Fast Fashion. Slow Poison.

A strong visual statement on Fossil Fashion in Brussels

Oil Drip Ritual June 24 – Narges Aqamiri for Ocean. Now! III

How does it feel to stand up against (fossil) Fast Fashion in temperatures of 36°C? During a heatwave that swept across Europe, we gathered outside the Brussels Expo to make a public visual statement.

While thousands of industry representatives met for Europe’s largest textile recycling conference in the building behind us, our small group stood silently in the heat dressed in white polyester t-shirts.

There were no speeches, no banners, no megaphones.

Only white polyester fabric, slowly stained by a dark liquid resembling crude oil. This was the Oil Drip Ritual.

Organised by the Ocean. Now! team, together with Break Free From Plastic, Seas At Risk, Fashion Revolution Germany, Fashion Revolution Belgium, Greenpeace Africa, ACHACT, WSM and Fairknallt, our joint intervention aimed to make visible a connection that’s often hidden from view:

Every polyester garment begins with fossil fuels.

The first action took place on 24 June outside the Textiles Recycling Expo Europe. Three days later, our ritual moved to Place de la Monnaie in the heart of Brussels, where passers-by stopped, watched, scanned QR codes and engaged with stories from Ghana displayed on portable screens.

The intervention formed part of an international project called Under Our Skin – Microplastics in Fashion: Ocean. Now!’s exploration of the environmental, social and health impacts of synthetic fashion through art, public engagement, industry dialogue and policy advocacy.

The most beautiful part of this serious action in Brussels was meeting with people who share the same urge to speak up, in a different location, for something meaningful, just for a brief moment. The feeling of being connected and staying strong, standing up for life on planet Earth, making a statement for healing – together with “strangers” – is one of the most empowering things we’ve experienced so far this year. We feel very grateful for everyone who participated.

Polyester begins with oil

Today, polyester accounts for more than half of global fibre production. Yet when we buy a sports shirt, a fleece jacket or a dress, few of us think about fossil fuels.

Polyester is often marketed as practical, affordable and versatile. What remains largely invisible are its origins. Every polyester garment starts with oil (and gas).

The same fossil fuels used to manufacture synthetic textiles are also driving the climate crisis that is increasingly shaping our daily lives. As participants stood in the Brussels heat, this connection felt impossible to ignore.

Behind industry narratives of circularity and recycling lies a system still heavily dependent on virgin fossil-fuel-based materials. As synthetic fibre production continues to grow, so too do its impacts: greenhouse gas emissions, microplastic pollution and ever-increasing volumes of textile waste.

Can recycling solve a crisis caused by overproduction?

The timing of the intervention was deliberate: the Oil Drip Ritual took place directly outside one of Europe’s largest events dedicated to textile recycling and circularity.

Recycling is an industry narrative. Unfortunately, it distracts us from the actual problem – the endless growth in production. That point was at the heart of our action.

For years, public debate has focused primarily on what happens to clothing after it’s discarded. Much less attention has been paid to the sheer scale of production itself!

Oil Drip Ritual June 27 – Narges Aqamiri for Ocean. Now! IV

Without measures to reduce overproduction, phase down the use of virgin fossil-fuel-based materials and extend product lifetimes, recycling initiatives will struggle to keep pace with the scale of the problem. And, as we’ve learned, recycled synthetic fibers pollute even more than non-recycled fibers!

Microplastic fibers, the ocean and human health

The story doesn’t end when a garment leaves the shop.

Every time synthetic clothing is worn, washed or dried, tiny plastic fibres are released into the environment. These microplastics have now been detected in rivers, the ocean, wildlife, drinking water and human bodies.

For Ocean. Now!, this raises a fundamental question:

How much plastic pollution are we willing to accept as the hidden cost of fashion?

Frédérique Mongodin, Senior Marine Litter Policy Officer at Seas At Risk, emphasised the urgency of addressing the problem at its source:

Microplastic pollution from synthetic textiles is a hidden but growing threat to ocean health. These tiny fibres are invisible, yet they are now found in the world’s ecosystems, harming marine life and ultimately ending up in our own bodies. If we are serious about protecting the ocean, we cannot focus on waste management alone.

Fashion waste colonialism

The impacts of fast fashion are not shared equally.

While many consumers in Europe rarely see where unwanted clothing ends up, communities in countries such as Ghana increasingly deal with the consequences.

Through its Under Our Skin campaign, Ocean. Now! has documented how large volumes of discarded textiles end up in dumpsites, waterways and coastal ecosystems, creating environmental, economic and social burdens for local communities.

The organisations behind the Oil Drip Ritual describe this injustice as fashion waste colonialism: a system in which the environmental costs of overproduction are quite literally dumped on the communities least responsible for creating the problem.

As Hellen Dena, Project Lead for the Pan-African Plastic Project at Greenpeace Africa, explained:

While the impact of waste colonialism is devastating, it’s only one side of the story. The supply chain behind fast fashion is just as damaging. From toxic chemicals and massive carbon footprints to worker exploitation, the damage is widespread.

Beyond Fossil Fashion

The Oil Drip Ritual wasn’t just a critique of the current system – it was also an invitation to imagine something different. Meike Schützek, founder of Ocean. Now! and coordinator of the project, said:

A truly non-toxic circular fashion economy reduces dependence on virgin fossil-fuel-based materials, prevents microplastic pollution at source, supports durable and repairable products, and creates the conditions for new business models based on sharing, renting, repairing and reuse. This systemic change is overdue.

As the oil slowly spread across the white polyester shirts in Brussels, it revealed a simple truth: before polyester becomes fashion, it is fossil fuel.

And if we want a healthier future for people, communities and the ocean, we need to start there.

#BanMicroplastics #UnderOurSkin

If you’d like to support our efforts to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean, you can support our current campaign by signing our petition or donating to our conservation efforts. Together, we can make waves of change.