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Sustainability trends and gaps in the textile, apparel and fashion industries

• Open access
• Published: 10 February 2023
• Volume 26 , pages 2837–2864, ( 2024 )

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• Stefano Abbate 1 ,
• Piera Centobelli   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3302-2236 1 ,
• Roberto Cerchione 2 ,
• Simon Peter Nadeem 3 &
• Emanuela Riccio 2  

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Textile, apparel, and fashion (TAF) industries contribute significantly to global environmental pollution at every point of the supply chain. Clothing manufacturing and transportation produce a large volume of waste and high greenhouse gas emissions, often taking advantage of cheap labor in developing countries. As a result, stakeholders are becoming more aware of the effect of the textile, apparel, and fashion industries on the climate and human rights, thus pushing businesses to mitigate their environmental damage. This paper offers a systematic literature review of sustainability trends in the TAF industries in the last 20 years. Bibliometric tools are also used to support the content analysis of the papers. The findings reveal three primary research areas in the TAF context: consumers’ behaviour towards sustainable clothing, circular economy initiatives, and sustainability challenges across the whole supply chain. As a result, this study highlights literature gaps and provides future research suggestions for each identified research cluster. In addition, drivers and barriers to implementing corporate social responsibility and circular economy practices are identified. Consequently, this study will help researchers and academicians work in this area to identify unexplored sub-fields, which reflect some potential investigation areas for expanding scientific literature on the topic. Finally, this study supports practitioners and managers in exploring the main research themes addressed in the scientific field, providing knowledge to improve and align business models with current sustainability trends.

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1 Introduction

The production and consumption of clothes have consistently increased over the past few decades due to rapid population growth, increasing global incomes, and higher living standards (Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2020 ). Rather than evaluating how design and production can incorporate consumer desires and sustainability, clothes are engineered and manufactured for rapid trend turnovers via obsolescence and early disposal, allowing for fast income (Kozlowski et al., 2018 ). This type of business model makes textile, apparel, and fashion (TAF) industries among the most polluting in the world (Grazzini et al., 2021 ), generating a huge volume of clothing waste (Chan et al., 2020 ). Indeed, less than 1% of all textiles are recycled back into clothes, 25% of textile waste is reused or recycled, and 75% of textile trash is disposed of in landfills globally (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017 ). In terms of water consumption, the fashion industry ranks second globally (Paździor et al., 2017 ). In addition, the natural ecosystem suffers greatly from the dispersion into the environment of coloured effluents and microplastics, which occurs mainly in the clothing production and disposal stages (Liu et al., 2021 ; Sadeghi-Kiakhani et al., 2021 ). The COVID-19 pandemic has increased this phenomenon: the management of recently emerging wastes, often known as "COVID wastes," including cloth facemasks, is causing growing concern due to the release of microplastics into the environment (Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2022 ). A potential solution to reduce the environmental consequences of cloth facemasks is using natural and biodegradable polymers for their production, such as wood-based polymers (Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2022 ). In addition, textile waste can be repurposed for different applications. For instance, they can be used as a renewable source to produce thermal energy (Nunes et al., 2018 ). Pyrolysis is a desirable substitute for incineration in the treatment of textile waste to increase the economic benefits (Yousef et al., 2019 ). In addition, cotton waste can be a perfect material for creating high-performance catalysts and removing pollutants from the environment due to its natural state and affordability (Fakhrhoseini et al., 2020 ; Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2019 ). Finally, different reusing and recycling methods for managing textile waste can be employed, such as anaerobic digestion, fermentation, composting, and fibre regeneration (Juanga-Labayen et al., 2022 ).

Furthermore, TAF industries account for eight to ten percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions (Shrivastava et al., 2021 ), recognised as the leading cause of global warming, those effects in nature create floods, droughts, hurricanes, and sea-level rise, which are becoming more common in daily life (Mishra et al., 2021 ). As a result, governments and institutions led to the Paris Agreement on climate change in December 2015, where 195 countries have committed to keeping the temperature rise below 2 °C (Doukas et al., 2018 ). Furthermore, fashion companies often entrust the transformation process of raw materials into finished clothing to developing countries, significantly affecting their social sustainability (Chan et al., 2020 ). Consequently, in addition to issues concerning carbon emissions, water consumption, and waste disposal, another major problem of the fashion industry is the overuse of employees working in outsourced production units in countries with unsafe work environments and lower labour costs (Shrivastava et al., 2021 ). According to the triple bottom line (TBL) framework, which was coined by Elkington, ( 1998 ), the performance of an apparel company should be thus measured taking into account three dimensions: economic, environmental, and social. Further, these three dimensions should be balanced, rather than just seeing economic factors as a means for society (Weisenfeld & Hauerwaas, 2018 ). However, in long and fragmented supply chains like apparel, harmonising these three dimensions entails difficult commitment and cooperation from different actors (Bubicz et al., 2021 ; Freise & Seuring, 2015 ; Huq et al., 2016 ). The longer and more complex the chain becomes, the less contact there is between the different stakeholders, and monitoring of compliance with codes of behaviour becomes more complex (Bubicz et al., 2021 ; Egels-Zandén et al., 2015 ; Macchion et al., 2015 ; Sardar et al., 2016 ; Taylor, 2011 ; Wilhelm et al., 2016 ). Government regulatory pressures are continuously coercing businesses to implement substantial changes at the technological, material, organisational, economic, and socio-cultural levels (Kivimaa et al., 2019 ). Further, in 2015, United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), characterised by 17 global goals and 169 targets, which aim to encourage all countries to prioritise environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and economic development (United Nations, 2015 ). These goals demonstrate the severity and scope of today's sustainability issues (Sauermann et al., 2020 ). Therefore, in order to achieve the SDGs, fashion companies must improve their corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment in diverse areas, promoting more sustainable production and consumption models (SDG12), reducing water consumption (SDG6), and ensuring decent working conditions (SDG8).

As a result of these concerns and due to the growing interest in the United Nations SDGs, in recent years TAF industries are more prone to pay attention to sustainability issues (Islam et al., 2020 ; Kabir et al., 2019 ). TAF industries have been establishing initiatives considering eco-efficiency concepts and aspiring to implement environmental practices, including sustainability reporting activities (Muñoz-Torres et al., 2021 ), which generate, in turn, cost savings (Lucato et al., 2017 ). Improving resource efficiency by extending the useful life of products or services is one way to promote sustainable development through a more circular economy (Rainville, 2021 ). In this context, the product-as-a-service model, or rental model, is often associated with a number of advantages, including a decrease in the environmental impact, an improvement in competitiveness, and an increase in user value (Monticelli & Costamagna, 2022 ). Further, companies operating in TAF industries are looking for creative and innovative ways to keep their carbon emissions low and minimise waste (Kozlowski et al., 2018 ), an example is the use of biodegradable and recycled raw materials (Wang et al., 2019 ). Likewise, consumers are now becoming more aware of the ethical issues of the goods they purchase, and as a result, they are changing their shopping habits (De Angelis et al., 2017 ; Gershoff & Frels, 2015 ; Grazzini et al., 2021 ), thus pushing fashion industry to become eco-friendly.

Given the increasing attention on the topic, different researchers conducted literature reviews on sustainability in the fashion industry from diverse points of view. Notably, Koeksal et al. ( 2017 ) focused on social aspects in textile/apparel sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). Paras and Pal ( 2018 ) reviewed the literature to establish and suggest a theoretical framework for a reuse-based clothing value chain. Koszewska ( 2018 ) identified the textile sector's challenges in adapting to the circular economy (CE) model. Dordevic et al. ( 2019 ) reviewed different CSR theories and methods used in the textile/apparel industry. Wagner and Heinzel ( 2020 ) analysed the literature on CE in the fashion industry, focusing on consumer behaviours concerning the sustainable purchase, usage, consumption, and disposal. Islam et al. ( 2020 ) summarised the primary environmentally friendly practices adopted by TAF industries. Jia et al. ( 2020 ) identified drivers, barriers, strategies, and performance measures for the CE in the fashion industry. Finally, Ki et al. ( 2021 ) reviewed the literature to provide a theoretical framework that offers a detailed explanation of how fashion companies can achieve circularity by involving external stakeholders in their activities.

Based on the above premises, in the scientific literature, there is a lack of literature reviews that offers a holistic understanding of sustainability issues in the TAF industries and evaluates research advances and trends on the topic to benefit multiple stakeholders. This paper aims to overcome these research gaps with a comprehensive overview of sustainability trends in the TAF manufacturing context. In addition, this research highlights both CSR and CE principles, supporting academicians, policymakers, practitioners, and other decision-makers in exploring the main research themes addressed in the scientific field. This paper is expected to contribute to the literature in the following ways. First, this study addresses the research gaps by offering a holistic perspective of a study area that is rapidly expanding. Second, this research combines the review process with bibliometric techniques. Although the growing interest in the research field, these approaches have not yet been adopted to explore sustainability progress in the TAF industries. Third, drivers and barriers to implementing CSR and CE practices are identified. Notably, CE is a production and consumption model that aims to extend products’ useful lives by helping to minimise waste, while CSR is often described as corporate practices that address economic, social, and environmental issues to benefit citizens, communities, and societies. The proposed taxonomy could be a reference point for further empirical studies. Finally, this article develops a conceptual model based on the extracted research clusters that integrate previous research findings, highlight research gaps, and offers guidance and potential avenues for further research to fill in the literature gaps.

After this introduction, Sect.  2 describes the review methodology adopted. Section  3 shows the data collection and selection phase. Sections  4 and Sect.  5 highlight descriptive and content analysis of the articles. Section  6 reports research discussions and provides a detailed research agenda. Finally, Sect.  7 presents conclusions and implications, highlighting theoretical and managerial contributions, as well as the research policy implication.

2 Review methodology

This study presents a systematic literature review adapted by Greenhalgh ( 1997 ), Cerchione and Esposito ( 2016 ), and Centobelli et al. ( 2017 ). Therefore, according to these contributions, we structured the literature review into two primary phases:

Data collection and selection: this phase includes identifying keywords and the search string, choosing the academic database (e.g. Scopus and Web of Science) to retrieve documents, and defining the inclusion/exclusion criteria to obtain papers focused on the research topic examined

Descriptive and content analysis phase: this phase includes conducting descriptive statistics (e.g. papers over time and articles by methodology) and an in-depth content analysis of the selected papers, aiming at identifying research gaps and providing a research agenda for further investigation.

Furthermore, we applied bibliometric methods to support the content analysis phase (van der Have & Rubalcaba, 2016 ). Notably, bibliometric techniques represent powerful tools to analyse scientific literature in a specific research field quantitatively (Ji et al., 2018 ; Zhi & Ji, 2012 ). One of the primary bibliometric methods is science mapping (Dzikowski, 2018 ) and it was used to discover the research field structure of a given topic (Cancino et al., 2017 ; Merigó et al., 2017 ; Shashi et al., 2021 ). This analysis can be implemented through numerous computer software. In this paper, we used VOSviewer software to build and visualise co-occurrence networks of keywords and paper terms, showing the main topics studied and suggestions for future research (Liboni et al., 2019 ). In particular, the co-occurrence analysis of keywords is an effective method for identifying research themes since it helps analyse the paper's content and assess the co-occurrence relationship between different concepts (Shashi et al., 2020a , 2020b ). Furthermore, the co-occurrence network of abstract terms is used to show research clusters based on recurrent terms that appear together (Liboni et al., 2019 ). According to van der Have and Rubalcaba ( 2016 ), the higher the frequency that keywords and paper terms co-occur, the stronger they are linked because they belong to a similar research sub-area. Thus, we aim to overcome this lack by offering a comprehensive literature review. Figure  1 synthesises the steps of the proposed literature review methodology.

Literature review methodology

3 Data collection and selection

The sample of articles was retrieved from the ISI Web of Science (WoS) database. More specifically, the WoS Core Collection was used in this study. Due to the high quality and extensive background coverage, the WoS database has traditionally been used as the primary source for literature reviews (Alon et al., 2018 ; Bahoo et al., 2020 ; Cao & Alon, 2020 ). Moreover, WoS is considered a leading data source compared to other scholarly research databases (e.g. Scopus and Google Scholar) since it only contains selective journals (Shashi et al., 2020b ). More precisely, WoS includes over 15,000 high-quality journals and 50,000,000 papers, organised into 251 categories and 150 research topics (Gaviria-Marin et al., 2019 ; Shashi et al., 2020a ).

After a brainstorming process among five researchers, a list of keywords was identified to carry out a systematic search and find articles regarding the issue of sustainability in the TAF industries. Further, the list of keywords was refined from time to time by including the keywords of the papers found previously. Finally, the following search string was used:

("textile industr*" OR "textile sector*" OR “clothing” OR “clothes” OR “garment” OR “fashion” OR “apparel”) AND (“green” OR "environmental performance" OR "financial performance" OR "social performance" OR “green” OR "economic* performance" OR "environmental benefit*" OR "financial benefit*" OR "economic* benefit*" OR "social benefit*" OR "ethical" OR "SDG*" OR "sustainable development" OR "corporate social responsibility" OR "triple bottom line" OR "environment-friendly" OR "eco-friendly" OR "circular economy" OR “reuse” OR "re-use" OR “recycling” OR "life cycle assessment" OR "life cycle analysis" OR “LCA” OR (“sustainab*”)) AND (“environment*” OR “economic*” OR “social”). We retrieved only documents that contain those terms in the title to circumscribe the research and identify only relevant outputs on the topic investigated.

To perform bibliometric analyses, we downloaded the full record and cited references of scholarly articles in the Web of Science Core Collection (Kern et al., 2019 ). The sample of 563 documents was retrieved in October 2022. We used different filters to refine our analysis. First, we chose to not consider papers published before 2000 due to the actuality of the topic (Desore & Narula, 2018 ) and we aim to conduct a review of the last two decades. Second, we collected only papers written in the English language (Shashi et al., 2020a , 2020b ). Subsequently, to ensure the sources’ quality, we decided to select only articles and reviews published in peer-reviewed journals, thus excluding other types of sources such as conference proceedings and book series (Shashi et al., 2020b ). As a result, 406 papers were collected.

Furthermore, according to the method suggested by Pittaway et al. ( 2004 ), we carefully checked the abstracts of all the selected papers so that only those studies whose abstracts focus on sustainability in the TAF industries were selected. To avoid subjective decisions, two researchers read the abstracts of the articles in parallel, with the intervention of a third researcher in case of uncertainty (Cerchione & Esposito, 2016 ). Thus, as also displayed in Table 1 , the papers were divided into the following two lists: list A includes documents whose abstract focuses on sustainability in the TAF industries and list B includes documents whose abstract focuses on technical and context-specific aspects of sustainability (e.g. processing, atmospheric emissions due to production waste, the chemistry of eco-sustainable fabrics)

The articles contained in list B (213) were excluded as beyond the scope of the research. The full text of the 193 articles included in list A were thoroughly examined and subjected to the last exclusion criterion. Also, in this case, two researchers read the papers in parallel, plus a third one in case of doubt (Cerchione & Esposito, 2016 ). In this step, we excluded 32 documents not related to the research topic. To identify the remaining potentially important studies in our set, we used the 'snowball' strategy as an inclusion criterion (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005 ). We included 17 additional publications, and the final sample thus consists of 178 papers.

4 Descriptive analysis

The purpose of the descriptive analysis is to provide a general view of the papers on sustainability in the TAF industries. For the evaluation of the 178 papers selected, four viewpoints were identified: 1) distribution of papers over time; 2) distribution of papers across journals; 3) distribution of papers by methodology; and 4) distribution of papers by country.

4.1 Distribution of papers over time

Figure  2 shows the distribution of the selected papers published between 2000 and 2022. The number of papers written has grown exponentially, reaching a maximum of 38 in 2021. The data collection was conducted in October 2022. According to this analysis, in the last five years, research on sustainability in TAF industries has grown significantly. Indeed, approximately 85% of the papers examined were written between 2017 and October-2022.

Papers over time

4.2 Distribution of papers across journals

The journals that published at least three papers on sustainability in the TAF industries from 2000 to October 2022 are classified in Fig.  3 . The top journals publishing on the research topic have a broader scope and belong to different areas, confirming that the analysis of sustainability issues in the TAF industries have grown over the years in a broader range. In particular, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management (14), followed by Journal of Cleaner Production (9), International Journal of Consumer Studies (7), Journal of Business Research (6), and Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management (6), Journal of Business Ethics (3), Business Strategy and the Environment (3), and Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics (3). According to the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) updated to the year 2020, used to determine each journal's scientific importance, all of the journals displayed in Fig.  3 are in the first quartile (Q1), except for Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics and International Journal of Consumer Studies , which are in the second quartile (Q2).

Papers published per journal

4.3 Distribution of papers by methodology

The distribution of papers by methodology represented in Fig.  4 shows that about 50% of the studies are based on quantitative approaches (e.g. surveys and mathematical models), while 23% of the papers use qualitative approaches (e.g. single and multiple case studies). A few other papers use conceptual approaches, literature review approaches, and mixed approaches (combining qualitative and quantitative methods).

Papers by methodology

4.4 Distribution of papers by country

This analysis highlights the most productive countries in the research field investigated. Notably, certain papers were co-authored by researchers from different countries, while authors from the same nationality co-authored others. The country of each researcher who co-authored the article is counted in the first situation. On the contrary, the country is only counted once, even if two or more researchers from the same country co-authored the paper. As shown in Fig.  5 , USA is at the top of the ranking with 35 publications, followed by the UK (26), and China (25).

Papers by country

5 Content analysis

5.1 keywords analysis.

