Educating for Sustainable Fashion: Using Clothing Acquisition Abstinence to Explore Sustainable Consumption and Life Beyond Growth

Abstract

This paper reports outcomes from a research study whereby fashion-oriented students experienced life where the ability to acquire new clothing was removed. Students volunteered to participate in this experiential learning challenge, titled the Fashion Detox: to abstain from clothing acquisition for 10 weeks and reflect about the experience. This learning experience was characterized by barriers to sustainable consumption, chief among them a range of temptations prompted by inescapable merchandising and marketing strategies, compulsive tendencies, and envy of those who could consume with impunity. Students also indicated many benefits to abstaining from acquisition, such as creativity and self-regulation. This teaching and learning experiment has important implications for the challenges faced by

Perceptions and attitudes towards sustainable fashion design: challenges and opportunities for implementing sustainability in fashion

“…What is more, there are various challenges involved in practicing sustainable consumption; these can be classified into three major experiences at the individual, social and cultural levels (Armstrong, Connell, Lang, Ruppert-Stroescu & LeHew, 2016). Individual barriers comprise a personal desire for new or perceived-as-new products, services and experiences.…”

“…It is challenging for individual consumers to completely remove hedonistic needs, such as recreational or impulsive shopping. At the social level, consumers have been greatly influenced by their peer groups, especially the young consumer demographic, who experience feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction through constant comparison with peers and reference groups (Armstrong et al, 2016). At the cultural level, challenges involve inescapable triggers and temptation from various fashion marketing and merchandising tactics that impose constant changes of clothing and the desire to wear new fashion.…”

Clothing style confidence: The development and validation of a multidimensional scale to explore product longevity

“…Here, creativity and self‐awareness are key traits that promote a unique style that is not a result of followership. These notions about the facilitation of style via sustainable consumption are affirmed by research participants in a previous study who practiced abstinence from new clothing acquisition for a period of time and became clearer and more confident about their personal style as a consequence (Joyner Armstrong, Hiller Connell, Lang, Ruppert‐Stroescu, & LeHew, ). This experiment also prompted a variety of creative experimentation within the wardrobe as a problem‐solving strategy that resulted in the intensification of personal style (Ruppert‐Stroescu et al, ).…”

Com que Roupa Eu Vou? Compreendendo o Consumo de Vestimentas Realizado por Empresárias de Confecções

“…Sempre passa por definição" (Mesquita, 2004, p. 25). Os mercados da Moda concentram-se na desvalorização imediata de suas antigas ofertas, a fim de limpar a área da demanda pública para que novas ofertas a preencham (Armstrong, Connell, Lang, Stroescu & LeHew 2016).…”

“…O que motiva este descarte é a mudança da Moda e a consequente modificação das preferências das empresárias. Descartar é ação que visa a desvalorização de ofertas antigas, objetivando limpar a área da demanda pública para que novas ofertas a preencham (Armstrong et al, 2016). Por isso, as empresárias não podem gostar de roupas velhas; o objetivo é comprar e desvalorizar aquela peça, de modo a torná-la inútil em pouco tempo, de modo a cultuar aquilo que é novo (Bauman, 2008).…”