Sustainability has gained prominence from past couple of decades, the fashion industry is most polluting industries in the global. This research is to explain the importance of sustainability integration in the fashion industry. The research methodology applied is first, it provides literature review examining books and articles pertaining to environmental and social responsibility in fashion industry from past decade. Secondly, the case study on H&M Group and interviewing end consumers of fashion. The results to demonstrate the importance of sustainability in the fashion industry and how fashion retailers play a key role and responsibility for enabling sustainability in the whole supply chain.

This thesis focuses on research through the design process of building an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experience concept resembling a digital art gallery. It covers the topics of sustainable fashion, changing people’s perspectives and behaviour, and new technologies like VR and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Through the experience of the art pieces displayed in the virtual gallery, created with AI, and focused on the critique of the fast fashion system, users are involved in the process of opening a space for reflection, discussion, education, and learning on the relative topic. The subjects of the research are deeply analysed in the Theoretical Framework. Therefore, this section is divided into three main research areas: Sustainable Fashion, changing people’s behaviour, and VR and Artwork. The three other key chapters that follow this first one are the Methodology, Concept Development, and the Final Concept and Validation chapters. In the first two, it is presented the design process and the CoDesign methods used during the process to gather information and insights in order to create the final concept. Meanwhile, in the latter, the content discussed is the concept created as the final deliverable of this project and the validation session that was organised to evaluate it. In conclusion to this thesis, the last chapter of Conclusions and Discussion answers the research questions at the base of this project and presents the possibilities offered by the concept of a virtual and immersive art gallery. The outcome of this project is presenting a design for a virtual art gallery showing AI-generated pictures that combine classical art pieces with problematic issues in fast fashion, intended to change people’s perception of sustainable fashion. Moreover, it is discussed the potentiality of using VR as a relevant and promising medium to convey a meaningful message about sustainable fashion that might induce people to embrace a more responsible consumer behaviour. In this optic, the final concept has the opportunity to be used as an educational tool for younger generations and the chance to place it in public spaces or art exhibitions to be experienced by people. / <p>Examensarbetet är utfört vid Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap (ITN) vid Tekniska fakulteten, Linköpings universitet</p>

This essay explores how the secondhand company Myrorna positions itself in relation to discussions surrounding sustainability and consumerism. Five of Myrornas marketing campaigns from 2010 to 2022 are individually examined through a visual semiotic analysis. Findings are then deepened through a discourse analysis where the five campaigns are discussed together. Consumer culture theory and Bourdieus theory on capital are used to deepen the discussion and to correlate findings to discourses surrounding sustainability and consumption. The results show that Myrornas marketing heavily relies on arguments around sustainability and creates a discourse of secondhand shopping as the correct consumer choice. Despite this, there is no critique of consumerism and overconsumption. Instead Myrorna position secondhand clothing as just as fashion forward and trendy as fast-fashion and use the same selling points we are used to seeing in fast-fashion marketing.

[pt] Considerando o aumento da prevalência dos discursos e das disciplinas, sobre sustentabilidade nas instituições de ensino do Campo do Design de Moda, objetiva-se investigar como o Campo compreende a noção de sustentabilidade. Para tal, a fim de aprendermos a totalidade social, empregamos as teorias do Campo e da economia dos bens simbólicos, de Pierre Bourdieu, e a teoria social de Marx, a qual acessamos, sobretudo, por intermédio de pesquisadores marxistas. Esse estudo verificou que o discurso e a prática do design de moda sustentável tendem a reproduzir a ideologia da sustentabilidade corporativa. Essa camufla os interesses de classe, apoiando-se na razoabilidade da defesa ambiental, ao mesmo tempo que emprega uma retórica supraclassista. / [en] Considering the increase in the prevalence ofthe discourses and courses about sustainability in the institutions that teach Fashion Design, we aim to investigate how the field understands the sustainability notion. For such, as a meansto learn the social totality, we apply Bourdieu s Field theory and theory of the economy of symbolic goods and Marx s social theory, which we have accessed mainly through Marxist researchers. This study found that the discourse and practice of sustainable fashion design tend to reproduce the ideology of corporate sustainability. That camouflages class interests, relying on the reasonableness of environmental defense, while employing a supraclassist rhetoric.