This analysis found 833 different keywords in the sample of 178 papers. The research focused on keywords that had at least eight repetitions (Liboni et al., 2019 ). Consequently, a total of 25 unique keywords were chosen (Fig.  6 ). In particular, the keyword “sustainability” emerged as the most recurrent with 45 repetitions, followed by “consumption” (26), “circular economy” (24), “fashion” (23), and “corporate social responsibility” (20).

Co-occurrence analysis of keywords

“Appendix 1 " highlights the 20 most cited keywords and their total link strength. The most frequent keywords offer an in-depth understanding of the critical topics investigated. Furthermore, the keyword sustainability is strongly linked with the others, and its relationship with "fast fashion", "supply chain", and "consumption" highlights that scientific literature in the TAF domain is extensively focused on studying more sustainable business models which can reduce the environmental footprint in all the phases of the supply chain. The term “fast fashion” refers to a business model defined by constant shift, innovation, affordability, and disposable patterns concerning low-cost apparel products that replicate existing luxury fashion trends (Joy et al., 2012 ). Diverse scientific studies have confirmed that fast fashion's disposal nature leads to serious environmental, health, social, and economic issues (Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2020 ). As a result, various alternative business models have been developed. For instance, the clothing product-service system (PSS) recognises various sustainability targets as an alternative to the effects of consumption and fast fashion (Johnson & Plepys, 2021 ). This business model is based on rental rather than purchase, allowing to extend the useful life of a garment and reduce waste. Thus, PSS shifts the emphasis to complementary service offerings, which dematerialises and decouples consumer loyalty from material use (Adam et al., 2017 ). Another primary problem for fashion companies' is the supply chain length and complexity, causing coordination and sustainability concerns. According to Carlson and Bitsch ( 2018 ), a sustainable supply chain is a crucial element for industry, government, and civil society. Recent research highlights that fashion retailers often engage procurement intermediaries to handle their international sourcing with suppliers from manufacturers operating in developing countries, improving coordination and transparency (Koeksal et al., 2018 ).

5.2 Cluster analysis based on abstract terms

In our sample of articles, the co-occurrence analysis of abstract terms has shown 3657 different recurrent words. However, we selected only terms with at least nine repetitions and just 27 terms resulted in the analysis (Liboni et al., 2019 ). Figure  7 displays its network visualisation. “Appendix 2 ” highlights the 20 most recurrent abstract terms and their relevance score. Using VOSviewer, we divided the abstract terms into three different research clusters:

Cluster 1: consumer behaviour concerning sustainable clothing consumption

Cluster 2: circular economy and corporate social responsibility issues in the TAF industries

Cluster 3: impact of sustainability initiatives on corporate performance.

Co-occurrence network of abstract terms

5.2.1 Consumer behaviour concerning sustainable clothing consumption

This cluster is focused on sustainable clothing consumption through the lens of consumer behaviour. The consumer's vision of eco-sustainable clothing is a central theme in the literature on TAF industries. The previously reserved attention for an elite audience is now directed to an increasingly widespread profile of evolved consumers who are more interested in the origin of what they buy and the traceability of the supply chain. Therefore, the customer plays a crucial role in the sustainable context, so it is vital to understand his point of view towards eco-sustainable, recycled, or used products. The majority of contributions included in this cluster are surveys, in which the relationship between the constructs was tested chiefly through structural equation modelling (SEM). In light of the theory of planned behaviour, most of these studies investigate the factors influencing sustainable apparel purchase intention (e.g. Dhir et al., 2021 ; Hwang et al., 2020 ; Kang et al., 2013 ; Karaosman et al., 2015 ; Nguyen et al., 2019 ; Sobuj et al., 2021 ; Zhao et al., 2019 ), revealing that sustainable clothing buying is positively correlated with different antecedents, such as green confidence, environmental awareness, social media usage, environmental attitude, labelling satisfaction, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural regulation. Other studies focused specifically on the young generations. For example, Varshneya et al. ( 2017 ) surveyed young consumers to explore how green consumption principles and social influence affect buying organic clothing. In particular, using a multinominal logit model, Rothenberg and Matthews ( 2017 ) determined the primary factors influencing young consumers to buy eco-friendly t-shirts. The findings suggest that consumers prioritised price, followed by the location of production, and finally, sustainability issues. Other studies analysed the existing attitude-behaviour gap and examined consumers' barriers to buying green clothing (Jacobs et al., 2018 ; Wiederhold & Martinez, 2018 ). Finally, Byrd and Su ( 2020 ) surveyed 399 US consumers to discover how they feel about apparel brands and how they behave when it comes to environmentally friendly, affordable, and socially conscious clothing. Further research focused on the motivations for using sharing economy platforms (Lee & Huang, 2020 ; Ek Styvén and Mariani, 2020 ), indicating that consumers' intentions to use online fashion rental services were positively affected by different factors, such as behaviours, subjective norms, perceived environmental sustainability, economic motivation, and distance from the consumption system. On another note, Silva et al. ( 2021 ) revealed that social shame and consumers' lack of knowledge about available outlets are the factors that most negatively affect the purchasing of second-hand clothing.

Moreover, many studies examined recycled and reused products from various perspectives. Some researchers investigated how consumers handle their apparel waste, including reselling, swapping, taking back, and donating (Lai & Chang, 2020 ; Weber et al., 2020 ), highlighting that environmental principles and prosocial attitudes affected customers' decisions to donate clothes. Other studies surveyed random samples to investigate consumer recycling and reusing apparel behaviour (Paco et al., 2021 ; Zurga et al., 2015 ). Further, Park and Lin ( 2020 ) examined the discrepancy between purchasing purpose and purchase experience in recycled and upcycled fashion items. Other studies focused on behaviour intentions for the consumption of reused clothing, recycled clothes, and upcycled garments (Chaturvedi et al., 2020 ; Kim et al., 2021 ). Notably, Meng and Leary ( 2021 ) explored consumer perception concerning the transformation of recycled bottles into new clothes. Consumers perceive this practice negatively for hygienic reasons, reducing purchasing intent. Finally, Cruz-Cardenas et al. ( 2019 ) conducted a multiple case study based on 20 thorough interviews followed by a survey of 425 consumers to investigate the factors affecting clothing reuse, highlighting different antecedents, such as income and altruism.

5.2.2 Circular economy and corporate social responsibility issues in the TAF industries

This cluster concerns CE and CSR issues in the TAF industries. Unlike the previous one, this cluster includes many explorative studies since the CE and CSR implementation is still in its early stages, necessitating a more detailed understanding based on qualitative analysis (Colucci & Vecchi, 2021 ). In particular, the CE principles significantly improve sustainability in the way textile products are fabricated, consumed and disposed of (Staicu & Pop, 2018 ). Different frameworks have been developed to help fashion companies transition from a linear to a CE model (e.g. Mishra et al., 2021 ). Indeed, several critical factors need to be explored for developing a circular product in the textile industry context, such as sustainable product design and reverse logistics (Franco, 2017 ). Concepts such as repairability, recyclability, longevity, and reuse and disposal of products are much debated in the literature. Although they are still at the early stages, different methods for reusing, recycling, and regenerating textile waste as well as various technological innovations and plans for a circular textile economy have been developed (Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2020 ). In this regard, Moazzem et al. ( 2021 ) used the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to evaluate environmental benefits due to different textile waste recycling opportunities. The findings show that cleaning wipes recycling has the most significant impact benefits, followed by cotton fibre, insulation material, and polyester raw material recycling. Sandvik and Stubbs ( 2019 ) conducted a multiple case study based on semi-structured interviews to determine drivers and barriers to implementing a textile-to-textile recycling technology in the Scandinavian fashion industry. Restricted technology (which makes separating materials difficult), high research and development costs, and the supply chain complexity (which includes many stakeholders involved in the manufacture), represent the key barriers. Simultaneously, the design and use of new fabrics and increased apparel collection and collaboration are the main drivers.

Furthermore, many studies used a case study approach to investigate the challenges and solutions that fashion brands face while developing and testing CE strategies within their current business models (Kant Hvass & Pedersen, 2019 ; Colucci & Vecchi, 2021 ). The findings show that fashion companies face several obstacles in implementing circular business models in their organisations, including divergent perspectives of value and undefined performance metrics, weak alignment with the current strategy, a lack of internal skills and competencies, and a lack of customer interest. Further, Paras et al. ( 2018 ) conducted a multiple case study based on semi-structured interviews with Swedish companies to explore the reuse-based clothing value chain drivers. The results suggest that the main drivers are corporate factors (system, legislation, and awareness), product features (design, quality and price), and consumer attitude (donor and purchaser).

Other studies focused on the slow fashion movement. According to Onur ( 2020 ), the slow fashion movement believes that the fashion industry should not continue operating in the same way it has in the past, putting the world’s finite resources at risk. As a result, the author offered a detailed account of creating new learning methods and designing via upcycling, craft, and collaboration in developing countries. For instance, Friedrich ( 2021 ) investigated the potential of applying biobased products in the textile industry, making the economy more sustainable and lowering the dependence on synthetic materials. Tama et al. ( 2017 ) surveyed Turkish university students to investigate clothing awareness and attitudes regarding environmental sustainability and slow fashion, and the findings highlighted a lack of knowledge about the slow fashion paradigm.

Moreover, some of the studies analysed circular business models based on clothing swapping, PSSs, and collaborative fashion consumption (CFC). Notably, clothing swapping is an example of a circular solution that allows extending the useful life of a product (Camacho-Otero et al., 2020 ), while the CFC is an economic model focused on clothing sharing, second-hand purchases, and renting or leasing (Zamani et al., 2018 ). Compared to a traditional ownership-based consumption model, the CFC offers environmental benefits due to the extension of the clothes’ useful life. On another note, Bech et al. ( 2019 ) used the LCA approach to assess and compare a PSS business model’s environmental impact on t-shirts and a reference business model.

Furthermore, different studies used the multiple case study design to examine CSR strategies’ drivers and barriers (Govindasamy & Suresh, 2018 ; Guedes et al., 2017 ; Koeksal & Straehle, 2021 ; Van & Nguyen, 2019 ), showing that the main drivers are the competitive context, the social influences, the managers’ knowledge of CSR, the company’s internal culture, as well as market promotion and building a reputation with stakeholders and the government. Additionally, the most significant obstacles were a lack of resources in expertise, information, finance, and training, as well as the cost of CSR initiatives and internal and external communication. Further obstacles were the complexity of the green process and system design, as well as the lack of regulatory support (Majumdar & Sinha, 2018 ).

5.2.3 Impact of sustainability initiatives on corporate performance

The studies of this cluster investigated how different sustainable initiatives affect corporate performance (Chan et al., 2020 ; Saha et al., 2021 ; Sudusinghe & Seuring, 2020 ; Wong & Ngai, 2021 ; Yang & Jang, 2020 ). In particular, Ali et al. ( 2020 ) revealed that fashion companies that successfully implemented ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) reported substantial efficiency improvements compared to companies that have not yet EMS.

Specifically, some studies focused on the sustainable supply chain, which is achieved when the objectives are shared by all the actors involved. This entails reconsidering production flows, operations, and materials, limiting the polluting effects that flow into the environment, limiting production waste, extending the life cycle of the products, and improving social conditions. Kumar et al. ( 2020 ) used the Delphi-based fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process approach to identify long-term factors for implementing social responsibility-based sourcing in the ready-made apparel supply chain in Bangladesh. Further, Ashby ( 2018 ) used an in-depth case study to explore how a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) can improve the environmental performance of a UK clothing company. The results highlight the crucial role of strategic resources and a shared vision and culture among the company and its suppliers, from a more reactive environmental damage prevention plan to a comprehensive CLSC. Jesus Munoz-Torres et al. ( 2021 ) used the LCA method to quantify textile companies’ environmental impact throughout the supply chain and compare their performance with global and sectorial sustainability challenges. The findings reveal a connection between global environmental issues and corporate environmental disclosure.

5.2.4 Taxonomy of CE and CSR drivers and barriers

Based on the previous literature, Table 2 highlights the main factors which potentially affect the propensity of fashion companies to adopt CE and CSR principles, as well as the main barriers hindering their implementation. The proposed taxonomy might serve as a starting point for more empirical research.

6 Discussions and future research directions

The descriptive analysis provided a general overview of the articles included in the literature review, highlighting that, in recent years, there is growing attention on sustainability in the TAF industries and that these topics present different scopes, belong to different disciplines, and are covered by different journals.

The content analysis of the selected articles highlighted the literature’s strengths and weaknesses, thus identifying current research and providing research ideas for future investigation. It is possible to classify the selected papers into five main research areas: 1) consumer behaviour; 2) circular economy; 3) corporate social responsibility; 4) business models; and 5) supply chain management. Table 3 offers a more in-depth discussion of existing research and future research suggestions for each of these scientific areas.

The first research area discusses the drivers influencing sustainable apparel purchasing (e.g. labelling satisfaction and environmental awareness), clothing reuse (e.g. income and altruism), as well as different clothing disposal behaviour (e.g. donation and recycling). Firstly, future research could perform a meta-analysis to generalise the empirical results of previous quantitative investigations on sustainable clothing consumer behaviour, thereby obtaining more robust conclusions than those drawn from each study. Further, as the production activities, business processes and materials contribute to an increase in the global pollution rate, eco-design features, ecological materials, processes with low environmental impact, and waste reduction have been developed in recent years (Heinze, 2020 ). This area shows the need for a more in-depth analysis of the eco-design characteristics that positively influence the ethical clothing consumer’s purchase intentions. Further, there is also a lack of studies investigating the efficiency and effectiveness of the communication tools adopted by TAF companies to encourage consumers to purchase sustainable clothing. For instance, compared to traditional channels, such as reports and advertising campaigns, corporate websites are constantly being used to present the business’ formalised and official viewpoint on CSR activities (Mann et al., 2014 ). The consumers’ opinion on this aspect could therefore be more in-depth analysed in further investigation.

The second research area focuses on drivers and barriers to adopting CE strategies in the TAF industries. In the TAF industries, due to the variety of fabrics and clothing accessories used, such as buttons and zips, end-of-life textiles are difficult to handle after disposal (Marques et al., 2020 ). Since there are presently few technologies available for separating recyclable textile waste from non-recyclable textile waste, employees still do much of the job by hand (Centobelli et al., 2022 ). Future studies could therefore design and develop new technological advances for managing and sorting textile waste. Automating the process and launching it on an industrial scale will therefore be the key to a real revolution in the world of fabrics.

Furthermore, many of the articles we analysed use the LCA methodology to evaluate companies’ environmental impact throughout the supply chain. However, there is a lack of studies examining the environmental and economic impact of different sustainable and circular clothing using the LCA and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) methodologies. Indeed, the integration of these methods will provide a holistic understanding of sustainable clothing production, allowing companies to choose materials that guarantee greater added value and which at the same time respect the environment.

The third research area is mainly focused on CSR drivers and barriers. Organisations require greater attention to social and environmental issues to develop a successful business. As a result, companies are changing their modus operandi, developing sustainable initiatives from a social and environmental point of view. According to Zhu et al., ( 2016 ), businesses are under pressure from stakeholders to reduce the negative environmental impact they generate while increasing CSR initiatives. Companies recognise the strategic importance of reacting to stakeholder concerns as a means of strengthening their competitive position (Zhu et al., 2016 ). Consequently, future studies on the analysis of stakeholder concerns in the context of TAF industries are needed to develop a holistic corporate sustainability strategy.

The fourth research area discusses different types of business models in the field of TAF industries. A vast majority discusses the PSSs and the fast fashion model. However, this area highlights the need for a more comprehensive analysis of the slow fashion business model. Slow fashion is based on various principles, such as the quality of the products, the recycled and eco-compatible materials, and the short supply chain (Jung & Jin, 2016 ). Consequently, this type of business requires greater awareness of consumers and manufacturers, as it tends to reduce the production cycle and consequently consumption. Slow fashion is aimed at safeguarding the climate, workers, natural resources, and the economy. However, due to the higher costs of slow fashion products compared to mass-produced clothes, the potential of slow fashion to make and maintain a profit represents a critical point that should be explored better. It is necessary to investigate the external pressures affecting the development of the slow fashion business model, also considering all the issues related to the transition to this new type of business model. Further, there is a lack of studies examining the circular business model innovations in the TAF industries (Henry et al., 2020 ). More in detail, according to the taxonomy proposed by Urbinati et al., ( 2017 ), three types of circular companies can be identified: downstream, upstream, and full circular companies. Downstream circular businesses follow a pricing scheme or a marketing strategy focused on product use and re-use, but these contributions neglect the necessary changes at the supplier level or internal processes or product design. On another note, upstream circular companies are described as those that implement circular solutions internally (e.g. using recycled raw materials) and focus on the interactions with their suppliers. Finally, full circular companies implement both downstream and upstream circular business model innovations. As a result, future studies could examine the degree of circularity of the TAF companies, analysing if circular business model innovations are implemented downstream, upstream, or both.

Finally, the fifth research area mainly focuses on the analysis of different social and environmental sustainability challenges along the fashion supply chain. From this research area emerged the need to explore the role of digital technologies in improving sustainability performance. Indeed, digital enabling technologies like blockchain can guarantee the complete traceability and transparency of products, thus optimising the entire supply chain and improving company performance (Centobelli et al., 2021 ). Consequently, these technologies could be an excellent resource for TAF companies, representing a strategic tool for environmental protection and sustainable development and facilitating the spread of sustainable practices.

7 Conclusions and implications

7.1 contribution to the theory.

