speed.

Impact scorecard: 6/10. They're solving mass customisation's biggest bottleneck with hardware that's already deployed and working. As on-demand manufacturing scales, accurate body data becomes the foundation for everything from made-to-measure suits to perfectly fitted activewear. Bodd's tech could be the bridge between our throwaway fashion present and a personalised, zero-waste future where every garment is made specifically for its wearer.

Provocative Q: Are you ready for a world where every piece in your wardrobe was made just for you?

Forward this to three mates who don’t know what’s in their closet because mum brought every piece... The age of throwing clothes away is ending, time to get ahead of what's coming next.

Grace & Rak