Under de senaste 15 åren har modeindustrin växt och blivit både snabbare och billigare och begreppet fast fashion har etablerats. Fast fashion är en affärsstrategi inom modeindustrin vars mål är att reducera ledtiderna från idé till butik. Strategin syftar till att tillfredsställa kundernas begär av de senaste trenderna på mycket kort tid. Fast fashion branschen kan sägas stå i motsägelse till en hållbar utveckling, då den representerar korta modecykler där kläder tenderar att bli ”slit och släng” varor. Idag går utvecklingen dock mot en ökad medvetenhet i gröna, miljörelaterade frågor vilket har lett till att fler produkter marknadsförs som gröna produkter. En ökad miljömedvetenhet hos konsumenten har skapat ett behov hos företag att kartlägga den gröna konsumenten. Ur ett företag - och marknadsföringsperspektiv är en förståelse för vad den gröna konsumenten eftersöker en förutsättning, då det är ineffektivt att utveckla gröna produkter om inte kunden attraheras av dem.Syftet med uppsatsen är att uppnå en ökad förståelse för modekonsumentens attityder och uppfattningar kring hållbart mode inom fast fashion branschen på den svenska marknaden. Uppsatsen har en kvalitativ utformning och datainsamling har skett genom två fokusgrupper. Den insamlade empirin har analyserats utifrån den teoretiska referensramen. Den behandlar teorier kring konsumentbeteende med inriktning mot fast fashion konsumenten och den gröna konsumenten. Vidare behandlas segmentering med fokus på grön segmentering och slutligen marknadskommunikation med inriktning mot hållbar och grön kommunikation. Resultatet från de undersökta kunderna är tänkta att generera uppslag för fast fashion företag vid utformning och kommunikation av produkter och aktiviteter kopplade till hållbart mode.Vi kan utifrån resultatet från båda fokusgrupperna urskilja en något motsägelsefull hållning till miljömedvetenhet. Det är tveksamt huruvida de undersökta kunderna ser en problematik i klädkonsumtionen kopplat till miljöproblem. Vidare uppvisar de en skepsis gentemot fast fashion företagens hållbara mode då de ifrågasätter trovärdigheten och äktheten. Gällande hur hållbart mode kan kommuniceras kan sägas att intervjupersonerna eftersöker en tydlighet i hur budskapen kommuniceras. En slutsats i uppsatsen är att den höga omsättningen på produkter framkallar ett ”Köp nu”-beteende hos kunden vilket bekräftar fast fashion kunden som till stor del impulsstyrd i sina inköp. Det är inte behovet av att exempelvis köpa en ny jacka som i första hand styr kundens inköp utan snarare att hon köper för köpandets skull. Denna mentalitet hos de undersökta kunderna bekräftar att fast fashion-mode behandlas som ”Slit och släng”-produkter.Två nyckelord som har vuxit fram ur det empiriska materialet är tydligt och konsekvent. Dessa nyckelord måste vara ständigt närvarande för att fast fashion företag ska kunna kommunicera hållbarhet på ett sätt som appellerar till de undersökta kundernas attityder. Sammanfattningsvis kan sägas att om fast fashion företag lyckas kommunicera hållbarhet på ett attraktivt sätt kan vinsterna bli stora. Genom att positionera sig som ett fast fashion företag som erbjuder hållbart mode kan konkurrensfördelar skapas.Over the past 15 years, the fashion industry has grown in size and become both faster and cheaper and the concept of fast fashion has been established. Fast fashion is a business strategy in the fashion industry which is based on reducing lead times from concept to store. The strategy aims to satisfy customer requests of the latest trends in a very short time span. The fast fashion industry is in a way contradicting a sustainable development, as it represents short fashion cycles where clothes tend to be regarded as disposable products. Today however, we are moving towards a greater awareness concerning green, environmental issues which has resulted in more products that are being marketed as green products. This increased environmental awareness among consumers has created a need for companies to identify “the green consumer”. From a business - and marketing perspective, an understanding of what the green consumer is looking for is a pre-condition, since it is inefficient to develop green products unless they are what the customer desires.The purpose of this paper is to obtain a better understanding of the fashion consumer’s attitudes and perceptions on sustainable fashion concerning the fast fashion industry. The thesis has a qualitative design and the data has been collected through two focus groups. The collected empirical data has been analyzed with the theoretical framework in mind. The theoretical framework deals with theories of consumer behavior with emphasis on the fast fashion consumer as well as the green consumer. We also look at market segmentation with emphasis on green segmentation and finally marketing with a focus on sustainable and green communication. The results gathered from the surveyed customers will hopefully generate ideas for fast