This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of sustainability trends in the TAF industries, providing different theoretical contributions and extending the results provided by previous research. We adopted bibliometric techniques (i.e. co-occurrence analysis of keywords and abstract terms) to support the content analysis phase of the review methodology and provide quantitative insights offering a holistic understanding of the research field, integrating CSR and CE aspects. Notably, the co-occurrence network of abstract terms revealed three main research clusters: (1) consumer behaviour concerning sustainable clothing consumption, (2) circular economy and corporate social responsibility issues in the TAF industries, and (3) sustainability challenges in the fashion industry. By thoroughly analysing these clusters, we developed a conceptual framework which integrates prior study findings, identifies research gaps, and provides potential directions for future research. Consequently, this study will help researchers and academicians work in this research area to identify unexplored sub-fields, which reflect some potential investigation areas for expanding scientific literature on the topic. Moreover, the proposed taxonomy of CE and CSR drivers and barriers in the fashion industry context could be used by researchers in future investigations as a reference point for conducting empirical studies.

7.2 Contribution to practice

This study offers different opportunities to the public authorities, businesses, and practitioners involved in the path towards sustainability in the TAF context. It provides a broad range of relevant knowledge regarding how sustainability and circularity principles are affecting TAF industries. Such knowledge is essential for managers of TAF industries since it allows them to innovate their business models and prosper in today's competitive environment, thus moving to less polluting production systems and improving company performance. Manufacturing companies, purchasing organisations, and other stakeholders could gain a deeper understanding of the problems, procedures, predictors, barriers, and challenges associated with implementing sustainable practices and developing the skills necessary to reduce environmental impacts and gain competitive advantages.

Furthermore, this study may have political implications. It is acknowledged that the TAF industries represent a major source of environmental pollution. Therefore, the results of this study may inspire governments to promote sustainable initiatives in the TAF industries. For instance, policies implemented by the governments may include incentives for using eco-sustainable and recycled materials or financing for the purchase of green technologies with a lower environmental impact. In addition, for TAF industries to achieve the SDGs, the government must promote cultural changes that move innovation from an individualistic logic bound only to profit maximisation to a collectivistic, communal and open logic based on sustainable development principles.

7.3 Limitations of the study

Although considerable attention was taken to ensure the study process's validity and outcomes, certain limitations must be acknowledged. First, despite we adopted a validation criterion to integrate papers published in different academic databases, we limited our initial search to papers published in the WoS database. Furthermore, we just looked at papers and reviews published in peer-reviewed journals, ignoring other types of publications, including conference proceedings and book chapters. Second, we used VOSviewer software to conduct the co-occurrence analysis of keywords and paper terms, but other statistical analysis and clustering methods can be used, such as coauthorship analysis. Another limitation is regarding the related concept (i.e. zero waste), which is not incorporated within the scope of this research. Further studies can expand the scope to such related concepts/theories.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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The State of Fashion 2024: Finding pockets of growth as uncertainty reigns

The State of Fashion 2024

Storm clouds are gathering, but the experience of recent years shows how the fashion industry may ride out the challenges ahead. In 2022, the industry again showed its resilience, almost equaling the record economic profit of 2021, the McKinsey Global Fashion Index shows. Echoing the pattern of the previous year, the luxury sector outperformed, with a 36 percent rise in economic profit that offset weakness in other segments. Yet even the non-luxury sector was ahead of its long-term average. Strong margin performance meant the industry in 2022 achieved more than double the economic profit than in all years between 2011 and 2020, except for one.

In 2023, the industry faced challenges that were both persistent and deepening. On a regional basis, Europe and the United States saw slow growth throughout the year, while China’s initially strong performance faded in the second half. Though the luxury segment initially fared well, it too began to feel the effects of weaker demand in the latter part of the year, leading to slowing sales and uneven performance.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Imran Amed, representing views of Business of Fashion, and Anita Balchandani , David Barrelet, Achim Berg , Gemma D’Auria , Felix Rölkens , and Ewa Starzynska, representing views from McKinsey’s Retail Practice.

Looking toward 2024, the most prominent sentiment among fashion industry leaders is uncertainty, reflecting the prospect of subdued economic growth, persistent inflation, and weak consumer confidence. Against this backdrop, businesses will be challenged to identify pockets of value and unlock new drivers of performance.

According to McKinsey’s analysis of fashion forecasts, the global industry will post top-line growth of 2 to 4 percent in 2024 (exhibit), with regional and country-level variations. Once again, the luxury segment is expected to generate the biggest share of economic profit. However, even there, companies will be challenged by the tough economic environment. The segment is forecast to grow globally by 3 to 5 percent, compared with 5 to 7 percent in 2023, as consumers rein in spending after a postpandemic surge. European and Chinese growth is set to slow, while US growth is expected to pick up after a relatively weak 2023, reflecting the slightly more optimistic outlook there.

Beyond luxury, growth of 2 to 4 percent is predicted for the year ahead, in line with the probable outcome in 2023. The European market will likely expand by just 1 to 3 percent, compared with 5 percent in the first half of 2023 and 1 to 3 percent in the second half. Slumping consumer confidence and declining household savings are expected to be the most probable causes of restrained spending. In the United States, nonluxury sector growth of 0 to 2 percent is forecast. And China is expected to be similarly challenged amid 4 to 6 percent growth, which is a slight uptick from the end of 2023 but slow when considered on a historical basis.

These are just some of the findings from The State of Fashion 2024 , published by the Business of Fashion (BoF) and McKinsey. The eighth report in the annual series discusses the major themes shaping the fashion economy and assesses the industry’s potential responses. Reflecting in-depth research and many conversations with industry leaders, it reveals the key trends that could shape the fashion landscape in the year ahead.

Uncertainty in the face of headwinds

With conflicts in Europe and the Middle East and strained international relations elsewhere, geopolitics is the number-one concern for fashion industry executives going into 2024, followed by economic volatility and inflation. Some 62 percent of executives in this year’s survey, conducted in September, cite geopolitical instability as the top risk to growth. Economic volatility is cited by 55 percent and inflation is mentioned by 51 percent (compared with 78 percent last year). The global average headline rate of inflation is predicted to moderate to 5.8 percent—still high on a historical basis—from 6.9 percent in 2023. 1 World economic outlook update: Near-term resilience, persistent challenges , International Monetary Fund, July 2023.

Against a challenging economic backdrop, executive views of the industry’s prospects are more divided than in any year since the launch of the BoF–McKinsey Executive Survey in 2017. While 26 percent of survey respondents say they expect conditions to improve year on year, 37 percent see them remaining the same and 38 percent think they will worsen.

Uncertainty within the industry reflects the broader economic situation, albeit with regional divergence. Going into 2024, pressure on household incomes is expected to dampen demand for apparel and prompt trading down across categories. Still, there are geographic outliers that may offer comfort. One is India, where consumer confidence hit a four-year high in September 2023. 2 “Consumer confidence survey,” Reserve Bank of India, October 6, 2023. India-based executives are more optimistic than those in Western countries, with 85 percent of respondents to McKinsey’s Global Economics Intelligence survey  saying that conditions have improved in the past six months. 3 Ryosuke Hanada, “India’s consumer sentiment rebounds past pre-COVID levels,” Nikkei Asia, July 18, 2023. China’s economy is facing challenges, but the country’s consumers show a higher intent to shop for fashion in 2024 than consumers in both the United States and Europe.

Ten themes for 2024

To prepare for challenges and be alert to opportunities, leading fashion companies will likely prioritize contingency planning for the coming year. A key theme will be companies keeping a firm grip on costs and inventories while driving growth by precisely managing prices. Brands and suppliers can expect an increasingly competitive environment. But they will also have opportunities, with consumers discovering new styles, tastes, and priorities—all presenting routes to value creation. As previously done, this year’s report highlights ten emerging themes that will be high on leadership agendas.

Global economy:

• Fragmented future. In 2024, the global economic outlook will continue to be unsettled, as financial, geopolitical, and other challenges weigh on consumer confidence. Fashion markets in China, Europe, and the United States will likely face headwinds, some of which reflect individual regional dynamics. Suppliers, brands, and retailers may need to bolster contingency planning and manage for uncertainty.
• Climate urgency. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather-related events in 2023 mean the climate crisis is an even more urgent priority than in previous years. With physical and transition risks rising across continents, the industry must not delay in tackling emissions and building resilience into supply chains.

Consumer shifts:

• Vacation mode. Consumers are gearing up for the biggest year of travel since before the pandemic. But a shift in values means expectations are evolving, even as shopping remains a priority. Brands and retailers should refresh distribution and category strategies to reflect the new reality.
• The new face of influence. It’s time for brand marketers to update their influencer playbooks, as a new guard of creative personalities wins fans. Working with opinion leaders in 2024 will require a different type of partnership, an emphasis on video, and a willingness to loosen the reins on creative control.
• Outdoors reinvented. Technical outdoor clothing and “gorpcore” are in demand as consumers embrace healthier lifestyles. In 2024, more outdoor brands are expected to launch lifestyle collections. At the same time, lifestyle brands will likely embed technical elements into collections, blurring the lines between functionality and style.

Fashion system:

• Generative AI’s creative crossroads. After generative AI’s (gen AI) breakout year in 2023, more use cases are emerging across the industry. Capturing value will require fashion players to look beyond automation and explore gen AI’s potential to enhance the work of human creatives.
• Fast fashion’s power play. Fast-fashion competition is set to be fiercer than ever. Challengers, led by Shein and Temu, are bringing new tactics on price, customer experience, and speed. Success for disruptors and incumbents could hinge on adapting to new consumer preferences while navigating the regulatory agenda.
• All eyes on brand. Brand marketing is expected to be back in the spotlight as the fashion industry manages a switch away from performance marketing. Brands may benefit from forging emotional connections with consumers as marketers rewrite playbooks to emphasise long-term brand building.
• Sustainability rules. The era of fashion industry self-regulation is drawing to a close. Across jurisdictions, new rules will have significant effects on both consumers and fashion players. Brands and manufacturers may consider revamping business models to align with the changes ahead.
• Bullwhip snaps back. Shifts in consumer demand have created a “bullwhip effect,” by which order volatility reverberates unpredictably through supply chains. Suppliers will likely face pressure as brands and retailers focus on transparency and strategic partnerships.

Looking ahead

As the industry continues to be challenged by geopolitical and economic headwinds, fashion leaders in 2024 will look to strike a careful balance between managing uncertainty and seizing opportunities. With cost-saving tactics mostly exhausted, companies may focus on growing sales, underpinned by new pricing and promotion strategies. Across the industry, net intent to raise prices is more than 50 percent, according to the BoF–McKinsey Executive Survey. At the same time, reduced cost pressures could provide a potential boost to performance.

As climate change brings increasingly extreme weather events and global temperatures rise, the coming year is likely to mark a heightened industry focus on environmental, social, and governance issues. Our survey shows that the topic is seen as both the number-one priority and number-one challenge for industry executives. The most successful companies will find a balance between sustainability initiatives, risk management, and commercial imperatives.

In an uncertain world, consumer discretionary spend will be weighted toward trusted categories and brands. Hard luxury goods—jewelry, watches, and leather—will likely be in demand, reflecting their potential investment value in tough economic times. Consumers are expected to travel more and continue spending more time outdoors. And they prefer emotional connections and authenticity over celebrity endorsements.

All told, executives are bracing for a strategically complex year ahead. To counter uncertainty, leading companies will prepare for a range of outcomes. The most successful will become more resilient, better equipped to manage the challenges, and ready to accelerate when the storm clouds begin to clear.

Anita Balchandani is a senior partner in McKinsey’s London office, where Ewa Starzynska is a consultant; David Barrelet is an associate partner in the Munich office; Achim Berg is a senior partner in the Frankfurt office; Gemma D’Auria is a senior partner in the Milan office; and Felix Rölkens is a partner in the Berlin office. Imran Amed is the founder, editor-in-chief, and CEO of the Business of Fashion and is an alumnus of McKinsey’s London office.

The authors wish to thank Asina De Branche and Joëlle Grunberg for their contributions to this article.

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Consumer values, online purchase behaviour and the fashion industry: an emerging market context

PSU Research Review

ISSN : 2399-1747

Article publication date: 21 September 2021

• Supplementary Material

This study examines consumer online purchase behaviour in the Nigerian fashion industry.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional study was conducted with a total useable sample size of 241 respondents contacted through on-site visitation. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to test the influence of customer value on online purchase behaviour in the fashion industry.

Consumer values are categorised into terminal (happiness, love and satisfaction) and instrumental (time-saving, price-saving discount, service convenience and merchandise assortment) values. The findings show that both values have significant influence on online consumer purchase behaviour, while fashion consciousness moderates the relationship between consumer values and online purchase behaviour.

Practical implications

Online fashion retailers should focus on increasing the terminal and instrumental values of their products and making available goods that meet the needs of different generational cohorts in society.

Originality/value

Studies have examined various factors, for example, consumer values that are determinants of consumer online purchase in the fashion industry; however, there has been limited focus on the nature of fashion and online purchasing in emerging markets, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Customer values
• Online purchase behaviour
• Digital retailing
• Technology innovation

Adeola, O. , Moradeyo, A.A. , Muogboh, O. and Adisa, I. (2021), "Consumer values, online purchase behaviour and the fashion industry: an emerging market context", PSU Research Review , Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/PRR-04-2021-0019

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Copyright © 2021, Ogechi Adeola, Adenike Aderonke Moradeyo, Obinna Muogboh and Isaiah Adisa

Published in PSU Research Review . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Introduction

The fashion industry dates back to over a hundred thousand years, right from the availability and use of textiles by mankind ( Botti, 2019 ). The industry, over time, has added economic and material value to humanity, evolving with society, making it a very relevant aspect of human life and also a common area of research, particularly in this technology-driven world ( Bruce and Daly, 2006 ; Botti, 2019 ; Kilduff, 2005 ; Xue et al. , 2019 ). Globally, the fashion industry contributes about US$3000 bn, an estimated 2% of the world's gross domestic product (GDP) ( Botti, 2019 ). Today, technological revolution and the Internet have enabled the establishment of online fashion retail systems to displace aspects of the traditional store patronage ( Johnstone et al. , 2013 ; Kautish and Sharma, 2018 ; Pantano and Viassone, 2015 ).

The term “fashion” is a concept that is widely accepted by committees, class or groups of people and is directly affected by marketing factors, such as low predictability, high impulse purchase, short-life cycle and the high volatility of market demand ( Fernie and Sparks, 1998 ; Bhardwaj and Fairhurst, 2010 ).

Digital retailing in the fashion industry has gained prominence, providing ample opportunities for marketers to reach out to different generational cohorts (i.e. generations X, Y and Z) ( Pentecost and Andrews, 2010 ). Generational cohort is a theoretical approach to understanding the diverse group of individuals in a society. The term is used to describe individuals who share similar political, social, cultural and economic events during their childhood ( Fernández-Durán, 2016 ). The most widely used categorisation is Gen X, Y and Z ( Sima, 2016 ). Individuals who fall into these classifications are considered to share similar behaviour, perceptions of reality, values and consumption patterns, which must be understood from a marketing standpoint ( Fernández-Durán, 2016 ; Liang and Xu, 2018 ; Mahmoud et al. , 2021 ; Sima, 2016 ; Tan et al. , 2019 ). For example, individuals in Gen X (1965–1981) are regarded as digital immigrants while Gen Y (1982–1999) and Gen Z (2000–2012) are regarded as digital natives ( Mahmoud et al. , 2021 ). To contextualise the distribution of consumers in the fashion market, this classification must be well understood.

Retail digitisation has changed the process of shopping for consumers and the process of selling for organisations in the fashion industry by providing convenient and affordable services ( Hagberg et al. , 2016 ; Kautish and Sharma, 2018 ; Renko and Druzijanic, 2014 ). Consumers' desire to shop for clothing online has, however, been hindered by challenges of “fit” and “size” of cloths ( Miell et al. , 2018 ). There have been several studies (e.g. Loker et al. , 2004 , 2008 ; Song and Ashdown, 2012 ; Kim and LaBat, 2013 ; Beck and Crié, 2018 ) that focused on providing solutions to the challenges that can impede the benefits of online fashion retailing for businesses, shoppers, and generally hinder the growth of the industry.

These challenges have negatively influenced consumers' perception of online purchases in the fashion industry, especially with clothing purchase. Digital “fit” and “sizing” technologies have been introduced to address this challenge and give customers the needed satisfaction in their online fashion purchases in developed nations ( Miell et al. , 2018 ). Online purchase is gaining prominence in Nigeria ( Aminu, 2013 ; Usman and Kumar, 2020 ), but the rate and pace of online fashion (apparel) purchase have been low despite having a large population of Internet users ( Falode et al. , 2016 ). Falode et al. , investigated online and offline shopping motivation of apparel consumers in Ibadan, Nigeria and found that consumers prefer offline purchase of apparel to online. This is quite worrying as Nigeria has an active online population which offers fashion organisations enormous opportunities ( Falode et al. , 2016 ). Hence, understanding the factors that will engender the consumer's online purchase in the fashion industry is sacrosanct to the sustainability of the online fashion space in Nigeria.

Extant studies have attempted to provide predictive direction regarding what influences consumers' online purchases in the fashion industry. For example, Schmidt et al. (2015) posit that what consumers see and hear online, influences their buying behaviour. Pentecost and Andrews (2010) established that gender influences the rate of purchase and that females purchase more items in the fashion industry than their male counterparts. Pentecost and Andrews also found that Gen Y consumers have higher purchase frequency and impulse buying than other generational cohorts. Kautish and Sharma (2018) examined consumer values, fashion consciousness and behavioural intentions in the online fashion retail sector and found a significant relationship between consumer values, fashion consciousness and behavioural intention of the consumers in India. Their study was conducted to highlight the basic factors that influence consumer purchase and patronage of online retailing in the country's fashion industry. The authors identified three variables that determine the consumer's online behaviour: consumer values, fashion consciousness and behavioural intentions.

