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Sustainable Fashion

Kasem, Nuur LU (2019) SMMM20 20191
Department of Service Studies
Abstract
Background: The fashion industry is one of the world’s largest and most creative sectors in
the retail industry, but also one of the most polluting industries globally. More and more
clothes are produced than it is needed, and this has been a usual process in the fashion industry
to meet consumers’ needs. Consumers can also be responsible for the environmental
degradation, even though most of the environmental impact is attributed to the fashion
industry because consumers can be mindless actors with no control over the environmental
impact of fashion products. Due to these several issues the fashion industry has been moving
towards more sustainable trends by introducing new materials for fashion products to be more
sustainable,... (More)
Background: The fashion industry is one of the world’s largest and most creative sectors in
the retail industry, but also one of the most polluting industries globally. More and more
clothes are produced than it is needed, and this has been a usual process in the fashion industry
to meet consumers’ needs. Consumers can also be responsible for the environmental
degradation, even though most of the environmental impact is attributed to the fashion
industry because consumers can be mindless actors with no control over the environmental
impact of fashion products. Due to these several issues the fashion industry has been moving
towards more sustainable trends by introducing new materials for fashion products to be more
sustainable, intending to transform the fashion industry for the greater good, by rethinking
how to produce and perceive textiles. The goal with the new materials is to use available
resources to substitute the scarce resources.
Aim: This study aims to understand what consumers associate with the term sustainability in
consumption of ready-made clothing, how important sustainability is for them when
shopping and consuming ready-made clothing and what they consider as sustainable fashion,
regarding ready-made clothing that consists of conventional materials as well as new
materials.
Theories: Today sustainable consumption demands rational decisions; which consumers
should meet despite conflicting sources of information. Consumers are becoming
increasingly interested in the environmental consequences associated with their consumption
patterns and they are using different strategies to shop and consume sustainably. However,
different complexities may arise for consumers who are trying to be sustainable when
shopping and consuming fashion products.
Methodology: A mixed-method of induction and deduction was applied in this research.
Henceforth, the research method is based on abduction. This research also applied subjective
epistemology and constructionist ontology, because the aim was to understand consumers in
the context of sustainability and new materials in fashion products. First, qualitative methods
such as a pilot interview and netnography were conducted to get knowledge about the
empirical field. Second, the empirical data was gathered by conducting two focus group
interviews and a questionnaire with 64 participants. The empirical data was then analyzed
with the theories.
Conclusions: There are increasing interest and awareness among consumers for
sustainability and new materials in ready-made clothes in the fashion industry. Consumers
also desire to get more knowledge from companies and that companies become more
transparent with them. Consumers also mention that other aspects of sustainability, such as
the consumption, production, manufacturing and working conditions in the industry, and not
only the materials in clothes are also important to take into consideration, that changing the
materials in clothes is not enough for becoming more sustainable. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Kasem, Nuur LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
A Study from Consumer Perspective on Sustainability in Fashion and New Materials
course
SMMM20 20191
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Fashion, new materials, consumption, sustainability
language
English
id
9007284
date added to LUP
2020-11-20 11:06:04
date last changed
2020-11-20 11:06:04
@misc{9007284,
  abstract     = {{Background: The fashion industry is one of the world’s largest and most creative sectors in
the retail industry, but also one of the most polluting industries globally. More and more
clothes are produced than it is needed, and this has been a usual process in the fashion industry
to meet consumers’ needs. Consumers can also be responsible for the environmental
degradation, even though most of the environmental impact is attributed to the fashion
industry because consumers can be mindless actors with no control over the environmental
impact of fashion products. Due to these several issues the fashion industry has been moving
towards more sustainable trends by introducing new materials for fashion products to be more
sustainable, intending to transform the fashion industry for the greater good, by rethinking
how to produce and perceive textiles. The goal with the new materials is to use available
resources to substitute the scarce resources.
Aim: This study aims to understand what consumers associate with the term sustainability in
consumption of ready-made clothing, how important sustainability is for them when
shopping and consuming ready-made clothing and what they consider as sustainable fashion,
regarding ready-made clothing that consists of conventional materials as well as new
materials.
Theories: Today sustainable consumption demands rational decisions; which consumers
should meet despite conflicting sources of information. Consumers are becoming
increasingly interested in the environmental consequences associated with their consumption
patterns and they are using different strategies to shop and consume sustainably. However,
different complexities may arise for consumers who are trying to be sustainable when
shopping and consuming fashion products.
Methodology: A mixed-method of induction and deduction was applied in this research.
Henceforth, the research method is based on abduction. This research also applied subjective
epistemology and constructionist ontology, because the aim was to understand consumers in
the context of sustainability and new materials in fashion products. First, qualitative methods
such as a pilot interview and netnography were conducted to get knowledge about the
empirical field. Second, the empirical data was gathered by conducting two focus group
interviews and a questionnaire with 64 participants. The empirical data was then analyzed
with the theories.
Conclusions: There are increasing interest and awareness among consumers for
sustainability and new materials in ready-made clothes in the fashion industry. Consumers
also desire to get more knowledge from companies and that companies become more
transparent with them. Consumers also mention that other aspects of sustainability, such as
the consumption, production, manufacturing and working conditions in the industry, and not
only the materials in clothes are also important to take into consideration, that changing the
materials in clothes is not enough for becoming more sustainable.}},
  author       = {{Kasem, Nuur}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Sustainable Fashion}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}