fashion companies on how to communicate products and activities related to sustainable fashion.Based on the results from the two focus groups we can discern a somewhat contradictory attitude towards environmental awareness in general. Whether the surveyed customers realize that clothing consumption is linked to some environmental problems is rather doubtful. Furthermore, they exhibit skepticism towards the sustainable fashion offered by fast fashion companies as they question the credibility and authenticity. They also express the need of a clearer and more accessible marketing communication concerning sustainable fashion. One conclusion of this paper is that the high turnover of products creates a &quot;Buy Now&quot;-behavior which confirms the fast fashion customer as largely an impulse buyer. It is not the need for say, a new jacket that primarily govern the customer&apos;s purchase, but rather that she is buying for buying&apos;s sake. This mentality confirms that fast fashion clothing often is treated as disposable products.Two keywords which have emerged from the empirical material are clear and consistent. These keywords should permeate fast fashion companies in their effort to communicate sustainability in a way which appeals to the surveyed customers attitudes. In summary, if fast fashion companies are able to succeed in communicating sustainability in an attractive way, the gains can become significant. By positioning itself as a fast fashion company offering sustainable fashion a competitive advantage is created. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

Att modeindustrin har stor inverkan på miljön har varit känt inom industrin sedan decennier och allmänhetens medvetenhet ökar för varje år. I övergången mellan retorik och praktik, där konsumenter allt mer kräver transparens kring faktiska åtgärder snarare än retoriska eller performativa hållbarhetsinitiativ, uppstår ett behov av studier kring hur företag arbetar eller kan arbeta med hållbarhet i praktiken. Tidigare forskning identifierar inköpsfunktionen som en vital funktion för företag att agera hållbart. Inom modeinköp saknas forskning som återger ett helhetsperspektiv på inköparens arbete med gröna inköp. Tidigare forskning menar att inköparens beslut har en direkt påverkan på miljön, dock saknas forskning som undersöker hur stort utrymme inköpare inom modebranschen har att fatta gröna inköpsbeslut. Föreliggande studie syftar till att undersöka vilket utrymme inköparen har att ta beslut som påverkar miljömässig hållbarhet (i sitt företag) samt kartlägga var i inköpsprocessen inköparens miljömässiga hållbarhetspraktiker utförs. Syftet har genererat tre frågeställningar; (I) Vilken agens har inköpare på svenska modeföretag att ta beslut relaterade till miljömässig hållbarhet? (II) Vilka faktorer påverkar inköpares agens att ta hållbara beslut? (III) I vilken/vilka fas(er) av inköpsprocessen har inköpare möjlighet att vidta miljömässiga hållbarhetsåtgärder? Syftet och forskningsfrågorna undersöktes med utgångspunkt i en undersökningsmodellen baserad på en sammanlänkad version av Min och Galles (1997) ramverk för hållbara inköpsstrategier, med tillägg av leverantörshantering, samt van Weeles (2018) modell för inköpsprocessen. Undersökningsmodellen visar de tre huvudsakliga rollerna och aspekterna som påverkar gröna inköpsstrategier, samt att dessa även påverkar varandra. Vidare möjliggjorde modellen kategorisering av miljömässiga hållbarhetsåtgärder vidtagna av inköpare i inköpsprocessen. Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ datainsamlingsmetod för att besvara forskningsfrågorna och syftet. Det empiriska materialet samlades in genom sju semistrukturerade intervjuer på svenska modeföretag. Åtta informanter med yrkestiteln inköpare eller som verkade inom inköpsfunktionen intervjuades. Intervjuerna återspeglar de miljömässiga hållbarhetsåtgärder som förekommer inom inköpsprocessen för den specifika inköparen. Resultatet går därmed inte att likställa med företagens hållbarhetsarbete inom hela verksamheten. Resultatet och analysen visade att inköpare på de undersökta företagen hade varierande agens som påverkades främst av företagsstorlek. Kartläggningen av inköpsprocessen visade att samtliga hade agens att vidta miljömässiga hållbarhets åtgärder i orderläggningsfasen och sju av åtta hade agens i specifikationsfasen. En minoritet av inköparna kunde vidta åtgärder vid leverantörsval. / The substantial impact the fashion industry has on the environment has been commonly accepted in the industry for decades and public awareness is increasing every year. As consumers are increasingly demanding transparency on outcome from interventions, rather than performative sustainability initiatives, there is now a need for studies focusing on how businesses can work with sustainability in practice. Previous research identifies the purchasing function as a vital component for companies to act sustainably. In fashion purchasing, there is a shortage of