Generally, countries in Africa are known for their distinct socio-cultural values, which influence their fashion behaviour ( Aminu, 2013 ; Falode et al. , 2016 ). The role of socio-cultural values on consumer purchase behaviour has also been explored (see Agnihotri and Bhattacharya, 2019 ; Ansari, 2018 ; Craig and Douglas, 2006 ; Kacen and Lee, 2002 ; Koon et al. , 2020 ; Nwankwo et al. , 2014 ; Pepper et al. , 2009 ; Tendai and Crispen, 2009 ); however, there is a dearth of studies on consumer online purchase behaviour, in the fashion industry, with reference to sub-Saharan Africa. A key country in this region is Nigeria, known for its multi-ethnicity and large population. The country's median age is 18.4 years, which indicates the propensity of a technology-driven youthful population ( Varrella, 2020 ). With the challenge of “fit” and “size” and patronage of online fashion space in Nigeria ( Falode et al. , 2016 ; Ogbuji and Udom, 2018 ), this study assesses consumer purchase behaviour in online fashion retailing of an emerging market, particularly in a technology-driven society. Following Kautish and Sharma's (2018) study, we adopt the variables – values, fashion consciousness and behavioural intention to purchase – as predictors of online consumer purchase behaviour in the Nigerian fashion industry.

Theoretical framework

Theory of planned behaviour.

This paper adopts the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) by Azjen (1985 , 1991 ) to explain the purchase and patronage of online fashion retailing. Azjen (1991) asserts that an individual's behaviour is not spontaneous but rather is influenced and determined by various factors, such as intention, social norm and perceived control over certain phenomena. TPB is an extension of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) ( Azjen and Fishbein, 1980 ; George, 2004 ). The TRA proposed that intention is crucial in exhibiting certain behaviours, and it is measured by attitude and subjective norms ( Hagger, 2019 ). The theory focused on explaining behaviours within the individual's control, and the scope did not capture explanations on why individuals are not in total control of some of their behaviours, and this led to TPB. Azjen extended TRA with the propositions of the TPB and included the construct of perceived behavioural control to explain behaviours beyond the control of the individual ( Hagger, 2019 ).

According to George (2004) , the attitude towards a target behaviour and the subjective norms surrounding it determine intention. Several studies have applied the assumptions of TPB to purchase behaviour ( Arora and Sahney, 2018 ; Conner, 2020 ; George, 2004 ; Verma and Chandra, 2018 ) and also in studies on Internet purchasing behaviour (i.e. Battacherjee, 2000 ; George, 2002 , 2004 ; Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1997a , b ; Khalifa and Limayem, 2003 ; Limayem et al. , 2000 ; Pavlou, 2002 ; Song and Zahedi, 2001 ; Singh and Srivastava, 2019 ; Suh and Han, 2003 ; Tan and Teo, 2000 ; Verma and Chandra, 2018 ). The three antecedents of online-purchasing behaviour are measured and defined on the premise of TPB ( Ham et al. , 2015 ). These include attitude and intention (Do I want to do that?), subjective norms (Do others want me to do that?) and perceived control (Do I have the necessary ability to do that?).

Azjen (1991) proposes that intention is determined by an individual's attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. Attitude can either be positive or negative, and it is influenced by an individual's beliefs, which, in turn, inform the norms. Azjen (1991) adds that an individual's possession of resources and opportunities needed to engage in the behaviour would influence whether the individual will exhibit such behaviour. In other words, it is not sufficient to have intentions to purchase; individuals must also have the ability to purchase the product. For example, two individuals might have the same level of intention and belief in purchasing a particular product, but the one with the resources to purchase the product is more likely to make the purchase decision.

In the context of this study, behaviour is determined by intentions and beliefs (social norms) that align with the individual's values. Individuals will act in calculative ways, such that decisions are made based on the most favourable outcome. This paper hypothesises that consumers' values (terminal and instrumental values) and consumers' fashion consciousness are factors that determine their online purchases in the fashion industry. This implies that in an emerging market, despite the challenges of fit and size of apparels bought online ( Kaushik et al. , 2020 ), consumers' instrumental values, terminal values and fashion consciousness will stimulate purchase using the same medium. TPB is, therefore, adopted to explain and predict consumer online purchase behaviour in the fashion industry and in an emerging market; this is premised on the tenets of the theory that consumers' values (instrumental, terminal) and fashion consciousness will determine consumers' purchase in the online fashion industry.

Technology and the fashion industry

The retail business is experiencing continuous changes due to the dynamics in taste, innovation and consumer behaviour in the market ( Kennedy et al. , 2019 ; Suzuki and Park, 2018 ; Tendai and Crispen, 2009 ). The fashion industry, which is one of the oldest industries in the history of mankind, has been very dynamic, evolving according to the tastes, trends and needs of society. Xue et al. (2019) emphasise that retailers must understand how to use technology to facilitate consumer purchase behaviour in local and global markets of this era. Xue et al. (2019) project that proper investment in electronic retailing would enhance the business performance of retailers, sustain their competitive advantage and attract a larger population to the electronic market, if the purchase behaviours of consumers within the markets are understood. The fashion industry has evolved and imbibed the online retailing system to attract the attention of the majority in the market. As society is becoming more technology-driven, the fashion industry must position itself in line with this trend; however, some studies show that challenges emanating from online fashion commodities, like apparels, have negatively affected rather than boost retail sales ( Bonetti et al. , 2018 ; Hope-Allwood, 2016 ; Xue et al. , 2019 ).

Therefore, having a technology-driven retail strategy without understanding or paying attention to factors that influence consumer purchase behaviour will result in negative sales outcome, for consumers are driven by social and psychological factors in their purchase intention. Niemeier et al. (2013) as well as Xue et al. (2019) found hedonic factors, convenience (friendly-user interface and easy process) and entertainment as determinants of consumers' purchase of virtual products. Contributing to the array of knowledge on consumer purchase of virtual products, consumer values, fashion consciousness and behavioural intention are tested in this study.

Consumer values, fashion consciousness and behavioural intentions in the online fashion retail sector

Instrumental value influences consumer online purchase behaviour in emerging markets.

Terminal values influence consumer online purchase behaviours in an emerging market

Fashion consciousness influences consumer online purchase behaviour in the fashion industry

The relationship between consumer values (terminal and instrumental) and consumer online purchase behaviour is moderated by consumers' fashion consciousness

Research sample

We employed a cross-sectional design and surveyed 282 individuals through convenience sampling. The data collection method yielded a useable total of 241 survey reports through onsite visitation, representing a response rate of 88.5%, which is considered adequate. The remaining 41 survey reports were rejected due to incomplete information. The survey questionnaire contained close-ended questions and was administered to the respondents in August 2019. The study was conducted in an environment comprising both students and the working class, where a major public university in Lagos, Nigeria, is situated. The demographic characteristics of respondents are as follows: 52.3% of the respondents are students; 13.3% are unemployed; 2.90% are self-employed and the remaining 31.5% constitute other professions ( Table 1 ). Most of the respondents in the study fall within Generation Y (21–30 years, 45.6%; 31–40 years, 21%) and Z (Below 20, 28%) category. The descriptive statistics and correlation of the constructs are provided in Table 2 .

To ensure high content validity, all the measurement scales used for the consumer values, fashion consciousness and online consumer purchase behaviour were adopted from extant literature ( Kautish and Sharma, 2018 ). The survey asked respondents to indicate on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = “strongly disagree” through to 7 = “strongly agree”, the extent to which each statement applied to them.

Control variables

We controlled for four variables in the analyses to account for other factors that were not captured in the research but could affect customer online purchase behaviour in Nigeria. These control variables include age of respondent, educational qualification, monthly income and online purchase frequency.

Scale validity and reliability

The Cronbach alpha reliability test ( α ), which shows internal consistency for each item that makes up a construct is as follows: consumer value has α value of 0.70; fashion consciousness has α value of 0.72 and consumer online purchase behaviour has α value of 0.80. These Cronbach alpha values are all above 0.7, which is the recommended minimum acceptable level ( Hair et al. , 1998 ). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) of the adopted measures which confirm the discriminant validity are as follows: normed chi-square value ( χ 2  = 537.48; df = 129), the fit indices Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI) = 0.70, Normed Fit Index (NFI) = 0.70, Goodness of Fit (GFI) = 0.80, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.74, p -value = 0.00000 and Root Mean Square Error (RMSEA) = 0.115. The CFA results confirmed the discriminant validity of the constructs. Table 2 shows the means, standard deviations and correlations of the variables. The ( χ 2 /df) value for the model is 4.2, which is within the acceptable range of 2–5 ( MacCallum et al. , 1999 ; Marsh et al. , 1988 , 1998 ; Kautish and Sharma, 2018 ).

Analysis and results

The following regression model was used to estimate the consumer online purchase behaviour influence of the two independent constructs: consumer value and fashion consciousness: Y i = β 0 + β 1 C V + β 2 F C + β 3 C V F C + e i

The subscript i denotes each respondent ( i  = 1,…, 241). Y is the dependent variable (Consumer online purchase behaviour). CV represents the vector for the variants, terminal and instrumental values, FC represents the vector for fashion consciousness, CVFC represents the vector for the moderating effects and e i is the error term. β 1 – β 3 represent the parameters of the coefficients. Figure 1 shows the research model.

Multiple regression analysis was carried out using the hierarchical method ( Cohen and Cohen, 1983 ). In this case, the independent variables were sequentially introduced, one after the other. The hierarchical regression analysis was carried out using six separate multiple regression analyses, as shown in Table 3 . In the first regression model, all the control variables were included. In the second regression model, consumer terminal value was regressed on the consumer online purchase behaviour and the control variables. In the third regression model, the instrumental value was regressed on the consumer online purchase behaviour and the control variables. In the fourth regression model, consumer values (terminal and instrumental values) were regressed on the consumer online purchase behaviour and the control variables. Finally, the interaction terms and consumer values (terminal and instrumental values) were regressed on the consumer online purchase behaviour and the control variables.

Overall, the four hypotheses are supported, as indicated in Table 3 . From model 1, none of the control variables is significant. From model 2, the results show that terminal value is significantly positively related to consumer online purchase behaviour ( β  = 0.633 at p  < 0.01), thus, supporting H1 ; all the control variables are not significant. From model 3, the results show that instrumental value is significantly positively related to consumer online purchase behaviour ( β  = 0.451 at p  < 0.01), thus supporting H2 ; all the control variables are not significant. From model 4, the results show that fashion consciousness is significantly positively related to consumer online purchase behaviour ( β  = 0.413 at p  < 0.01), thus supporting H3 ; almost all the control variables are not significant, except the age of respondents, which is significant ( β  = −0.169 at p  < 0.05). From model 5, the results show that terminal value is significantly positively related to consumer online purchase behaviour ( β  = 0.048 at p  < 0.01), thus also supporting H1 . Instrumental value is significantly positively related to consumer online purchase behaviour ( β  = 0.219 at p  < 0.01), thus also supporting H2 .

Fashion consciousness is significantly and positively related to consumer online purchase behaviour ( β  = 0.142 at p  > 0.05), thus also supporting H3 . All the control variables are found to be insignificant. From model 6, the results show that the interaction term (terminal value × instrumental value × fashion consciousness) is significantly positively related to consumer online behaviour, thus supporting H4 . Instrumental value is not significant, whereas terminal value is significantly related to consumer online purchase behaviour. Fashion consciousness is not significantly related to consumer online purchase behaviour.

All the control variables are found to be insignificant. From model 6, the interaction between consumer value and fashion consciousness accounted for significantly more variance than just consumer value and fashion consciousness alone; R 2 change = 0.008, p  < 0.01, indicating that there is potentially significant moderation between consumer value and fashion consciousness on consumer online purchase behaviour. The Durbin–Watson ranges from 1.6–1.9, which are approximately 2, and shows no evidence of autocorrelation ( Gujarati, 2003 ). The overall statistical measures, such as ( R 2 , R , F and p -value) indicate the adequacy of the model (see Table 3 ).

Discussions and implication

The role of consumer values in influencing online purchase has been documented in the literature ( Limayem et al. , 2000 ; Nwankwom et al. , 2014 ; Kautish and Sharma, 2018 ). However, very few studies have examined the role of technological innovation in influencing customer value towards online purchase, especially as related to the fashion industry. Kautish and Sharma (2018) examined consumer values, fashion consciousness and behavioural intentions in India's online fashion retail sector and suggested that similar studies should be conducted in emerging economies with diverse cultures. This study, thus, fills this gap by examining consumer values and purchase in the fashion industry through technological platforms in emerging markets, like Nigeria.

Consumer values were grouped into instrumental and terminal values to illustrate the practical implications of the study. The first hypothesis examined the influence of instrumental value on consumer online purchase behaviour in an emerging market, and the result shows that there is a positive significant relationship between instrumental values and online purchase of fashion apparels. This implies that purchasing apparel online saves consumers' time, cost of purchase, convenience, discount in services received and it offers varieties of goods to choose and buy. In other words, key factors that attract and influence the purchase of fashion items online using technological innovation are the convenience, low cost, discount and variety of commodities offered by online stores. This result supports the theoretical proposition by Azjen (1991) that behaviours of individuals are influenced by calculative permutations on the cost and benefits of their actions. Consequently, intentions become actions when it is perceived that the action has more benefit than cost. This finding also supports the observations of Kautish and Sharma (2018) that instrumental values to be derived by consumers in the purchase of a commodity online will influence their purchase decision.

The second hypothesis on the influence of terminal values and consumer online purchase behaviour in an emerging market reveals a significant and positive relationship between terminal value and consumer online purchase behaviour. This implies that happiness, love and satisfaction are consumers experience when they purchase fashion apparels online. In addition, customers perceive a sense of freedom and comfort when they successfully make online purchases. This also supports the submission of Allen et al. (2002) as well as Kautish and Sharma (2018) that terminal value reward from online purchase of a product influences consumer purchase. Online stores, hence, must ensure that their products provide ease of purchase and are low cost and also that the apparels reflect the desires of the customers, such that they provide comfort, satisfaction and happiness when worn.

The third hypothesis examines the influence of fashion consciousness on consumer online purchase behaviour in the fashion industry, and the result shows a significant and positive relationship between fashion consciousness and purchase behaviours. This implies that students, professionals, the employed and unemployed in emerging markets like Nigeria, support and are mindful of fashion trends; the result also showed that students are more interested in fashion trends than the unemployed and self-employed; this result might be associated with the fact that Gen Y and Z consumers are the most represented in this study. This result supports the observations of Babin and James (2010) , Fernandes (2013) , Kautish and Sharma (2018) that fashion consciousness influences the decision to purchase apparels and other related fashion items online. Kautish and Sharma's (2018) submitted that Gen Y consumers have a higher purchase frequency and impulse buying than other generational cohorts. However, this study extends knowledge from the work of Kautish and Sharma (2018) , which was focused on students to show that it is not only this category of individuals who are fashion-conscious but also professionals, the self-employed and even the unemployed in emerging markets, like Nigeria.

The fourth hypothesis tested the moderation of customer values (terminal and instrumental) and online purchase behaviour by fashion consciousness, and the result shows that fashion consciousness moderates the extent to which consumers' values influence their purchase behaviour. A society with a high rate of fashion-conscious individuals will purchase fashion apparels online more than a society with less fashion-conscious people. In addition, it shows that an individual's consciousness for fashion plays a primary role in the online purchase of fashion apparels and other fashionable items.

Additional findings in the study reveal that terminal value has a greater influence on online consumer purchase of fashion apparel. This is indicated by its higher coefficient score (0.633) compared to the scores for the instrumental value (0.451) and fashion consciousness (0.413) (see Table 3 ). This shows that happiness, love, satisfaction, a sense of freedom and comfort derived from online purchase of fashion apparels influence customers' behaviour more than instrumental values (ease of purchase, cost, convenience, discount and product varieties). Interestingly, these findings do not support the observations of Kautish and Sharma (2018) in India, which indicated that instrumental value has a greater influence on consumer purchase. The reverse is the case in this study, as the terminal value reflects the highest coefficient among the two constructs. Nigerians in the study were more interested in the terminal value obtained from the purchase of fashion apparels online, as opposed to customers in India, which might be due to their social and cultural differences.

Implication for practice

The findings from this study have both business and technology-use implications. First, organisations and businesses in the fashion industry must continue to implement innovative and technological ideas on how to provide customers with the values that appeal to them from the online purchase of apparels as this has proven to be a key factor influencing customers' purchase. Consumers in this study are influenced by the convenience and time efficiency of purchase, cost-effectiveness, discount and availability of varieties; hence, managers, business owners and app developers for the fashion market must ensure that their services take into consideration all of these factors for online purchase to be continually stimulated.

Additionally, managers and app developers must understand the kind of apparels that conform to consumers' satisfaction and design, such apparels to meet this need, as this is also paramount to stimulate purchases. Consumers in the Nigerian fashion market are conscious of apparels that give them comfort, a sense of love, happiness and are trendy; therefore, online fashion retailers must have in stock apparels that possess these characteristics. In addition, the targeted audience should not be students or the younger generation alone, as this study has shown that the larger Nigerian populace is fashion conscious. Business owners should have apparels that cut across generations X, Y and Z; they should ensure that there are various offerings to capture different population classifications in the market, thereby meeting all needs. Businesses can focus more on generation Y and Z as they are the most populous in emerging markets and are more used to digital innovations. In spite of this, generation X must still be captured in their product offerings and designs.

The focus should be on increasing terminal values (happiness, love and satisfaction, a feeling of freedom and comfort) of fashion apparels purchased. Instrumental values (ease of purchase, cost, convenience, discount and product varieties) values are important to the Nigerian market; however, there is a preference for clothes that satisfy more terminal values.

