Fashion Libraries as a Means for Sustainability Education—An Exploratory Case Study of Adolescents’ Consumer Culture

Abstract

Adolescents often do not consider sustainability in their consumption behaviours. Sustainability issues are challenging to communicate through course content alone. Against this background, the concept of fashion libraries (FLs) was introduced to adolescents at a non-denominational school in a small German city. The purpose was to explore whether the students’ attitudes would change over time in response to distinct interventions and project-based learning, such as the foundation of an FL, upcycling workshops and lectures on sustainability. The sample comprised 10 female adolescents in the age between 13 and 16 years, who volunteered to participate in the clothing library project. An exploratory mixed-methods approach, including a questionnaire, two interventions and pre-and post-intervention in-depth interviews, was utilized. The findings hint at an incremental change in the students’ attitudes towards an appreciation of garments and a change in behaviour. They started to reflect their behaviour and consequently reduced the frequency and quantity of their clothing purchases. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first article in which an FL was founded to investigate the consumption behaviour of adolescents.

Pedagogical Approaches for Sustainable Fashion Design Curriculum: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The findings of this literature review also reveal various key competencies that can be cultivated in students through different pedagogical approaches in addition to skills related to sustainability to face the future in practising a sustainable lifestyle. Teachers play a crucial role in ensuring students acquire knowledge, skills, and values about sustainability practices, as this generation is envisioned to be the transformative force in the fashion industry (Agarwal, 2023;Becker-Leifhold & Hirscher, 2019).…”

“…Utilised through collaborative, inquiry-based, student-centered, and self-directed engagement, this approach is especially pertinent for learning about fashion sustainability principles, particularly when including zero-waste design concepts (Gam & Banning, 2020). This method is suggested as a resolution for practical sustainability issues faced by students (Becker-Leifhold & Hirscher, 2019). Practical learning experiences let students acquire handson experience, connecting theory with practice in sustainable fashion projects.…”

“…Alongside project production, students have the opportunity for real-world learning experiences Agarwal (2021;Agarwal (2023); Choi (2019) using digital technology (Choi, 2019). The project implementation nurtures students' problem-solving skills in the context of fashion sustainability to address real-world challenges (Agarwal, 2021;Becker-Leifhold & Hirscher, 2019;Choi, 2019;Gam & Banning, 2020).…”

“…Aligned with UNESCO's (2020) commitment to student-centered sustainability education, selected literature findings highlight that teachers can implement various methods to apply student-centered teaching approaches. Students are encouraged to engage in selfassessment in applying fashion sustainability education Agarwal (2021); Ma (2022); Murzyn-Kupisz & Holuj (2021) through self-exploration (Agarwal, 2021;Choi, 2019;Becker-Leifhold & Hirscher, 2019;Ma, 2022). Self-reflection activities Agarwal (2021); Jestratijevic & Hillery (2023); Wood et al (2022) related to sustainable fashion allow students to receive feedback and evaluate their projects (Gam & Banning, 2020).…”

“…Concerns identified in previous studies reveal that students often resist change and need more motivation due to perceiving sustainable actions as challenging to implement and lacking support in daily life (Jestratijevic & Hillery, 2023). Moreover, teenagers frequently lack concern for sustainability in their consumption behaviors (Becker-Leifhold & Hirscher, 2019). Hence, Shephard and Pookulangara (2022) posit that Generation Z students, considered future change agents, must be exposed to and embrace the concept of sustainable fashion within the educational curriculum.…”