research which reflects a holistic perspective on green purchasing. Previous research argues that the decisions buyers make have a direct impact on the environment. However, there is a lack of research that examines what agency buyers in the fashion industry have in order to make green purchasing decisions. The purpose of this study is to investigate to what degree a buyer or purchaser can make decisions which affect environmental sustainability within their company and where in the purchasing process they take place. The purpose has generated the following research questions; (I) What agency do buyers/purchasers in Swedish fashion companies have to make decisions that affect environmental sustainability? (II) Which factors affect the buyers/purchasers agency to make sustainable decisions? (III) In which phase/phases of the purchasing process is there a possibility for a buyer/purchaser to make sustainable decisions? The purpose and the research questions were studied with support from an analytical framework based on a combination of the Min and Galle (1997) framework for sustainable purchasing strategies, with an addition of supplier management, and van Weele´s (2018) purchasing process model. The analytical framework shows the three main roles and aspects that affect green purchasing strategies, and how they affect each other. Furthermore the analytical framework facilitated the categorization of environmentally sustainable actions taken by the buyer/purchaser in the purchasing process. The study has been conducted using qualitative data to answer the research questions and the purpose. Empirical material was collected from seven semi-constructed interviews with employees at swedish fashion companies, whose job title included ‘purchaser’ or were working within the purchasing function of the company. The interviews reflect the environmentally sustainable measures taken in the purchasing process by the individual. The result can thus not be equated with the companies' overall sustainability work. Analysis of the data showed that purchasers working at the investigated companies had varying agency to make environmentally sustainable decisions, which was mainly explained by the company size. The mapping of the purchasing process showed that all of the purchasers within the investigated companies had agency to make environmentally sustainable decisions within the ordering phase and seven out of eight had agency in the specification phase. A minority of the purchasers could make environmentally sustainable decisions in the supplier selection phase.

Fashion democratization over the last few decades made fashion products available at lower costs to everyone in society. It alarmingly increased consumption, leaving drastic impacts on the world's sustainability both on the social and environmental fronts, thereby leading to water and land pollution, dangerous working conditions, sweatshops, wage exploitation, and gender discrimination. Our study, therefore, sheds some light on addressing this core problem of fashion sustainability by focusing on the problem from the consumers’ perspectives because researchers conclude that consumers hold power to mitigate this issue to a greater extent by becoming sustainable. However, in many cases, consumers show the attitude-behavior gap when it comes to consuming sustainable fashion. The area of actual sustainable fashion consumers is also under-researched. Therefore, we conducted our research in this area and used qualitative methods for it. We identified a small group of 16 sustainable transitional fashion consumers who have started their sustainable fashion consumption journey. We performed an inductive process study of these transitional consumers' journeys and developed a Conceptual ‘Consumer Journey Map’ from unsustainability towards sustainability. We used semi-structured interviews for data collection. By studying their entire process of transition, we identified a number of constraints that retained them from making the transition towards sustainable fashion consumption, such as Social Influence, Trend and Newness, Unaesthetic Appearance and Lack of Variety, Lacking Sizes and Fitting, Low price, and Lower Income, Lack of Knowledge and Information and Greenwashing by the brands. However, the enablers that pushed them to become sustainable were Influence from Sustainable social circles, Tangible Experiences, Quality and Longevity, and Feelings of guilt and remorse which are presented in ourconceptual ‘C-E Framework.' Our research also identified conceptual ‘Levels of Sustainability,’ where consumers reuse or reduceor reject to pass Level one. To reach Level two, a consumer has to begin combining any two of these behaviors. However, to reach the final Level X, a consumer needs to reuse, reduce, and reject simultaneously. A consumer passes through these different levels from being a ‘self’ consumer to be a ‘social’ one and finally converting into a ‘sacrifice’ consumer in their journey.

