Sustainability for Fashion

There’s a new sheriff in town and its sustainability.

A lot of new companies are trying to become sustainable fashion. What is sustainable fashion? A world with sustainable fashion would include clothing and accessories that don’t pollute the planet through greenhouse gas emissions, toxic chemicals, or waste. It is hard to know if people actually care about sustainability since most of us chose to forget child labor.

Recent surveys show what consumers find most important when shopping: 92 to 95 percent of people like the ease of shopping, price/value, and uniqueness of a product, 60 percent look at the name of the brand and only 35 percent of people care about sustainability.

There have been arguments made about opening discussions to the consumers about sustainability, but others do often question if they even care, half the time people just want a product that works. This may be true for the most part, but starting the conversation makes people aware and it might become a movement. The marketing route brands would like to take if they were to ride the sustainability wave is to keep a message short a sweet. In their experience, customers do not like read up on products because it will drive them away. Something like, “No animals were harmed” or “Vegan leather”, will attract consumers to purchase their products. In totality, the brand needs to be respected and be known for something. Toms shoe brand for example, if you purchase a pair of Toms another pair of new shoes is given to a child in need in partnership with humanitarian organizations. This is Toms message and consumers feed into it because they are helping other children. It is a sweet and concise message that consumers would understand and support. Another example would be H&M’s conscious brand that is made from sustainable products to give consumers top quality. The sub-brand from H&M is doing well since the products fly off the shelves and people believe they’re purchasing a product that will last them a lifetime.

Will sustainability change the fashion world or is it just another gimmick or ploy to mark prices for consumers to essentially believe they are saving the planet if they even care.