The fashion industry has faced a radical change in how the market has been operating towards a more digitized landscape, and several fashion brands have started developing greater customer experiences as well as engaging the consumers with conveyance of authentic content. Since fashion collaborations can increase awareness and have an immense impact on the consumers’ perception, the concept of creating sustainable collaborations have become an ideal way to meet the needs of the millennial consumers. The topic of sustainable fashion collaborations has started to emerge and the way it is perceived by consumers appears to be unstudied, which makes it very fascinating to analyse. The purpose of this study is to investigate consumers’ response towards sustainable fashion collaborations and how these co-branding projects are marketed to and perceived by millennials. On the basis of this purpose, the following research questions have been formulated: How are sustainable fashion collaborations communicated in the consumers’ eyes? How is the response of millennial consumers towards sustainable fashion collaborations? This study was conducted with an abductive approach, and data was obtained from literature and interviews. A qualitative method was applied, with the definition of four case studies to analyse through semi-structured interviews conducted with twelve millennial consumers. Messages and campaigns can not be superficially developed and need to be explanatory to the eyes of consumers, in order to avoid greenwashing and generating the need to fill in communication gaps. In this sense, storytelling also resulted to be a positive addition to the communication of sustainable fashion collaborations, creating an emotional connection with consumers. Since positive sustainable associations to a brand can only be developed through recognition, this aspect is also fundamental when communicating sustainable products. Moreover, millennial consumers require brands to have a balanced communication in terms of sustainability and fashion content, even when it comes to sustainable fashion collaborations. To conclude, it can be said that millennial consumers are definitely drawn to social media communication, but if brands want to reach a wider audience with their products and sustainability efforts, millennials themselves suggest the use of other communication channels. This study can, in the long-term, contribute to the knowledge and strategies of fashion companies and understanding the needs and expectations of consumers towards the communication of current matters like sustainability.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to expand knowledge of slow fashion brand customer by creating a persona that communicates the characteristics and aspects that influence purchase decisions of slow fashion consumers. Method: Since slow fashion consumer concept is still rather unexplored area, qualitative research strategy approach was chosen for this thesis, to get more deep data about the slow fashion consumer profile and buying insights. To address the research questions, single case study was used. The data was gathered through semi-structured interviews that were conducted with five female slow fashion consumers who had recently made a purchase from a Swedish slow fashion brand MASKA’s online store. To analyse the data, a coding approach was used. As a result of the coding process, themes that described the slow fashion consumer’s profile and buying insights emerged and were used later to create a narrative of the slow fashion buyer persona. Conclusion: In order to expand knowledge of slow fashion brand customer, a persona that communicates the characteristics and aspects that influence purchase decisions of slow fashion buyer was developed with this study. To answer the research questions and develop persona, five female slow fashion brand buyers were interviewed. Answering the research questions provided 8 different themes that emerged from the interview transcripts and made up slow fashion brandbuyer persona, which fulfilled the purpose. The emerged themes were describing who slow fashion brand buyer persona is: 1) creative mind; 2) globetrotter and explorer; 3) fond of nature, and themes that described what influences the slow fashion buyer: 4) consciousness; 5) quality over quantity; 6) shoppers of small boutiques; 7) trust; 8) esthetics. This study did not come to a firm conclusion, but rather aimed to provide more in-depth knowledge about slow fashion brand buyer and point out implications to further study the slow fashion consumer.