Limitations and direction for future research

The study covered consumer values, fashion consciousness and online purchase in the fashion industry in an emerging market – Nigeria. This study is limited to the online fashion (apparel) market and did not take into consideration other viable sectors. Hence, future studies can fill this gap. Other markets, for instance, electronics and automobiles, can be examined in future studies to extend the knowledge of online purchasing and the impact of technological innovations.

Through the lens of a cross-sectional methodology and quantitative techniques, convenience sampling was used to select respondents from a mixed population of students, working-class professionals, the self-employed and unemployed within a multi-cultural and industrial environment, Lagos.

Future studies can consider using random sampling techniques, triangulate their methods and expand the geographical coverage of the sample as non-attention to these factors can be considered a limitation of the study.

The model above represents the direct effects models ( Hypotheses 1 , 2 , 3 ) and the moderation model ( Hypothesis 4 )

Demographic characteristic of respondents

Descriptive statistics and correlations

Note(s): n  = 421; standardised regression coefficients are reported

* p  < 0.10; ** p  < 0.05; *** p  < 0.01

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Making Fashion Sustainable: Waste and Collective Responsibility

Debbie moorhouse.

1 Department of Fashion & Textiles, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK

Fashion is a growing industry, but the demand for cheap, fast fashion has a high environmental footprint. Some brands lead the way by innovating to reduce waste, improve recycling, and encourage upcycling. But if we are to make fashion more sustainable, consumers and industry must work together.

As the demand for apparel and shoes has increased worldwide, the fashion industry has experienced substantial growth. In the last 15 years, clothing production has doubled, accounting for 60% of all textile production. 1 One particular trend driving this increase is the emergence of fast fashion. The newest trends in celebrity culture and bespoke fashion shows rapidly become available from affordable retailers. In recent years, a designer’s fashion calendar can consist of up to five collections per year, and in the mass-produced market, new stock is being produced every 2 weeks. As with many commodities today, mass production and consumption are often accompanied by mass wastage, and fashion is no different.

In fashion, trends rapidly change, and a drive to buy the latest style can leave many items with a short lifespan and consigned to the waste bin. Given that 73% of clothing ends up in landfills and less than 1% is recycled into new clothing, there are significant costs with regard to not only irreplaceable resources but also the economy via landfilling clothing. At present, it is estimated that £140 million worth of clothing is sent to landfills in the UK each year. 2 Although a significant proportion of recycled fibers are downgraded into insulation materials, industrial wipes, and stuffing, they still constitute only 12% of total discarded material.

The world is increasingly worried about the environmental and social costs of fashion, particularly items that have short lifespans. Mass-produced fashion is often manufactured where labor is cheap, but working conditions can be poor. Sweatshops can even be found in countries with stricter regulations. The transport of products from places of manufacture to points of sale contributes to the textile industry’s rising carbon footprint; 1.2 billion metric tons of CO 2 were reportedly emitted in 2015. 1 Textile dyeing and finishing are thought to contribute to 20% of the world’s water pollution, 3 and microfiber emission during washing amounts to half a million metric tons of plastic pollution annually. 4 Fashion’s water footprint is particularly problematic. Water is used throughout clothing production, including in the growth of crops such as cotton and in the weaving, manufacturing, washing, and dyeing processes. The production of denim apparel alone uses over 5,000 L of water 5 for a single pair of jeans. When you add this to consumer overuse of water, chemicals, and energy in the laundry process and the ultimate discard to landfills or incineration, the environmental impact becomes extremely high.

As demand for fast fashion continues to grow, so too does the industry’s environmental footprint. Negative impacts are starkly evidenced throughout the entire supply chain—from the growth of raw materials to the disposal of scarcely used garments. As awareness of the darker side of fashion grows, so too does demand for change—not just from regulatory bodies and global action groups but also from individual consumers. People want ethical garments. Sustainability and style. But achieving this is complicated.

Demand for Sustainable Fashion

Historically, sustainable brands were sought by a smaller consumer base and were typically part of the stereotype “hippy” style. But in recent years, sustainable fashion has become more mainstream among both designers and consumers, and the aesthetic appeal has evolved to become more desirable to a wider audience. As a result, the consumer need not only buy into the ethics of the brand but also purchase a desirable, contemporary garment.

But the difficulty for the fashion industry lies in addressing all sustainability and ethical issues while remaining economically sustainable and future facing. Sustainable and ethical brands must take into account fairer wages, better working conditions, more sustainably produced materials, and a construction quality that is built for longevity, all of which ultimately increase the cost of the final product. The consumer often wrestles with many different considerations when making a purchase; some of these conflict with each other and can lead the consumer to prioritize the monetary cost.

Many buyers who place sustainability over fashion but cannot afford the higher cost of sustainable garments will often forsake the latest styles and trends to buy second hand. However, fashion and second-hand clothing need not be mutually exclusive, as can be seen by the growing trend of acquiring luxury vintage pieces. Vintage clothing is in direct contrast to the whole idea of “fast fashion” and is sought after as a way to express individuality with the added value of saving something precious from landfills. Where vintage might have once been purchased at an exclusive auction, now many online sources trade in vintage pieces. Celebrities, fashion influencers, and designers have all bought into this vintage trend, making it a very desirable pre-owned, pre-loved purchase. 6 In effect, the consumer mindset is changing such that vintage clothing (as a timeless, more considered purchase) is more desirable than new products because of its uniqueness, a virtue that stands against the standardization of mass-market production.

Making Fashion Circular

In an ideal system, the life cycle of a garment would be a series of circles such that the garment would continually move to the next life—redesigned, reinvented, and never discarded—eliminating the concept of waste. Although vintage is growing in popularity, this is only one component of a circular fashion industry, and the reality is that the linear system of “take, make, dispose,” with all its ethical and environmental problems, continues to persist.

Achieving sustainability in the production of garments represents a huge and complex challenge. It is often quoted that “more than 80% of the environmental impact of a product is determined at the design stage,” 7 meaning that designers are now being looked upon to solve the problem. But the responsibility should not solely lie with the designer; it should involve all stakeholders along the supply chain. Designers develop the concept, but the fashion industry also involves pattern cutters and garment technologists, as well as the manufacturers: both producers of textiles and factories where garment construction takes place. And finally, the consumer should not only dispose, reuse, or upcycle garments appropriately but also wash and care for the garment in a way that both is sustainable and ensures longevity of the item. These stakeholders must all work together to achieve a more sustainable supply chain.

The challenge of sustainability is particularly pertinent to denim, which, as already mentioned, is one of the more problematic fashion items. Traditionally an expression of individualism and freedom, denim jeans are produced globally at 1.7 billion pairs per year 8 through mass-market channels and mid-tier and premium designer levels, and this is set to rise. In the face of growing demand, some denim specialists are looking for ways to make their products more sustainable.

Reuse and recycling can play a role here, and designers and brands such as Levi Strauss & Co. and Mud Jeans are taking responsibility for the future life of their garments. They are offering take-back services, mending services, and possibilities for recycling to new fibers at end of life. Many brands have likewise embraced vintage fashion. Levi’s “Authorized Vintage” line, which includes upcycled, pre-worn vintage pieces, not only exemplifies conscious consumption but also makes this vintage trend more sought after by the consumer because of its iconic status. All material is sourced from the company’s own archive, and all redesigns “are a chance to relive our treasured history.” 9

Mud Jeans in particular is working toward a circular business model by taking a more considered, “seasonless” approach to their collections by instead focusing on longevity and pieces that transcend seasons. In addition, they offer a lease service where jeans can be returned for a different style and a return service at end of life for recycling into new fiber. The different elements that make up a garment, such as the base fabrics (denim in the case of Mud jeans) and fastenings, are limited so the company can avoid overstocking and reduce deadstock. 10 This model of keeping base materials to a minimum has been adopted by brands that don’t specialize in denim, such as Adidas’s production of a recyclable trainer made from virgin thermoplastic polyurethane. 11 The challenge with garments, as with footwear, is that they are made up of many different materials that are difficult to separate and sort for recycling. These business models have a long way to go to be truly circular, but some companies are paving the way forward, and their transparency is highly valuable to other companies that wish to follow suit.

Once a product is purchased, its future is in the hands of the consumer, and not all are aware of the recycling options available to them or that how they care for their garments can have environmental impacts. Companies are helping to inform them. In 2009, Levi Strauss & Co. introduced “Care Tag for Our Planet,” which gives straightforward washing instructions to save water and energy and guidance on how to donate the garment when it is no longer needed. Mud Jeans follows a similar process by highlighting the need to break the habit of regular unnecessary washing and even suggesting “air washing.” 10

At the same time, designers are moving away from the traditional seasonal production cycle and into a more seasonless calendar. In light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Gucci’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, has announced (May 2020) that the Italian brand will end the traditional five fashion shows per year and will “hold shows just twice a year instead to reduce waste.” 12 This is a brave decision because it goes against the practice whereby designers were pressured for decades to produce more collections per year, but the hope is that it will be quickly followed by more brands and designers.

Transparency

The discussion around sustainable fashion practices has led to a growing demand from consumers for transparency in the supply chain and life cycle of fashion garments. Consumers want to be informed. They are skeptical of media hype and “greenwashing” by fast-fashion companies wanting to make their brand appear responsible. They want to know the origin of the product and its environmental and social impact.

Some companies are responding by seeking a better understanding of the environmental impacts of their products. In 2015, denim specializer Levi Strauss & Co. extensively analyzed the garment life cycle to consider the environmental impact of a core set of products from its range. The areas highlighted for greatest water usage and negative environmental impact were textile production and consumer laundry care; the consumer phase alone consumed 37% of energy, 13 fiber and textile production accounted for 36% of energy usage, and the remaining 27% was spent on garment production, transport, logistics, and packaging. 14 This life-cycle analysis has led to innovation in waterless finishing processes that use 96% less water than traditional fabric finishing. 15 As noted previously, transparency here also inspires the wider industry to do likewise. Other companies have also introduced dyeing processes that need much less water, and much work is focused on improving textile recycling.

But this discussion does not just apply to production. Some high-street brands are using a “take back” scheme whereby customers are invited to bring back unwanted clothing either for a discount on future purchases or as a way to offload unwanted items of clothing. Not only might this encourage consumers to buy more without feeling guilty, but the ultimate destination of these returned garments can also be unclear. Without further transparency, a consumer cannot make fully informed decisions about the end-of-life fate of their garments.

Collective Responsibility

The buck should not be passed when it comes to sustainability; it is about collective responsibility. Professionals in the fashion industry often feel that it is in the hands of the consumer—they have the buying power, and their choices determine how the industry reacts. One train of thought is that the consumer needs to buy less and that the fashion retail industry can’t be asked to sell less. However, if a sustainable life cycle is to be achieved, stakeholders within the cycle must also be accountable, and there are growing demands for the fashion industry to be regulated.

With the global demand for new clothing, there is an urgent need to discover new materials and to find new markets for used clothing. At present, garments that last longer reduce production and processing impacts, and designers and brands can make efforts in the reuse and recycling of clothing. But environmental impact will remain high if large quantities of new clothing continue to be bought.

If we want a future sustainable fashion industry, both consumers and industry professionals must engage. Although greater transparency and sustainability are being pursued and certain brands are leading the way, the overconsumption of clothing is so established in society that it is difficult to say how this can be reversed or slowed. Moreover, millions of livelihoods depend on this constant cycle of fashion production. Methods in the recycling, upcycling, reuse, and remanufacture of apparel and textiles are short-term gains, and the real impact will come from creating new circular business models that account for the life cycle of a garment and design in the initial concept. If we want to maximize the value from each item of clothing, giving them second, third, and fourth lives is essential.

Acknowledgments

Thank you for support, in writing this Commentary, to Dr. Rina Arya, Professor of Visual Culture and Theory at the School of Art, Design, and Architecture of the University of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK.

Declaration of Interests

The author is the co-founder of the International Society for Sustainable Fashion.

A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning fashion’s future

Other available languages

Fashion is a vibrant industry that employs hundreds of millions, generates significant revenues, and touches almost everyone, everywhere.

Since the 20th century, clothing has increasingly been considered as disposable, and the industry has become highly globalised, with garments often designed in one country, manufactured in another, and sold worldwide at an ever-increasing pace. This trend has been further accentuated over the past 15 years by rising demand from a growing middle class across the globe with higher disposable income, and the emergence of the ‘fast fashion’ phenomenon, leading to a doubling in production over the same period.

Beyond laudable ongoing efforts, a new system for the textiles economy is needed and this report proposes a vision aligned with circular economy principles. In such a model, clothes, fabric, and fibres re-enter the economy after use and never end up as waste. Achieving a new textiles economy will demand unprecedented levels of alignment. A system-level change approach is required and one which will capture the opportunities missed by the current linear textiles system.

A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning fashion’s future is available in: English

To quote this report, please use the following reference: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A new textiles economy: Redesigning fashion’s future (2017).

Supporting material

A New Textiles Economy: Summary of findings

Published on 28th November 2017

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International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

• Open access
• Published: 22 November 2014

Dress, body and self: research in the social psychology of dress

• Kim Johnson 1 ,
• Sharron J Lennon 2 &
• Nancy Rudd 3  

Fashion and Textiles volume  1 , Article number:  20 ( 2014 ) Cite this article

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The purpose of this research was to provide a critical review of key research areas within the social psychology of dress. The review addresses published research in two broad areas: (1) dress as a stimulus and its influence on (a) attributions by others, attributions about self, and on one's behavior and (2) relationships between dress, the body, and the self. We identify theoretical approaches used in conducting research in these areas, provide an abbreviated background of research in these areas highlighting key findings, and identify future research directions and possibilities. The subject matter presented features developing topics within the social psychology of dress and is useful for undergraduate students who want an overview of the content area. It is also useful for graduate students (1) who want to learn about the major scholars in these key areas of inquiry who have moved the field forward, or (2) who are looking for ideas for their own thesis or dissertation research. Finally, information in this paper is useful for professors who research or teach the social psychology of dress.

Introduction

A few social scientists in the 19 th Century studied dress as related to culture, individuals, and social groups, but it was not until the middle of the 20 th Century that home economists began to pursue a scholarly interest in social science aspects of dress (Roach-Higgins 1993 ). Dress is defined as “an assemblage of modifications of the body and/or supplements to the body” (Roach-Higgins & Eicher 1992 , p. 1). Body modifications include cosmetic use, suntanning, piercing, tattooing, dieting, exercising, and cosmetic surgery among others. Body supplements include, but are not limited to, accessories, clothing, hearing aids, and glasses. By the 1950s social science theories from economics, psychology, social psychology, and sociology were being used to study dress and human behavior (Rudd 1991 , p. 24).

A range of topics might be included under the phrase social psychology of dress but we use it to refer to research that attempts to answer questions concerned with how an individual’s dress-related beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, feelings, and behaviors are shaped by others and one’s self. The social psychology of dress is concerned with how an individual’s dress affects the behavior of self as well as the behavior of others toward the self (Johnson & Lennon 2014 ).

Among several topics that could be included in a critical review of research addressing the social psychology of dress, we focused our work on a review of published research in two broad areas: (1) dress as a stimulus and its influence on (a) attributions by others, attributions about self, and on one’s own behavior and (2) relationships between dress, the body, and the self. Our goal was to identify theoretical approaches used in conducting research in these areas, provide an abbreviated background of research in these areas highlighting key findings, and to identify future research directions and possibilities. The content presented features developing topics within the social psychology of dress and is useful for undergraduate students who want an overview of the content area. It is also useful for graduate students (1) who want to learn about the major scholars in these key areas of inquiry who have moved the field forward, or (2) who are looking for ideas for their own thesis or dissertation research. Finally, information in this paper is useful for professors who research or teach the social psychology of dress.

Body supplements as stimulus variables

In studying the social psychology of dress, researchers have often focused on dress as a stimulus variable; for example, the effects of dress on impression formation, attributions, and social perception (see Lennon & Davis 1989 ) or the effects of dress on behaviors (see Johnson et al. 2008 ). The context within which dress is perceived (Damhorst 1984-85 ) as well as characteristics of perceivers of clothed individuals (Burns & Lennon 1993 ) also has a profound effect on what is perceived about others. In the remainder of this section we focus on three research streams that center on dress (i.e., body supplements) as stimuli.

Provocative dress as stimuli

In the 1980s researchers were interested in women’s provocative (revealing, sexy) dress and the extent to which men and women attributed the same meaning to it. For example, both Edmonds and Cahoon ( 1986 ) and Cahoon and Edmonds ( 1987 ) found ratings of women who wore provocative dress were more negative than ratings of women who wore non-provocative dress. No specific theory was identified by these authors as guiding their research. Overall, when wearing provocative dress a model was rated more sexually appealing, more attractive, less faithful in marriage, more likely to engage in sexual teasing, more likely to use sex for personal gain, more likely to be sexually experienced, and more likely to be raped than when wearing conservative dress. Cahoon and Edmonds found that men and women made similar judgments, although men’s were more extreme than women’s. Abbey et al. ( 1987 ) studied whether women’s sexual intent and interest as conveyed by revealing dress was misinterpreted by men. The authors developed two dress conditions: revealing (slit skirt, low cut blouse, high heeled shoes) and non-revealing (skirt without a slit, blouse buttoned to neck, boots). Participants rated the stimulus person on a series of adjective traits. As compared to when wearing the non-revealing clothing, when wearing the revealing clothing the stimulus person was rated significantly more flirtatious, sexy, seductive, promiscuous, sophisticated, assertive, and less sincere and considerate. This research was not guided by theory.

