Slow Fashion, Digital Citizenship, and Greenwashing
This week's set reading by Domingos et al. explores the slow fashion movement and consumer values, attitudes, and behaviour intentions towards slow fashion (2022). The concept of fast fashion must first be introduced to provide context for the slow fashion movement.
Fast fashion is the production of clothes based on principles of trendiness, speed-to-market, and low-cost (Hall 2018). The clothes are often low quality and produced through unethical labour (Geiger & Keller 2018). Main environmental consequences of fast fashion are landfill contribution, water pollution, and greenhouse gases from the production process (Geiger & Keller 2018; Jung, Kim & Lee 2021). Fast fashion is aligned with the glamorisation of overconsumption.
Slow fashion is a movement which rejects fast fashion and promotes conscious consumption of high-quality clothes (Hall 2018). It centres on consumers' awareness of the social and environmental impact of garment manufacturing (Hall 2018). Domingos et al. concluded that members of the slow fashion community value exclusivity, individuality, and timelessness in clothing (2022). They also have an interest in the ethical treatment of workers and the environment during garment production (Domingos et al. 2022).
The Online Slow Fashion Community
The online slow fashion community is a space to share content related to ethically and sustainably obtained clothing (Lee & Weder 2021). The slow fashion community encompasses multiple smaller micro-publics. The thrifting micro-public share their second-hand garment purchases. Trends have arisen within this group, such as the hashtag #thriftwithme which has 1.7 billion views on TikTok at the time of writing.
Closely aligned is the upcycling micro-public, which refers to the redesigning and alteration of second-hand clothes into unique pieces.
Thrifting and upcycling contribute to sustainable fashion through the reuse of existing clothing. Supporters of the slow fashion movement juxtapose the values of overconsumption and trendiness upheld by the mainstream fashion community (Lee & Weder 2021).
The Slow Fashion Movement and Digital Citizenship
The slow fashion movement and digital citizenship share key principles of personal responsibility, ethical and respectful treatment of others, and rejection of overconsumption (Geiger & Keller 2018).
The existence of the online slow fashion community is also a display of digital citizenship. Members utilise the platform afforded by technology to advocate for a more sustainable approach to fashion (Choi & Cristol 2021). These demands for ethicality and environmental consideration have engendered tangible change, driving various fast fashion brands to adopt green initiatives.
Greenwashing
Sustainability is often commodified in an attempt to sell to the slow fashion community (Adamkiewicz et al. 2022). Referred to as greenwashing, fast fashion companies falsely present themselves as ethical and eco-conscious whilst implementing little change to their operations to reduce their environmental impact (Adamkiewicz et al. 2022).
Fast fashion brand Boohoo exemplifies this. Boohoo is owned by Boohoo Group PLC, one of the world's largest fast fashion companies with an annual revenue of 1.98b GBP in 2022 (Boohoo Group PLC 2022). Boohoo announced a partnership with Kourtney Kardashian in 2022 and her collaboration on a sustainable fashion line. The partnership was heavily promoted on social media.
Whilst Boohoo portrayed their collaboration with Kourtney Kardashian as an opportunity to educate others on the impact of fast fashion, the slow fashion community criticised the irony of discouraging overconsumption whilst launching a new line of clothes. The line also includes garments made from unrecyclable materials such as polyurethane which further contradicts their claims of sustainability (Boohoo 2023).
Digital citizenship is displayed through the slow fashion community's online advocacy for a more ethical fashion industry. Whilst greenwashing is a performative practice, its occurrence exemplifies that change can be enacted as a result of digital communities.
References
@boohoo 2022, 17 September, viewed 7 April 2023, <https://www.instagram.com/reel/CiK2_DIoBSc/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=22ee4000-0c21-48e8-8385-eecccf5295e8>.
@annaime 2022, 27 June, viewed 7 April 2023, <https://www.tiktok.com/@annaime/video/7113665683921046827?_r=1&_t=8b9uVEVyoHB>.
@melxdivine 2023, 15 March, viewed 7 April 2023, <https://www.tiktok.com/@melxdivine/video/7210550880066669866?_r=1&_t=8bHvNDrZBKb>.
Adamkiewicz, I, Adamkiewicz, J, Kochańska, E & Łukasik, R M 2022, 'Greenwashing and sustainable fashion industry', Current opinion in green and sustainable chemistry, vol. 38, pp. 100710.
Boohoo 2023, KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN BARKER FAUX LEATHER OVERCOAT, Boohoo, viewed 7 April 2023, <https://au.boohoo.com/kourtney-kardashian-barker-faux-leather-overcoat/GZZ20024.html>.
Boohoo Group PLC 2022, Annual Report and Accounts 2022, Boohoo Group PLC, viewed 7 April 2023, <https://www.boohooplc.com/sites/boohoo-corp/files/2022-05/boohoo-com-plc-annual-report-2022.pdf>.
Choi, M & Cristol, D 2021, 'Digital citizenship with intersectionality lens: Towards participatory democracy driven digital citizenship education', Theory Into Practice, vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 361-370.
De Barra, L 2022, Laura de Barra, 6:06PM, viewed 7 April 2023, <https://twitter.com/lauradebarra/status/1567424165266743301?s=46&t=dBWcXxGaUY1mSknxzPUwOA>.
Domingos, M, Faria, S & Vale, V T 2022, 'Slow Fashion Consumer Behavior: A Literature Review', Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 2860.
Geiger, S M & Keller, J 2018, 'Shopping for Clothes and Sensitivity to the Suffering of Others: The Role of Compassion and Values in Sustainable Fashion Consumption', Environment and behavior, vol. 50, no. 10, pp. 1119-1144.
Hall, J 2018, 'Digital Kimono: Fast Fashion, Slow Fashion?', Fashion theory, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 283-307.
Lee, E & Weder, F 2021, 'Framing Sustainable Fashion Concepts on Social Media. An Analysis of #slowfashionaustralia Instagram Posts and Post-COVID Visions of the Future', Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 13, no. 17, pp.9976.
Lee, Y, Kim, I & Jung, H J 2021, 'Consumers’ Value and Risk Perceptions of Circular Fashion: Comparison between Secondhand, Upcycled, and Recycled Clothing', Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 1208.
Rai, R 2022, Reena Rai, 6:15PM, viewed 7 April 2023, <https://twitter.com/reenarai_/status/1567426291405561856?s=46&t=dBWcXxGaUY1mSknxzPUwOA>.
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