Socially Responsible Fashion Practice: Looking Good and Feeling Good

Concerns for sustainability were prominent in 2019 amid fears that the impact from climate change on the planet would soon be irreversible. Despite the United Nations devising 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint to address global challenges, the fashion industry has made little progress in addressing current production processes. Given that the fashion industry is the second biggest global polluter, there exists the potential to make a significant difference to the future of the planet. In particular, this chapter addresses SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. However, previous research has found that consumers face a number of barriers which restrict the advancement of sustainable fashion, mainly due to sustainable fashion not following fashion trends. Previous research has also found that this induces guilt for consumers, who fear that their consumption derives from exploitative sources. This research explores how consumers can purchase fashion that makes them look good because they are portraying clothes that reflect their constructed self-identity, as well as feel good because they know that their garments were produced sympathetically to the environment and production workers. Utilising social identity theory, the literature and data examine how fashion contributes to self-esteem and confidence, noting that similar feelings are experienced from sustainable production. This chapter concludes on how fashion producers and retailers could capitalise on creating new tenants of value through socially responsive production and supporting socially responsive consumption though educating and better use of labelling. 1. Introduction