Taking this research another step forward, in the 1990s dress researchers began to investigate how women’s provocative (revealing, sexy) dress was implicated in attributions of responsibility for their own sexual assaults (Lewis & Johnson 1989 ; Workman & Freeburg 1999 ; Workman & Orr 1996 ) and sexual harassment (Johnson & Workman 1992 , 1994 ; Workman & Johnson 1991 ). These researchers tended to use attribution theories (McLeod, 2010 ) to guide their research. Their results showed that provocative, skimpy, see-through, or short items of dress, as well as use of heavy makeup (body modification), were cues used to assign responsibility to women for their sexual assaults and experiences of sexual harassment. For example, Johnson and Workman ( 1992 ) studied likelihood of sexual harassment as a function of women’s provocative dress. A model was photographed wearing a dark suit jacket, above-the-knee skirt, a low-cut blouse, dark hose, and high heels (provocative condition) or wearing a dark suit jacket, below-the-knee skirt, high-cut blouse, neutral hose, and moderate heels (non-provocative condition). As compared to when wearing non-provocative dress, when wearing provocative dress the model was rated as significantly more likely to provoke sexual harassment and to be sexually harassed.

Recently, researchers have resurrected the topic of provocative (revealing, sexy) dress. However, their interest is in determining the extent to which women and girls are depicted in provocative dress in the media (in magazines, in online retail stores) and the potential consequences of those depictions, such as objectification. These researchers have often used objectification theory to guide their research. According to objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts 1997 ) women living in sexually saturated cultures are looked at, evaluated, and potentially objectified and treated as objects valued for their use by others. Objectification theory focuses on sexual objectification as a function of objectifying gaze, which is experienced in actual social encounters, media depictions of social encounters, and media depictions that focus on bodies and body parts. The theory explains that objectifying gaze evokes an objectified state of consciousness which influences self-perceptions. This objectified state of consciousness has consequences such as habitual body and appearance monitoring and requires cognitive effort that can result in difficulty with task performance (Szymanski et al. 2011 ). In such an environment, women may perceive their bodies from a third-person perspective, treating themselves as objects to be looked at and evaluated.

Self-objectification occurs when people perceive and describe their bodies as a function of appearance instead of accomplishments (Harrison & Fredrickson 2003 ). Experimental research shows that self-objectification in women can be induced by revealing clothing manipulations such as asking women to try on and evaluate the fit of a swimsuit as compared to a bulky sweater (Fredrickson et al. 1998 ).

To examine changes in sexualizing (provocative) characteristics with which girls are portrayed in the media, researchers have content analyzed girls’ clothing in two magazines (Graff et al. 2013 ). Clothing was coded as having sexualizing characteristics (e.g., tightness, bare midriffs, high-heeled shoes) and childlike characteristics (e.g., frills, childlike print, pigtail hair styles). The researchers found an increase in sexualized aspects of dress in depictions of girls from 1971 through 2011. To determine the extent of sexualization in girls’ clothing, researchers have content analyzed girls’ clothing available on 15 retailer websites (Goodin et al. 2011 ). Every girl’s clothing item on each of the retailer websites was coded for sexualizing aspects; 4% was coded as definitely sexualizing. Ambiguously sexualizing clothing (25%) had both sexualizing and childlike characteristics. Abercrombie Kids’ clothing had a higher percentage of sexualizing characteristics than all the other stores (44% versus 4%). These two studies document that girls are increasingly depicted in sexualizing clothing in U.S. media and that they are offered sexualized clothing by major retailers via their websites.

Since girls are increasingly sexualized, to determine if sexualized dress affects how girls are perceived by others Graff et al. ( 2012 ) designed an experiment wherein they manipulated the sexualizing aspects of the clothing of a 5 th grade girl. There were three clothing conditions: childlike (a grey t-shirt, jeans, and black Mary Jane shoes), ambiguously sexualized (leopard print dress of moderate length), highly sexualized (short dress, leopard print cardigan, purse). In the definitely sexualized condition, undergraduate students rated the girl as less moral, self-respecting, capable, determined, competent, and intelligent than when she was depicted in either the childlike or the ambiguously sexualized conditions. Thus, wearing sexualized clothing can affect how girls are perceived by others, so it is possible that sexualized clothing could lead to self-objectification in girls just as in the case of women (Tiggemann & Andrew 2012 ).

Objectification theory has been useful in identifying probable processes underlying the association between women’s provocative dress and negative inferences. In a study using adult stimuli, Gurung and Chrouser ( 2007 ) presented photos of female Olympic athletes in uniform and in provocative (defined as minimal) dress. College women rated the photos and when provocatively dressed, as compared to the uniform condition, the women were rated as more attractive, more feminine, more sexually experienced, more desirable, but also less capable, less strong, less determined, less intelligent, and as having less self-respect. These results are similar to what had previously been found by researchers in the 1980s (Abbey et al. 1987 ; Cahoon & Edmonds 1987 ; Edmonds & Cahoon 1986 ). This outcome is considered objectifying because the overall impression is negative and sexist. Thus, this line of research does more than demonstrate that provocative dress evokes inferences, it suggests the process by which that occurs: provocative dress leads to objectification of the woman so dressed and it is the objectification that leads to the inferences.

In a more direct assessment of the relationship between provocative dress and objectification of others, Holland and Haslam ( 2013 ) manipulated the dress (provocative or plain clothing) of two models (thin or overweight) who were rated equally attractive in facial attractiveness. Since objectification involves inspecting the body, the authors measured participants’ attention to the models’ bodies. Objectification also involves denying human qualities to the objectified person. Two such qualities are perceived agency (e.g., ability to think and form intentions) and moral agency (e.g., capacity to engage in moral or immoral actions). Several findings are relevant to the research on provocative dress. As compared to models wearing plain clothing, models wearing provocative clothing were attributed less perceived agency (e.g., ability to reason, ability to choose) and less moral agency [e.g., “how intentional do you believe the woman’s behavior is?” (p. 463)]. Results showed that more objectified gaze was directed toward the bodies of the models when they were dressed in provocative clothing as compared to when dressed in plain clothing. This outcome is considered objectifying because the models’ bodies were inspected more when wearing provocative dress, and because in that condition they were perceived as having less of the qualities normally attributed to humans.

In an experimental study guided by objectification theory, Tiggemann and Andrew ( 2012 ) studied the effects of clothing on self-perceptions of state self-objectification, state body shame, state body dissatisfaction, and negative mood. However, unlike studies (e.g., Fredrickson et al. 1998 ) in which participants were asked to try on and evaluate either a bathing suit or a sweater, Tiggemann and Andrew instructed their participants to “imagine what you would be seeing, feeling, and thinking” (p. 648) in scenarios. There were four scenarios: thinking about wearing a bathing suit in public, thinking about wearing a bathing suit in a dressing room, thinking about wearing a sweater in public, and thinking about wearing a sweater in a dressing room. The researchers found main effects for clothing such that as compared to thinking about wearing a sweater, thinking about wearing a bathing suit resulted in higher state self-objectification, higher state body shame, higher state body dissatisfaction, and greater negative mood. The fact that the manipulation only involved thinking about wearing clothing, rather than actually wearing such clothing, demonstrates the power of revealing (provocative, sexy) dress in that we only have to think about wearing it to have it affect our self-perceptions.

Taking extant research into account we encourage researchers to continue to investigate the topic of provocative (sexy, revealing) dress for both men and women to replicate the results for women and to determine if revealing dress for men might evoke the kinds of inferences evoked by women wearing revealing dress. Furthermore, research that delineates the role of objectification in the process by which this association between dress and inferences occurs would be useful. Although it would not be ethical to use the experimental strategy used by previous researchers (Fredrickson et al. 1998 ) with children, it is possible that researchers could devise correlational studies to investigate the extent to which wearing and/or viewing sexualized clothing might lead to self- and other-objectification in girls.

Research on red dress

Researchers who study the social psychology of dress have seldom focused on dress color. However, in the 1980s and 1990s a few researchers investigated color in the context of retail color analysis systems that focused on personal coloring (Abramov 1985 ; Francis & Evans 1987 ; Hilliker & Rogers 1988 ; Radeloff 1991 ). For example, Francis and Evans found that stimulus persons were actually perceived positively when not wearing their recommended personal colors. Hilliker and Rogers surveyed managers of apparel stores about the use of color analysis systems and found some impact on the marketplace, but disagreement among the managers on the value of the systems. Abramov critiqued color analysis for being unclear, ambiguous, and for the inability to substantiate claims. Most of these studies were not guided by a psychological theory of color.

Since the 1990s, researchers have developed a theory of color psychology (Elliot & Maier 2007 ) called color-in-context theory. Like other variables that affect social perception, the theory explains that color also conveys meaning which varies as a function of the context in which the color is perceived. Accordingly, the meanings of colors are learned over time through repeated pairings with a particular experience or message (e.g., red stop light and danger) or with biological tendencies to respond to color in certain contexts. For example, female non-human primates display red on parts of their bodies when nearing ovulation; hence red is associated with lust, fertility, and sexuality (Guéguen and Jacob 2013 ). As a function of these associations between colors and experiences, messages, or biological tendencies, people either display approach responses or avoidance responses but are largely unaware of how color affects them. In this section we review studies that examine the effects of red in relational contexts such as interpersonal attraction. However, there is evidence that red is detrimental in achievement (i.e., academic or hiring) contexts (e.g., Maier et al. 2013 ) and that red signals dominance and affects outcomes in competitive sporting contests (e.g., Feltman and Elliot 2011 ; Hagemann et al. 2008 ).

Recently researchers have used color-in-context theory to study the effects of red dress (shirts, dresses) on impressions related to sexual intent, attractiveness, dominance, and competence. Some of these studies were guided by color-in-context theory. Guéguen ( 2012 ) studied men’s perceptions of women’s sexual intent and attractiveness as a function of shirt color. Male participants viewed a photo of a woman wearing a t-shirt that varied in color. When wearing a red t-shirt as compared to the other colors, the woman was judged to be more attractive and to have greater sexual intent. Pazda et al. ( 2014a , [ b ]) conducted an experiment designed to determine why men perceive women who wear red to be more attractive than those who wear other colors. They argued that red is associated with sexual receptivity due to cultural pairings of red and female sexuality (e.g., red light district, sexy red lingerie). Men participated in an online experiment in which they were exposed to a woman wearing either a red, black, or white dress. When wearing the red dress the woman was rated as more sexually receptive than when wearing either the white or the black dresses. The woman was also rated on attractiveness and by performing a mediation analysis the researchers determined that when wearing the red dress, the ratings of her attractiveness as a function of red were no longer significant; in other words, the reason she was rated as more attractive when wearing the red dress was due to the fact that she was also perceived as more sexually receptive.

Pazda et al. ( 2014a , [ b ]), interested in women’s perceptions of other women as a function of their clothing color, conducted a series of experiments. They reasoned that like men, women would also make the connection between a woman’s red dress and her sexual receptivity and perceive her to be a sexual competitor. In their first experiment they found that women rated the stimulus woman as more sexually receptive when wearing a red dress as compared to when she was wearing a white dress. In a second experiment the woman wearing a red dress was not only rated more sexually receptive, she was also derogated more since ratings of her sexual fidelity were lower when wearing a red dress as compared to a white dress. Finally, in a third experiment the stimulus woman was again rated more sexually receptive; this time when she wore a red shirt as compared to when she wore a green shirt. The authors assessed the likelihood that their respondents would introduce the stimulus person to their boyfriends and the likelihood that they would let their boyfriends spend time with the stimulus person. Participants in the red shirt condition were more likely to keep their boyfriends from interacting with the stimulus person than participants in the green shirt condition. Thus, both men and women indicated women wearing red are sexually receptive.

Also interested in color, Roberts et al. ( 2010 ) were interested in determining whether clothing color affects the wearer of the clothing (e.g., do women act provocatively when wearing red clothing?) or does clothing color affect the perceiver of the person wearing the colored clothing. To answer this question, they devised a complicated series of experiments. In the first study, male and female models (ten of each) were photographed wearing each of six different colors of t-shirts. Undergraduates of the opposite sex rated the photographed models on attractiveness. Both male and female models were rated most attractive when wearing red and black t-shirts. In study two the same photos were used, but the t-shirts were masked by a gray rectangle. Compared to when they wore white t-shirts, male models were judged to be more attractive by both men and women when they wore the red t-shirts, even though the red color was not visible. In the third study the t-shirt colors in the photos were digitally altered, so that images could be compared in which red or white t-shirts were worn with those in which red had been altered to white and white had been altered to red. Male models wearing red were rated more attractive than male models wearing white that had been altered to appear red. Also male models wearing red shirts digitally altered to appear white were rated more attractive than male models actually photographed in white. These effects did not occur for female models. The authors reasoned that if clothing color only affected perceivers, then the results should be the same when a model is photographed in red as well as when the model is photographed in white which is subsequently altered to appear red. Since this did not happen, the authors concluded that clothing color affects both the wearer and the perceiver.

In addition, the effects of red dress on impressions also extend to behaviors. Kayser et al. ( 2010 ) conducted a series of experiments. For experiment one, a female stimulus person was photographed in either a red t-shirt or a green one. Male participants were shown a photo of the woman and given a list of questions from which to choose five to ask her. Because women wearing red are perceived to be more sexually receptive and to have greater sexual intent than when wearing other colors, the researchers expected the men who saw the woman in the red dress to select intimate questions to ask and this is what they found. In a second experiment, the female stimulus person wore either a red or a blue t-shirt. After seeing her picture the male participants were told that they would be interacting with her, where she would be sitting, and that they could place their chairs wherever they wished to sit. The men expecting to interact with the red-shirted woman placed their chairs significantly closer to her chair than when they expected to interact with a blue-shirted woman.

In a field experiment (Guéguen 2012 ), five female confederates wore t-shirts of red or other colors and stood by the side of a road to hitchhike. The t-shirt color did not affect women drivers, but significantly more men stopped to pick up the female confederates when they wore the red t-shirts as compared to all the other colors. In a similar study researchers (Guéguen & Jacob 2013 ) altered the color of a woman’s clothing on an online meeting site so that the woman was shown wearing red or several other colors. The women received significantly more contacts when her clothing had been altered to be red than any of the other t-shirt colors.

Researchers should continue conducting research about the color of dress items using color-in-context theory. One context important to consider in this research stream is the cultural context within which the research is conducted. To begin, other colors in addition to red should be studied for their meanings within and across cultural contexts. Since red is associated with sexual receptivity, red clothing should be investigated in the context of the research on provocative dress. For example, would women wearing red revealing dress be judged more provocative than women wearing the same clothing in different colors? Also researchers interested in girls’ and women’s depictions in the media, could investigate the effects of red dress on perceptions of sexual intent and objectification.

Effects of dress on the behavior of the wearer

Several researchers studying the social psychology of dress have reviewed the research literature (Davis 1984 ; Lennon and Davis 1989 ) and some have analyzed that research (see Damhorst 1990 ; Hutton 1984 ; Johnson et al. 2008 for reviews). In these reviews, Damhorst and Hutton focused on the effect of dress on person perception or impression formation. Johnson et al., however, focused their analysis on behaviors evoked by dress. An emerging line of research focuses on the effects of dress on the behavior of the wearer (Adam and Galinsky 2012 ; Frank and Galinsky 1988 ; Fredrickson et al. 1998 ; Gino et al. 2010 ; Hebl et al. 2004 ; Kouchaki et al. 2014 ; Martins et al. 2007 ).

Fredrickson et al. ( 1998 ), Hebl et al. ( 2004 ), and Martins et al. ( 2007 ) all used objectification theory to guide experiments about women’s and men’s body image experience. They were interested in the extent to which wearing revealing dress could trigger self-objectification. The theory predicts that self-objectification manifests in performance detriments on a task subsequent to a self-objectifying experience. Frederickson et al. had participants complete a shopping task. They entered a dressing room, tried on either a one piece swimsuit or a bulky sweater, and evaluated the fit in a mirror as they would if buying the garment. Then they completed a math performance test. The women who wore a swimsuit performed more poorly on the math test than women wearing a sweater; no such effects were found for men. A few years later Hebl et al. ( 2004 ) used the same procedure to study ethnic differences in self-objectification. Participants were Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian American undergraduate men and women. Participants completed the same shopping task and math test. Participants who tried on the swimsuits performed worse on the math test than participants who tried on the sweater and these results held for both men and women of all ethnicities.

Martins et al. ( 2007 ) used the same shopping task as Frederickson et al. ( 1998 ) and Hebl et al. ( 2004 ), but employed a different behavioral measure. Their participants were gay and heterosexual men and the garment they tried on was either Speedo men’s briefs or a turtleneck sweater. After the shopping task the men were given the opportunity to sample and evaluate a snack and the amount eaten was measured. Wearing the Speedo affected eating for the gay men, but not the heterosexual men, such that gay men in the Speedo condition ate significantly less of the snack than gay men in the sweater condition. Taken together these studies demonstrate that a nominal clothing manipulation can have effects on the behavior of the wearer.

In one of the first studies to demonstrate the effects of clothing on the wearer, Frank and Gilovich ( 1988 ) noted that the color black is associated with evil and death in many cultures. They studied the extent to which players wearing black uniforms were judged more evil and aggressive than players wearing uniforms of other colors. They analyzed penalties awarded for aggressive behavior in football and ice hockey players. Players who wore black uniforms received more penalties for their aggressive behavior than those who wore other uniform colors. Since the penalty results could be due to biased refereeing, the authors videotaped a staged football game in which the defensive team wore either black or white uniforms. The same events were depicted in each version of the videotape. Participants watched short videos and rated the plays as more aggressive when the team members wore black as compared to white uniforms. In another part of the study, participants were assigned to wear either black or white uniform shirts. While wearing the shirts they were asked the type of games they would like to play; the black-shirted participants selected more aggressive games than the white-shirted participants. The authors interpreted the results of all the studies to mean that players wearing black are aggressive. Yet, when the level of aggressiveness was held constant in the staged football game, referees still perceived black-uniformed players to be more aggressive than white-uniformed players. The authors concluded that the color of the black uniform affects the wearer and the perceiver. This study’s results are similar to those of the researchers studying red dress who found that the color red is associated with a cultural meaning that affects both the wearer and the perceiver of the red dress (Roberts et al. 2010 ).

