system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Where does the smell of 'new clothes' come from?
gpt
Fashion Design degree here...

You are smelling Chemicals, pure and simple.

Now *which* chemicals is a very different question, and depends on the fabrics the new clothes are made out of. Oil-based textiles (nylon, stretch fabrics, etc) are treated at various stages to make the fabric more or less pliant, to color it, and to give other attributes like waterproofing, etc.

Cottons are dyed and also treated with starches (or with softeners) to change the "hand" of the fabric. (The "hand" is how the fabric feels in the hand... silk has a different hand than canvas, for example.)

And leather? It's better that you don't know how leather is treated. Trust me.

But yeah... chemicals. That's what you are smelling.