This diploma thesis deals with the critical mapping of British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood with a focus on the relationship between her activist actions and branding. The goal of this thesis is to analyse discourse practice and uncover the meaning behind creating Westwood's media image. Westwood is actively involved in political, social and environmental matters. She's known for her critical stance towards the establishment, consumer society as well as economic system. She stood at the beginning of punk and helped to define its visual identity. She belongs amongst known sustainable fashion advocates which reflects her famous quote 'buy less, choose well, make it last'. On the other hand, she built a global fashion brand with annual turnover of more than 40.7 million pounds in 2017 and she herself became the subject of criticism because of this contradiction towards her own actions. Some critics pointed out that she urges the public to consume less but owns a global network of stores under her name at the same time. From a methodological point of view the thesis is based on qualitative research, specifically on critical discourse analysis whose mechanisms help to uncover power relationships and put this issue into a broader context.

The environmental organisation F/ACT Movement started as a reaction to the unsustainable business that the fashion industry represents. Their ambition is to change the fashion industry and give it a sustainable direction. They intend to accomplish this in collaboration with counties, universities and companies - but their prime audience is the consumers. The purpose of this essay was to study how F/ACT Movement engages their audience on social media around the subject sustainable fashion. In addition I aimed to examine how it can help them shape a strong community and long term public relationships. To attain the purpose of this study the theoretical framework includes theories of sustainability, consumption behavior and multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA). MCDA helped me analyze how F/ACT Movements structures language and visual text to engage the followers. Furthermore I added theories of social identity, communities on digital platforms and public relations. The method used in this essay was a multimodal discourse analysis, which intent is to study the meaning of how language and visual texts are constructed. Eight Instagram posts were studied and several patterns were found in the analysis. The results showed that F/ACT Movement engage their followers by using both a strong and confident language as well as visual symbols that benefits fashion as a sustainable lifestyle. Moreover they present sustainable facts and solutions which support the ideology of how a green lifestyle and consumption behavior can create a sustainable future. The results also showed that F/ACT Movement combines several different discourses in a complex way, which indicates that their vision is to contribute with a change on a social and cultural scale. Finally the results showed that F/ACT Movement values the dialog, community and relationship with their followers deeply. By inviting their followers to be a part of the group identity “sustainable consumers” they create a strong community. Furthermore they are communicating with an audience who already has knowledge and a high interest in sustainable fashion, which gives them a beneficial position to build strong public relations. In conclusion the study shows that F/ACT Movement uses a strong but friendly approach as a strategy to make the fashion industry a sustainable business.