In a similar way, Adam and Galinsky ( 2012 ) determined that when clothing has symbolic meaning for the wearer, it also affects the wearer’s behavior. The researchers found that a white lab coat was associated with traits related to attentiveness. Then they conducted an experiment in which one group wore a white lab coat described as a painter’s coat and another group wore the same lab coat which was described as a medical doctor’s lab coat. A third group saw, but did not wear, a lab coat described as a medical doctor’s lab coat. Participants then performed an experimental task that required selective attention. The group that wore the coat described as a medical doctor’s lab coat outperformed both of the other two groups.

Gino et al. ( 2010 ) studied the effects of wearing designer sunglasses that were described either as counterfeit or authentic Chloe sunglasses on one’s own behaviors and perceptions of others. Although counterfeits convey status to others, they also mean that the wearers are pretending to be something they are not (i.e., wealthy enough to purchase authentic sunglasses). Participants who thought they were wearing fake sunglasses cheated significantly more on two experimental tasks than those who thought they were wearing authentic sunglasses. In a second experiment, the researchers showed that participants who believed they were wearing counterfeit sunglasses perceived others’ behaviors as more dishonest, less truthful, and more likely to be unethical than those wearing authentic sunglasses. In a third experiment the researchers showed that the effect for wearing counterfeit sunglasses on one’s own behavior was due to the meaning of inauthenticity attributed to the counterfeit sunglasses. Consistent with Adam and Galinsky ( 2012 ) and Frank and Gilovich (1988), in Gino et al. the effect of dress on one’s own behavior was due to the meaning of the dress cue in a context relevant to the meaning of that dress cue. While none of these three studies articulated a specific theory to guide their research, Adams and Galinsky outlined an enclothed cognition framework, which explained that dress affects wearers due to the symbolic meaning of the dress and the physical experience of wearing that dress item.

To summarize the research on the effects of dress on the behavior of the wearer, each of these studies reported research focused on a dress cue associated with cultural meaning. Some of the researchers had to first determine that meaning. The manipulations were designed so that the meaning of the dress cues was salient for the context of the manipulation. For example, in the objectification studies the revealingness of dress was varied in the context of a dressing room mirror where the revealing nature of the cue would be relevant. So to extend the enclothed cognition framework, we suggest that for dress to affect the wearer, the context of the experimental task needs to be such that the meaning of the dress item is salient.

Future researchers may continue to pursue the effects of dress on the wearer. The extended enclothed cognition framework could be applied to school uniforms. A possible research question could be that if school uniforms are associated with powerlessness among schoolchildren, would wearing school uniforms affect the level of effort children expend to solve homework problems or write papers?

It is interesting that previous researchers who examined the effect of school uniforms on various tasks did not ask children what associations uniforms had for them (e.g., Behling 1994 , 1995 ; Behling and Williams 1991 ). This question is clearly an avenue for renewed research in this area. Another situation to which the extended enclothed cognition framework might be investigated is in the context of professional sports. Since wearing a sweatshirt or cap with a professional team’s logo is associated with being a fan of that team, would people wearing those items evaluate that team’s performance higher than people wearing another team’s logos? Would they provide more excuses for their team than fans not wearing the team’s logos? We encourage researchers to continue to investigate the effects of dress on one’s own behaviors utilizing a range of dress cues (e.g., cosmetics, tattoos, and piercings).

Dress and the self

An ongoing area of research within the social psychology of dress is relationships between dress and the self. Although some researchers use the terms identity and self interchangeably, it is our position that they are not the same concepts but are related. We begin our discussion of the self with research on the body.

The physical body and the self

Whereas the first section of our review focused on body supplements (i.e., the clothed body), this section focuses on body modifications or how the body is altered. Within this discussion, the two research directions that we include are (1) body modifications that carry some risk, as opposed to routine modifications that typically do not, and (2) the influence of body talk and social comparison as variables influencing body image.

Body modifications that carry some risk

Societal standards of attractiveness in the Western world often focus on a thin appearance for women and a mesomorphic but muscular appearance for men (Karazia et al. 2013 ). Internalization of societal standards presented through various media outlets is widely recognized as a primary predictor of body dissatisfaction and risky appearance management behaviors including eating pathology among women (Cafri et al. 2005a , [ b ]), muscle enhancement and disordered eating behaviors in men (Tylka 2011 ), tattooing among young adults (Mun et al. 2012 ), and tanning among adolescents (Prior et al. 2014 ; Yoo & Kim, 2014 ). While there are several other risky appearance management behaviors in the early stages of investigation (e.g., extreme body makeovers, cosmetic procedures on male and female private parts, multiple cosmetic procedures), we isolate just a few behaviors to illustrate the impact of changing standards of attractiveness on widespread appearance management practices in the presentation of self.

Experimental research has demonstrated that exposure to social and cultural norms for appearance (via idealized images) leads to greater dissatisfaction with the body in general for both men and women (Blond 2008 ; Grabe et al. 2008 ); yet a meta-analysis of eight research studies conducted in real life settings suggested that these appearance norms were more rigid, narrowly defined, and prevalent for women than for men (Buote et al. 2011 ). These researchers also noted that women reported frequent exposure to social norms of appearance (i.e., considered bombardment by many women), the norms themselves were unrealistic, yet the nature of the messages was that these norms are perfectly attainable with enough time, money, and effort. Men, on the other hand, indicated that they were exposed to flexible social norms of appearance, and therefore report feeling less pressure to attain a particular standard in presenting their appearance to others (Buote et al. 2011 ).

Eating disorders

A recent stream of research related to individuals with eating disorders is concerned with the practice of body checking (i.e., weighing, measuring or otherwise assessing body parts through pinching, sucking in the abdomen, tapping it for flatness). Such checking behaviors may morph into body avoidance (i.e., avoiding looking in mirrors or windows at one’s reflection, avoiding gym locker rooms or situations involving showing the body to others) (White & Warren 2011 ), the manifestation of eating disorders (Haase et al. 2011 ), obsession with one’s weight or body shape, and a critical evaluation of either aspect (Smeets et al. 2011 ). The propensity to engage in body checking appears to be tied to ethnicity as White and Warren found, in their comparison of Caucasian women and women of color (Asian American, African American, and Latin American). They found significant differences in body checking and avoidance behaviors in Caucasian women and Asian American women over African American and Latin American women. Across all the women, White and Warren found positive and significant correlations between body checking and (1) avoidance behaviors and higher body mass index, (2) internalization of a thin ideal appearance, (3) eating disturbances, and (4) other clinical impairments such as debilitating negative thoughts.

Another characteristic of individuals with eating disorders is that they habitually weigh themselves. Self-weighing behaviors and their connection to body modification has been the focus of several researchers. Research teams have documented that self-weighing led to weight loss maintenance (Butryn et al. 2007 ) and prevention of weight gain (Levitsky et al. 2006 ). Other researchers found that self-weighing contributed to risky weight control behaviors such as fasting (Neumark-Sztainer et al. 2006 ) and even to weight gain (Needham et al. 2010 ). Lately, gender differences have also been investigated relative to self-weighing. Klos et al. ( 2012 ) found self-weighing was related to a strong investment in appearance, preoccupation with body shape, and higher weight among women. However, among men self-weighing was related to body satisfaction, investment in health and fitness, and positive evaluation of health.

One interesting departure from weight as a generalized aspect of body concern among women is the examination of wedding-related weight change. Considering the enormous cost of weddings, estimated to average $20,000 in the United States (Wong 2005 ), and the number of wedding magazines, websites, and self-help books on weddings (Villepigue et al. 2005 ), it is not surprising that many brides-to-be want to lose weight for their special occasion. Researchers have shown that an average amount of intended weight loss prior to a wedding is 20 pounds in both the U.S. and Australia with between 12% and 33% of brides-to-be reporting that they had been advised by someone else to lose weight (Prichard & Tiggemann 2009 ). About 50% of brides hoped to achieve weight loss, yet most brides did not actually experience a change in weight (Prichard & Tiggemann, 2014 ); however, when questioned about six months after their weddings, brides indicated that they had gained about four pounds. Those who were told to lose weight by significant others such as friends, family members, or fiancé gained significantly more than those who were not told to do so, suggesting that wedding-related weight change can have repercussions for post wedding body satisfaction and eating behaviors. Regaining weight is typical, given that many people who lose weight regain it with a year or so of losing it.

Drive for muscularity

Researchers have found that body modifications practiced by men are related more to developing muscularity than to striving for a thin body (Cafri et al. 2005a , [ b ]) with particular emphasis placed on developing the upper body areas of chest and biceps (Thompson & Cafri 2007 ). The means to achieve this body modification may include risky behaviors such as excessive exercise and weight training, extreme dieting and dehydration to emphasize musculature, and use of appearance or performance enhancing substances (Hildebrandt et al. 2010 ).

One possible explanation for men’s drive for muscularity may be objectification. While objectification theory was originally proposed to address women’s objectification, it has been extended to men (Hebl et al. 2004 ; Martins et al. 2007 ). These researchers determined that like women, men are objectified in Western and westernized culture and can be induced to self-objectify via revealing clothing manipulations.

Researchers have also examined how men are affected by media imagery that features buff, well-muscled, thin, attractive male bodies as the aesthetic norm. Kolbe and Albanese ( 1996 ) undertook a content analysis of men’s lifestyle magazines and found that most of the advertised male bodies were not “ordinary,” but were strong and hard bodies, or as the authors concluded, objectified and depersonalized. Pope et al. ( 2000 ) found that advertisements for many types of products from cars to underwear utilized male models with body-builder physiques (i.e., exaggerated “6 pack” abdominal muscles, huge chests and shoulders, yet lean); they suggested that men had become focused on muscularity as a cultural symbol of masculinity because they perceived that women were usurping some of their social standing in the workforce. Hellmich ( 2000 ) concurred and suggested that men were overwhelmed with images of half-naked, muscular men and that they too were targets of objectification. Other researchers (e.g., Elliott & Elliott 2005 ; Patterson & England 2000 ) confirmed these findings – that most images in men’s magazines featured mesomorphic, strong, muscular, and hyper-masculine bodies.

How do men respond to such advertising images? Elliott and Elliott ( 2005 ) conducted focus interviews with 40 male college students, ages 18-31, and showed them six different advertisements in lifestyles magazines. They found six distinct types of response, two negative, two neutral, and two positive. Negative responses were (1) homophobic (those who saw the ads as stereotypically homosexual, bordering on pornography), perhaps threatening their own perceived masculinity or (2) gender stereotyping (those who saw the ads as depicting body consciousness or vanity, traits that they considered to be feminine). Neutral responses were (3) legitimizing exploitation as a marketing tool (those who recognized that naked chests or exaggerated body parts were shown and sometimes with no heads, making them less than human, but recognizing that sex sells products), and (4) disassociating oneself from the muscular body ideals shown in the ads (recognizing that the images represented unattainable body types or shapes). Positive responses were (5) admiration of real or attainable “average” male bodies and (6) appreciating some naked advertising images as art, rather than as sexual objects. The researchers concluded that men do see their gender objectified in advertising, resulting in different responses or perceived threats to self.

There is evidence that experiencing these objectified images of the male body is also partially responsible for muscle dysmorphia, a condition in which men become obsessed with achieving muscularity (Leit et al. 2002 ). Understanding contributors to the development of muscle dysmorphia is important as the condition can lead to risky appearance management behaviors such as extreme body-building, eating disorders, and use of anabolic steroids to gain bulk (Bradley et al. 2014 ; Maida & Armstrong 2005 ). In an experiment, Maida and Armstrong exposed 82 undergraduate men to 30 slides of advertisements and then asked them to complete a body image perception test. Men’s body satisfaction was affected by exposure to the images, such that they wanted to be notably more muscular than they were.

Contemporary researchers have found that drive for muscularity is heightened among men when there is a perceived threat to their masculinity such as performance on some task (Steinfeldt et al. 2011 ) or perceiving that they hold some less masculine traits (Blashill, 2011). Conversely, researchers have also suggested that body dissatisfaction and drive for muscularity can be reduced by developing a mindfulness approach to the body characterized by attention to present-moment experiences such as how one might feel during a certain activity like yoga or riding a bicycle (Lavender et al. 2012 ). While the investigation of mindfulness to mitigate negative body image and negative appearance behaviors is relatively new, it is a promising area of investigation.

Tattooing is not necessarily a risky behavior in and of itself, as most tattoo parlors take health precautions with the use of sterile instruments and clean environments. However, research has focused on other risk-taking behaviors that tattooed individuals may engage in, including drinking, smoking, shoplifting, and drug use (Deschesnes et al. 2006 ) as well as and early and risky sexual activity (Koch, Roberts, Armstrong, & Owen, 2007). Tattoos have also been studied as a bodily expression of uniqueness (Mun et al. 2012 ; Tiggemann & Hopkins 2011 ) but not necessarily reflecting a stronger investment in appearance (Tiggemann & Hopkins 2011 ).

Tanning behaviors are strongly associated with skin cancer, just as smoking is associated with lung cancer. In fact, the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization has classified ultraviolet radiation from the sun and tanning devices that emit ultraviolet light as group 1 carcinogens, placing ultraviolet radiation in the same category as tobacco use (World Health Organization, 2012 ). Yet, tanning behaviors are prevalent among many young adults and adolescents causing them to be at increased risk of skin cancer, particularly with indoor tanning devices (Boniol et al. 2012 ; Lostritto et al. 2012 ). Studies of motives for tanning among these populations suggest that greater tanning behavior, for both genders, is correlated with high investment in appearance, media influences, and the influence of friends and significant others (Prior et al. 2014 ). Frequent tanning behaviors in adolescent boys have been related to extreme weight control, substance use, and victimization (Blashill 2013 ). Among young adults, Yoo and Kim ( 2014 ) identified three attitudes toward tanning that were related to tanning behaviors. The attitude that tanning was a pleasurable activity influenced indoor and outdoor tanning behaviors. The attitude that a tan enhances physical attractiveness influenced use of tanning beds and sunless tanning products. The attitude that tanning is a healthy behavior influenced outdoor tanning. They advised that tanning behaviors could be studied further particularly in relation to other risky behaviors.

Body talk and the self

A relatively recent line of investigation concerns the impact of talk about the body on perceptions of self. One would think that communication among friends would typically strengthen feelings of self-esteem and psychological well-being (Knickmeyer et al. 2002 ). Yet, certain types of communication, such as complaining about one’s body or appearance, may negatively impact feelings about the self (Tucker et al. 2007 ), particularly in the case of “fat talk” or disparaging comments about body size, weight, and fear of becoming fat (Ousley et al. 2008 ; Warren et al. 2012 ). Such fat talk has become normative behavior among women and, according to one study, occurs in over 90% of women (Salk & Engeln-Maddox 2011 ) and, according to another study, occurs in women of all ages and body sizes (Martz et al. 2009 ) because women feel pressure to be self-critical about their bodies. More women than men reported exposure to fat talk in their circle of friends and acquaintances and greater pressure to engage in it (Salk & Engeln-Maddox). Thus, fat talk extends body dissatisfaction into interpersonal relationships (Arroyo & Harwood 2012 ).

Sladek et al. ( 2014 ) reported a series of studies that elaborated on the investigation of body talk among men, concluding that men’s body talk has two distinct aspects, one related to weight and the other to muscularity. After developing a scale that showed strong test-retest reliability among college men, they found that body talk about muscularity was associated with dissatisfaction with the upper body, strong drive for muscularity, symptoms of muscle dysmorphia, and investment in appearance. Body talk about weight was associated with upper body dissatisfaction, symptoms of muscle dysmorphia, and disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. They suggest future research in body talk conversations among men and boys of all ages, from different cultural backgrounds, and in different contexts.

Negative body talk among men appears to be less straightforward than that among women (Engeln et al. 2013 ). These researchers reported that men’s body talk included both positive elements and negative elements, while that of women tended to focus on the negative, perhaps reflecting an accepting body culture among men in which they can praise one another as well as commiserate with other men on issues regarding muscularity and weight. Yet, both muscle talk and fat talk were found to decrease state appearance self-esteem and to increase state body dissatisfaction among men.

While the fat talk literature clearly establishes the normative occurrence of this type of communication, as well as establishes the negative impact on the self, the literature has not delved into theoretical explanations for its existence. Arroyo ( 2014 ) has posited a relationship between fat talk and three body image theories (self-discrepancy, social comparison, and objectification), and suggested that degree of body dissatisfaction could serve as a mediating mechanism. Self-discrepancy theory suggests that the discrepancy between one’s actual self and one’s ideal self on any variable, such as weight or attractiveness, motivates people to try to achieve that ideal (Jacobi & Cash 1994 ). Social comparison theory (Festinger 1954 ) explains that we compare ourselves to others on some variable of comparison. When we compare ourselves to others who we believe to be better than ourselves (upward comparison) on this variable (say, for example, thinner or more attractive), we may feel worse about ourselves and engage in both non-risky and risky behaviors such as extreme weight control to try to meet those expectations (Ridolfi et al. 2011 ; Rudd & Lennon 1994 ). Objectification theory, as mentioned earlier in this paper, states that bodies are treated as objects to be evaluated and perceived by others (Szymanski et al. 2011 ); self-objectification occurs when individuals look upon themselves as objects to be evaluated by others.

