Due to the rapidly increasing human population, our footprint on Earth is getting heavier, especially due to our growing consumption rates. Fashion and textile industry is already among one of the most polluting industries in the world, and there is no question that changes are needed. More and more companied choose to work towards controlling sustainability in clothing supply chain, and there are different reasons and ways to do it. The most common ways that companies do it includes working towards sustainability on the production side (materials, fabrics, garment production and distribution), but as sustainable fashion brands state they want “to do good”, there comes a question, what about other part consumption in supply chain (retail, user phase, disposal) sustainability?
As sustainable consumption is very much connected to sustainable development and it could be one approach towards making businesses more sustainable, this Master research investigates how sustainable fashion brands (SFB) work towards promoting sustainable consumption (SC) among customers. In order to answer the main research question, two supporting sub-questions are formed about what is actually considered as SFB and what real initiatives sustainable companies have for encouraging customers to consume sustainably. Four fashion companies which state they are work towards sustainability are interviewed in order to get a deeper insight about the topic.
The results show that there is a lack of sustainable standard in clothing industry and it causes chaos and even phenomenon like greenwashing in fashion. But in this Master thesis SFB are considered if they are working towards triple bottom line and CE based business model. More insight about the way companies work is got: they try to approach two kinds of customers (the environmentally conscious and style oriented) to buy their garments with an easy and fun attitude. What is more, additional information is obtained about the challenges SFB face today (limited budget, too high price barrier, consumers reluctance and retailers’ acceptance being crucial).
All but one SFB that were interviewed agree that both parts of clothing supply chain (production and consumption) should be taken care regarding sustainability. With CE based initiatives SFB try to promote SC among customers in retail, user and disposal stages: designing for longevity, producing from organic materials, upcycling, repairing, taking-back, reselling and leasing. Additional data about customers is obtained: SFB think they know their customers quite well; they get positive feedback from customers; and they would divide their customers’ base in two groups-sustainability oriented and style conscious persons.