Bakgrund: I takt med konsumenternas stigande intresse för hållbara modeprodukter har den gröna marknadsföringen från fast fashion-företag ökat. Eftersom det finns uppfattningar om att modeindustrin inte relateras till hållbarhet kan modeföretags försök att nå ut tillkonsumenterna via sin gröna kommunikation uppfattas på ett felaktigt sätt. I vissa fall ser även företag en fördel med att främja gröna produkter som en försäljningsstrategi, vilket skapar en förvirring hos mottagaren. Konsumenter har därför svårt att avgöra när ett budskap är tillförlitligt. Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka hur konsumenter tolkar fast fashion-företags grönamodeannonser ur ett kognitivt och affektivt perspektiv. Målet är därigenom att genererakunskap om hur modeföretag kan gå tillväga för att utforma gröna annonser och få fram sitthållbarhetsbudskap på ett effektivt sätt. Detta genom att utgå från konsumentens synvinkel och granska hur konsumenters tillit påverkas av informationen som kommuniceras i en grönmodeannons, deras kunskap om hållbart mode, tidigare uppfattningar om modeföretag samt hur känslor påverkar mottagarens tolkning av budskapets trovärdighet. Frågeställningar: Hur tolkar konsumenter gröna modeannonser? Hur påverkas konsumentens tillit av informationen som kommuniceras i grönamodeannonser, kunskap om hållbart mode samt tidigare uppfattningar om modeföretag? Hur påverkar den känsla konsumenten får i samband med gröna modeannonser tilliten? Metod: För att besvara frågeställningarna tillämpades en kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Medanledning av att det eftersöktes en djupare förståelse för konsumenters känslor för och tolkningar av de valda modeföretagens, H&amp;M:s, Gina Tricots och Lindexs, gröna annonser genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med elva utvalda kvinnor från Sverige. Därefter transkriberades intervjuerna och fyra huvudteman urskildes. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att om en grön modeannons har en typisk “modekänsla” genererade det en lösare koppling till hållbarhet och blir mindre trovärdig. Grönamodeannonser som framhåller “naturliga” aspekter framkallar en ökad känsla av tillit. När konsumenter har en positiv tidigare uppfattning om företaget blir den gröna modeannonsen mer trovärdig, om det existerar en negativ uppfattning påverkar det även inställningen tillannonsen. Studien kan urskilja kunskapsbrist om hållbart mode, på grund av detta efterlyser konsumenter tydlig information i samband med de gröna modeannonserna. I och med att en kvalitativ metod väljs är en generalisering bland kvinnliga fast fashion-konsumenter inte möjlig i denna studie. Däremot genererar studien kunskap om hur fast fashion-företag kan utforma gröna modeannonser för att förmedla budskapet på ett produktivt vis, för att minskarisken för missförstånd och bygga förtroende hos konsumenten. Exempel på vidare forskning är att fortsatt undersöka hur dessa tolkningar påverkar köpintentionen hos konsumenterna. Ytterligare ett förslag på fortsatt forskning är att undersöka andra modeannonser och modeföretag för att se om det genererar i en annan uppfattning. / Background: In line with consumers' growing interest in sustainable fashion products, the green marketing from solid fashion companies has increased. Since there are perceptions that the fashion industry is not related to sustainability, fashion companies' attempts to reach consumers through their green communications can be misinterpreted. In some cases, companies also see an advantage in promoting green products as a sales strategy, which creates confusion on the part of the recipient. Consumers therefore find it difficult to determine when a message is reliable. Purpose: The purpose is to investigate how consumers interpret the fixed fashion companies’ green fashion ads from a cognitive and affective perspective. The goal is thereby to generate knowledge about how fashion companies can go about designing green ads and producing their sustainability message in an effective way. This is based on the consumer's point of view and how consumer confidence is influenced by the information communicated in a green fashion ad, their knowledge of sustainable fashion, previous perceptions of fashion companies and how emotions affect the recipient's interpretation of the message's credibility. Research questions: How do consumers interpret green fashion ads? How is consumer confidence affected by the information communicated in green fashion advertisements, knowledge of sustainable fashion and previous perceptions of fashion companies? How does the feeling the consumer gets in the context of green fashion ads affect trust? Method: To answer the questions, a qualitative research method was applied. Because a deeper understanding of consumers' feelings and interpretations of the selected fashion companies, H&amp;M's, Gina Tricots and Lindex's green advertisements was sought, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven selected women from Sweden. Subsequently, the interviews were transcribed and four main themes were distinguished. Conclusions: The study's results show that if a green fashion ad has a typical "fashion sense “it generated a looser link to sustainability and becomes less credible. Green fashion ads that emphasize “natural” aspects evoke an increased sense of trust. When consumers have a positive past perception of the company, the green fashion ad becomes more credible, if there is a negative perception it also affects the attitude towards the ad. The study can discern the lack of knowledge about sustainable fashion, because of this, consumers are looking for clear information in connection with the green fashion ads. With the selection of a qualitative method, a generalization among female solid fashion consumers is not possible in this study. However, the study generates knowledge of how fast fashion companies can design green fashion ads to convey the message in a productive way, to reduce the risk of misunderstanding and build consumer confidence. Examples of further research are to continue to investigate how these interpretations affect the buying intention of consumers. Another suggestion for continued research is to examine other fashion ads and fashion companies to see if it generates in a different view.