Theory of planned behavior, ethics and intention of conscious consumption in Slow Fashion Consumption

PurposeThis study seeks to investigate the influence of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), of the conscious consumption intention and of the consumer ethical considerations, on Slow Fashion Consumption in the region known as Agreste Pernambucano, in Brazil, which is known for being an apparel manufacturing area.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve this purpose, descriptive quantitative research using non-probabilistic sampling was conducted. Data were collected through an online survey and distributed through the snowball technique. The sample consists of 486 respondents and relies on structural equation modeling for data analysis.FindingsThe results highlight that the Slow Fashion Consumption, in the scope of Local Productive Arrangement (LPA) of clothing manufacturing in the Agreste region, is influenced by the intention of conscious consumption, the ethical considerations in consumer behavior and the perceived behavioral control. Moreover, the results highlight the role of the influence of subjective norms both in the attitudes of consumers and the intention of conscious consumption.Originality/valueThe primary contribution of this study is to demonstrate that perceived behavioral control is positively associated with Slow Fashion Consumption, which, in turn, shows that respondents believe they have control over their sustainable actions.

Moda e tragédia: os impactos do desabamento de Rana Plaza nos modelos fast fashion e slow fashion

Diante da tragédia de Rana Plaza, em 24 de abril de 2013, o presente artigo busca evidenciar os impactos provocados pelo desastre nos modelos de negócios dos tipos fast fashion e slow fashion. Para tanto, emprega-se uma pesquisa ex-post-facto com vistas a desenhar as consequências do acontecimento. A partir da literatura consultada, estabeleceram-se como categorias de evidência: (I) trabalho; (II) consumo; (III) sociedade; e (IV) indústria. Os resultados atestam que, pós-Rana Plaza, (I) o modelo fast fashion avançou em acordos de segurança, contudo, seus consumidores apresentam controvérsias; e (II) o modelo slow fashion apoiou o surgimento de iniciativas do terceiro setor e deu subsídio para comportamentos pró-sustentabilidade.

Slow Fashion Trends: Are Consumers Willing to Change Their Shopping Behavior to Become More Sustainable?

The fashion industry, despite generating great benefits in terms of trade, employment and income worldwide, is considered one of the most polluting industries due to the linearity of its production process with a high consumption of energy and raw materials as well as of waste generation. Furthermore, the short life cycles of its products, where the consumer seeks more to be fashionable than the products’ durability, contribute to this. However, this paradigm is changing due to society’s increased concern for the environment and a healthier way of life, promoting the emergence of a new concept called slow fashion, which seeks to improve the sustainability of fashion items from an environmental and ethical point of view. In this way, many companies are implementing circular economy measures in their production processes and innovating more circular products. The purpose of this work was to determine the consumer orientation toward slow fashion consumption, their perceived value and if they are willing to accept changes in their own behavior. The results confirm this new consumer orientation toward slow fashion consumption, which entails an important business transformation, fostering the innovation of new products and manufacturing systems characterized by a circular approach.

Applying Storytelling Approach to Analyze Kojima Jeans District Based on Slow Fashion Perspectives

This study conducted a case study of Kojima district in Japan, which underwent a rise and fall through the past booms, disruptive innovation, international politics, and changes in government policy. Today, the district has successfully regenerated, and the regeneration is linked to fashion localism. This study aimed to explore how the Kojima district sustained community-based fashion business and analyzed the factors that contributed to its regeneration from the slow fashion viewpoint. This study employed a case study analysis, using the storytelling approach, and established an analytical framework based on keywords derived from slow fashion, namely localism, quality, and value. The results indicate that the strategies of business leadership, improvement in quality, a willingness to address new challenges, success in authenticating strategies, clustering fashion business, path dependency, and maintaining workers and the fashion business community contributed to promoting a series of industrial structural adjustments in Kojima and sustaining the community-based fashion business.

Sustainable Design through Up-Cycling Crafts in the Mainstream Fashion Industry of India

Fashion is considered to be the most destructive industry, second only to the oil rigging industry, which has a greater impact on the environment. While fashion today, banks upon fast fashion to generate higher turnover of designs and patterns in apparel and relate accessories, crafts push us towards a more slow and thoughtful approach with culturally identifiably unique work and slow community centred production. Despite this strong link between indigenous crafts and sustainability, it has not been extensively researched and explored upon. In the forthcoming years, the fashion industry will have to re-invent itself to move towards a more holistic and sustainable circular model to balance the harm already caused. And closed loops of the circular economy will help the integration of indigenous craft knowledge which is regenerative. Though sustainability and crafts of a region go hand- in- hand, craft still have to find its standing in the mainstream fashion world; craft practices have a strong local congruence and knowledge that has been passed down generation-to-generation through oration or written materials. This paper aims to explore ways a circular economy can be created by amalgamating fashion and craft while creating a sustainable business model and how this is slowly being created today through brands. KEYWORDS: Circular Economy, Fashion, India, Indigenous Crafts, Slow Fashion, Sustainability, Up-cycling

Sustainability and Transparency—Necessary Conditions for the Transition from Fast to Slow Fashion: Zara Join Life Collection’s Analysis

Starting from the concept of sustainability in fashion, the aim of our research is to analyse to what extent the Zara Join Life collection is sustainable, environmentally friendly (as advertised), and transparent, in terms of the information provided to the consumer, in order to offer Zara’s fashion consumers a set of aspects to take into account when intending to buy responsibly, such as the composition of the product, the percentage of recyclable materials used, its origin, etc. Our practical goal is to generate a gradual change in Zara consumers’ behaviour by creating a set of basic skills to transform one from a fast, superficial consumer into a slow, conscious customer with decision-making power. We analysed the Zara Join Life collection, which is advertised on the company’s website as supporting sustainability as a continuous project. The methodology consisted of a documentation-learning stage in order to reach the stages of data collection, data processing, and information organization—the methods used for the analysis of fashion consumers’ behaviours. The analysis was conducted on 40 Zara Join Life collection garments (10 women’s clothing items, 10 men’s clothing items, and 20 garments for kids, both girls and boys) sold online on Zara’s website. The collected research data were analysed and interpreted within the case study.

Sustainable development and the aspirational male consumer: Tengri, making the case for sustainable luxury

Luxury is an industry that defines its value through the quality of its raw materials, which fosters creativity, elevates artisanship and relies on brand heritage and local production to underpin the provenance of its products and justify its pricing strategy and, as such, can be considered as embodying many of the practices of sustainability. Yet, despite public commitments and pledges for better business, both financial and cultural factors have contributed to a lack of progress in implementing the necessary system changes implied by slow fashion, sustainable development and the circular economy. Social enterprises use business to address social and environmental issues. In Tengri’s case, founder Nancy Johnston was inspired by her experiences travelling with Mongolia’s yak herders where she was confronted with the harshness of the nomadic way of life and threats to its continuing existence. She was driven to action when she juxtaposed these conditions with the promoted glamour of the luxury fashion industry, which relies on supplies of ingredients from just such workers. This article explores how Tengri combines social and environmental awareness with luxury product development incorporating the UN SDGs into a sustainable luxury menswear brand in a virtuous cycle of ethical fashion consumption and production.