Arroyo ( 2014 ) surveyed 201 college women to see what effect weight discrepancy, upward comparison, and objectified body consciousness had on fat talk; a mediating variable of body dissatisfaction was investigated. She found that how satisfied or dissatisfied the women did indeed impact how they felt about each variable. Each of the three predictor variables was positively associated with body dissatisfaction and higher body dissatisfaction predicted fat talk. She concluded that fat talk is more insidious than other social behaviors; it is a type of communication that perpetuates negative perceptions among women as well as the attitude that women should be dissatisfied with their bodies. Future research suggestions included examining the impact of downward social comparisons (in which the individual assumes they fare better than peers on the variables of comparison, such as weight), and examining all three phenomena of self-discrepancy, social comparison, and objectification together to determine their cumulative impact on self-disparaging talk.

Negative body talk or fat talk is related to perceptions about the self and to appearance-management behaviors in presenting the self to others. In a sample of 203 young adult women, negative body talk was related to body dissatisfaction and poor self-esteem, and was associated with stronger investment in appearance, distorted thoughts about the body, disordered eating behavior, and depression (Rudiger & Winstead 2013 ). Positive body talk was related to fewer cognitive distortions of the body, high body satisfaction, high self-esteem, and friendship quality. Another form of body talk, co-rumination or the mutual sharing between friends of negative thoughts and feelings, is thought to intensify the impact of body talk. In this same study, co-rumination was related to frequent cognitive distortions of the body as well as disordered eating behaviors, but to high perceived friendship quality. Thus, negative body talk achieved no positive outcomes, yet co-rumination achieved negative outcomes for the self, but positive outcomes for quality of friendship. Thus, future research could tease apart the specific components of the social phenomenon of co-rumination in relation to self-perceptions and appearance management behaviors.

Dress and self as distinct from others

Shifting attention from relationships between the body and self, we move to a discussion of relationships between dress and that aspect of the self that is concerned with answering questions about who we are as distinct and unique individuals (e.g., what type of person am I?). Earlier we shared research about how wearing certain article of dress might impact one’s own physical behaviors. We shift now to sharing research addressing the role dress might play in thinking about oneself as a unique and distinct individual (i.e., self-perceptions). Researchers addressing this topic have utilized Bem’s ( 1972 ) self-perception theory. Bem proposed that similar to the processes we use in forming inferences about others, we can form inferences about ourselves. Bem argues that people’s understanding of their own traits was, in some circumstances, an assessment of their own behaviors. This process was proposed to be particularly relevant to individuals who were responsive to self-produced cues (i.e., cues that arise from an individual’s own behavior or characteristics).

In the 1980s, Kellerman and Laird ( 1982 ) utilized self-perception theory to see whether wearing a specific item of dress (e.g., eye glasses) would influence peoples’ ratings of their own skills and abilities. They conducted an experiment with undergraduate students having them rate themselves on an array of traits when wearing and when not wearing glasses and to complete a hidden figures test. Although there were no significant differences in their performance on the test, the participants’ ratings of their competence and intelligence was higher when wearing glasses than when not. In related research, Solomon and Schopler ( 1982 ) found that both men and women indicated that the appropriateness of their clothing affected their mood.

Studying dress specifically within a workplace context, in the 1990s Kwon ( 1994 ) did not have her participants actually wear different clothing styles but asked them to project how they might think about themselves if they were to wear appropriate versus inappropriate clothing to work. Participants indicated they would feel more competent and responsible if they wore appropriate rather than inappropriate clothing. Similarly, Rafaeli et al. ( 1997 ) a found that employees indicated a link between self-perception and clothing associating psychological discomfort with wearing inappropriate dress for work and increased social self-confidence with appropriate attire. Nearly ten years later, Adomaitis and Johnson ( 2005 ) in a study of flight attendants found that the attendants linked wearing casual uniforms for work (e.g., t-shirt, shorts) with negative self-perceptions (e.g., nonauthoritative, embarrassment, unconfident, unprofessional). Likewise, Peluchette and Karl ( 2007 ) investigating the impact of formal versus casual attire in the workplace found that their participants viewed themselves as most authoritative, trustworthy, productive and competent when wearing formal business attire but as friendliest when wearing casual or business casual attire. Continuing this line of research with individuals employed in the public sector, Karl et al. ( 2013 ) reported participants indicated they felt more competent and authoritative when in formal business or business casual attire and least creative and friendly when wearing casual dress.

As workplace dress has become casual, it would be useful for researchers to uncover any distinctions in casualness that make individuals feel more or less competent, respected, or authoritative. Another aspect of clothing that could be investigated is fit as it might impact self-perceptions or use of makeup.

Guy and Banim ( 2000 ) were interested in how clothing was used as means of self-presentation in everyday life. They implemented three strategies to meet their research objective of investigating women’s relationships to their clothing: a personal account, a clothing diary, and a wardrobe interview. The personal account was a written or tape recorded response to the question “what clothing means to me.” The clothing diary was a daily log kept for two weeks. The wardrobe interview was centered on participants’ current collection of clothing. Participants were undergraduates and professional women representing several age cohorts. The researchers identified three distinct perspectives of self relative to the women’s clothing. The first was labeled “the woman I want to be”. This category of responses revealed that the women used clothing to formulate positive self-projections. Favorite items of clothing in particular were identified as useful in bridging the gap between “self as you would like it to be” and the image actually achieved with the clothing. The second category of responses was labeled “the woman I fear I could be”. This category of responses reflected experiences where clothing had failed to achieve a desired look or resulted in a negative self-presentation. Concern here was choosing to wear clothing with unintentional effects such as highlighting parts of the body that were unflattering or concern about losing the ability to know how to dress to convey a positive image. The last category, “the woman I am most of the time” contained comments indicating the women had a “relationship with clothes was ongoing and dynamic and that a major source of enjoyment for them was to use clothes to realize different aspects of themselves” (p. 321).

Interested in how the self shaped clothing consumption and use, Ogle et al. ( 2013 ) utilized Guy and Banim’s ( 2000 ) views of self to explore how consumption of maternity dress might shape the self during a liminal life stage (i.e., pregnancy). Interviews with women expecting their first child revealed concerns that available maternity dress limited their ability to express their true selves. Some expressed concern that the maternity clothing that was available to them in the marketplace symbolized someone that they did not want to associate with (i.e., the woman I fear I could be). Several women noted they borrowed or purchased used clothing from a variety of sources for this time in their life. This decision resulted in dissatisfaction because the items were not reflective of their selves and if worn resulted in their projecting a self that they also did not want to be. In addition, the women shared that they used dress to confirm their selves as pregnant and as NOT overweight. While some of the participants did experience a disrupted sense of self during pregnancy, others shared that they were able to locate items of dress that symbolized a self-consistent with “the woman I am most of the time”.

Continuing in this line of research, researchers may want to explore these three aspects of self with others who struggle with self-presentation via dress as a result of a lack of fashionable and trendy clothing in the marketplace. Plus-sized women frequently report that they are ignored by the fashion industry and existing offerings fail to meet their need to be fashionable. A recent article in the Huffington Post (“Plus-sized clothing”, 2013 ) noted that retailers do not typically carry plus sizes perhaps due to the misconception that plus-sized women are not trendy shoppers or the idea that these sizes will not sell well. Thus, it may well be that the relationship between dress and self for plus-sized women is frustrating as they are prevented from being able to make clothing choices indicative of their selves “as they would like them to be”.

Priming and self-perception

While several researchers have confirmed that clothing worn impacts thoughts about the self, Hannover and Kühnen ( 2002 ) were interested in uncovering processes that would explain why clothing could have this effect. They began with examining what role priming might have in explaining how clothing impacts self-perceptions. Using findings from social cognition, they argued that clothing styles might prime specific mental categories about one’s self such that those categories that are most easily accessed in a given situation would be more likely to be applied to oneself than categories of information that are difficult to access. Thus, if clothing can be used to prime specific self-knowledge it should impact self-descriptions such that, a person wearing “casual” clothing (e.g., jeans, sweatshirt) should be more apt to describe him or herself using casual terms (e.g., laid-back, uses slang). The researchers had each participant stand in front of a mirror and indicate whether or not specific traits were descriptive of him or herself when wearing either casual or formal clothing (e.g., business attire). The researchers found that when a participant wore casual clothing he or she rated the casual traits as more valid self-descriptions than the formal traits. The reverse was also true. They concluded that the clothing worn primed specific categories of self-knowledge. However, the researchers did not ask participants to what extent they intentionally considered their own clothing when determining whether or not a trait should be applied to them. Yet, as previously noted, Adam and Galinsky ( 2012 ) demonstrated that clothing impacted a specific behavior (attention) only in circumstances where the clothing was worn and the clothing’s meaning was clear. Thus, researchers could test if clothing serves as an unrecognized priming source and if its impact on impression formation is less intentional than typically assumed.

Dress and self in interaction with others

Another area of research within dress and the self involves experience with others and the establishment of meaning. Questions that these researchers are interested in answering include what is the meaning of an item of dress or a way of appearing? Early researchers working in this area have utilized symbolic interactionism as a framework for their research (Blumer 1969 ; Mead 1934 ; Stone 1962 ). The foundational question of symbolic interaction is: “What common set of symbols and understandings has emerged to give meaning to people’s interactions?” (Patton 2002 , p. 112).

There are three basic premises central to symbolic interactionism (Blumer 1969 ). The first premise is that our behavior toward things (e.g., physical objects, other people) is shaped by the meaning that those things have for us. Applied to dress and appearance, this premise means that our behavior relative to another person is influenced by that person’s dress (Kaiser 1997 ) and the meaning that we assign to that dress. The second premise of symbolic interaction is that the meaning of things is derived from social interaction with others (Blumer). This premise indicates that meanings are not inherent in objects, must be shared between individuals, and that meanings are learned. The third premise is that meanings are modified by a continuous interpretative process in which the actor interacts with himself (Blumer). As applied to clothing, this premise suggests that the wearer of an outfit or item of clothing is active in determining the meaning of an item along with the viewer of that item.

Symbolic interactionism posits that the self is a social construction established, maintained, and altered through interpersonal communication with others. While initial work focused on investigating verbal communication as key to the construction of the self, Stone extended communication to include appearance and maintained that “appearance is at least as important in establishment and maintenance of the self” as verbal communication (1962, p. 87).

Stone ( 1962 ) discussed a process of establishing the self in interaction with others. This process included selecting items of dress to communicate a desired aspect of self (i.e., identity) as well as to convey that desired aspect to others. One stage in this process is an individual’s review of his/her own appearance. This evaluation and response to one’s own appearance is called program. One might experience a program by looking in the mirror to assess whether the intended identity expressed through dress is the one that is actually achieved. After this evaluation of one’s appearance, the next stage involves others reacting to an individual’s appearance. This is called a review. Stone contends that when “programs and reviews coincide, the self of the one who appears is validated or established” (p. 92). However, when programs and reviews do not coincide, the announced identity is challenged and “conduct may be expected to move in the direction of some redefinition of the challenged self” (p. 92).

Researchers using this approach in their investigations of dress have used Stone’s ( 1962 ) ideas and applied the concept of review to the experiences of sorority women. Hunt and Miller ( 1997 ) interviewed sorority members about their experiences with using dress to communicate their membership and how members, via their reviews, shaped their sorority appearances. Members reported using several techniques in the review of the appearance of other members as well as in response to their own appearance (i.e., programs). Thus, the researcher’s results supported Stone’s ideas concerning establishment of an identity (as an aspect of self) as a process of program and review.

In an investigation of the meaning of dress, in this instance the meaning of a specific body modification—a tattoo, Mun et al. ( 2012 ) interviewed women of various ages who had tattoos to assess meanings, changes in self-perceptions as a result of the tattoo, and any changes in the women’s behavior as an outcome of being tattooed. To guide their inquiry, the researchers used Goffman’s ( 1959 ) discussion of the concept of self-presentation from his seminal work The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life . According to Goffman, on a regular basis people make inferences about the motivations that underlie other people’s behaviors. To make these inferences they use everyday details. Because most people make these inferences, Goffman believed that individuals could purposely control the content of those inferences by controlling their behavior. Included in this behavior was an individual’s dress. These researchers found support for Goffman’s reasoning. Participants shared that their tattoo(s) had meaning and were expressive of their selves, their personal values and interests, important life events (e.g., marriage), and religious/sacred beliefs. The meaning of a tattoo was also dynamic for several participants rather than static. Participants’ self-perceptions were impacted as a result of being tattooed with several participants sharing increases to their confidence and to their perceived empowerment. Individuals who shared a change in behavior primarily noted that they controlled the visibility of their tattoos to others as a method to control how others might respond to them having a tattoo especially within the workplace.

Since an array of body modifications (e.g., piercings, gauging, scarification) are being adopted cross-culturally, investigations of people’s experiences with any of these modifications is fertile area for future researchers interested in the meaning(s) of dress and how dress impacts the self through interaction with others. Researchers may want to investigate men’s experiences with piercing/gauging as well as women’s experiences with body building and other developing forms of body modification. Extreme forms of body piercings (e.g., piercings that simulate corset lacings) and underlying motivations for these body modifications would add to our understanding of relationships between dress and self. The meanings of facial hair to men or body hair removal (partial, total) for both men and women are additional aspects of dress that could be investigated.

Dress and self as influence on consumption

In the aforementioned research by Ogle et al. ( 2013 ), the researchers found that a primary reason their participants were disappointed by the maternity clothing offered through the marketplace was due to a lack of fit between their selves and the clothing styles made available. Thus, it is clear that ideas about the self impact clothing selection and purchase. Sirgy ( 1982 ) proposed self-image product-image congruity theory to describe the process of how people applied ideas concerning the self to their purchasing. The basic assumption of the theory is that through marketing and branding, products gain associated images. The premise of the theory is that products people are motivated to purchase are products with images that are congruent with or symbolic of how they see themselves (i.e., actual self-image) or with how they would like to be (i.e., ideal self-image). They also will avoid those products that symbolize images that are inconsistent with either of these self-images.

Rhee and Johnson ( 2012 ) found support for the self-image product-image congruity relationship with male and female adolescents. These researchers investigated the adolescents’ purchase and use of clothing brands. Participants indicated their favorite apparel brand was most similar to their actual self (i.e., this brand reflects who I am), followed by their social self (i.e., this brand reflects who I want others to think I am), and their desired self (i.e., this brand reflects who I want to be).

Earlier, Banister and Hogg ( 2004 ) conducted research investigating the idea that consumers will actively reject or avoid products with negative symbolic meanings. The researchers conducted group interviews with adult consumers. Their participants acknowledged that clothing items could symbolize more than one meaning depending on who was interpreting the meaning. They also acknowledged that the consumers they interviewed appeared to be more concerned with avoiding consumption of products with negative symbolic images than with consuming products with the goal of achieving a positive image. One participant noted that while attempts to achieve a positive image via clothing consumption may be sub-conscious, the desire to avoid a negative image when shopping was conscious.

Closing remarks

It is clear from our review that interest in the topic of the social psychology of dress is on-going and provides a fruitful area of research that addresses both basic and applied research questions. Although we provided an overview of several key research areas within the topic of the social psychology of dress we were unable to include all of the interesting topics being investigated. There are other important areas of research including relationships between dress and specific social and cultural identities, answering questions about how dress functions within social groups, how we learn to attach meanings to dress, and changing attitudes concerning dress among others. Regardless, we hope that this review inspires both colleagues and students to continue to investigate and document the important influence dress exerts in everyday life.

a These researchers used role theory to frame their investigation.

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Johnson, K., Lennon, S.J. & Rudd, N. Dress, body and self: research in the social psychology of dress. Fashion and Textiles 1 , 20 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-014-0020-7

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Is fashion finally ready to cut overproduction?

By Bella Webb

Sign up to receive the Vogue Business newsletter   for the latest luxury news and insights, plus exclusive membership discounts. To become a Vogue Business Member and receive the Sustainability Edit newsletter,   click here .

How can brands make money without making new clothes? That is the question posed by a new initiative from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), launching today at the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen.

The Fashion ReModel invites participating brands to scale up circular business models such as rental, resale, repair and recycling, while curbing the production and consumption of new materials. The hope is to “decouple revenue from the production of new garments, advancing the long-term journey to make a circular economy for fashion a reality”.

Following a consultation with more than 80 industry stakeholders, EMF has set a roadmap for the project, to try and maximise impact. In the first year, participating brands will tackle climate and nature impact evidence, and finance metrics (policy will come later). To take part, brands have to commit to increasing the percentage of their revenue derived from circular business models over the next three years, reporting progress to EMF annually. There is no shared baseline for this: brands have set their own ambitions and shared them with EMF, but these will not be disclosed publicly for now.

Arc’teryx, Reformation, Primark and Zalando are among the first to commit. Notably, the H&M Group has signed up alongside three of its brands: Weekday, Cos and Arket. Former CEO Helena Helmersson made headlines back in 2022 when she announced plans to double the group’s sales from 2021 to 2030, while simultaneously halving its carbon emissions from 2019 to 2030. This left many in the industry dumbfounded; Helmersson told Vogue Business that circularity would make this target a reality, but the industry was — and still is — far from delivering circularity at scale.

The industry’s backing of EMF’s initiative suggests the tide may finally be turning. A second group of brands is already in talks to join the programme, according to EMF fashion initiative lead Jules Lennon. She hopes it will see similar growth to the foundation’s previous demonstration project, ‘The Jeans Redesign’, which started in 2019 with 16 organisations and ended in 2023 with over 100.

The Or Foundation has been sending a fashion “zombie” into stores with a clear message: publish your production volumes.

By Rachel Cernansky

Progress on decoupling financial growth from the use of finite resources is long overdue. Luxury retailer Selfridges was the first to set concrete targets in this area, but others have been sheepish about acknowledging the high rates of overproduction undermining sustainability efforts. Meanwhile, academics estimate that fashion would need to curb new clothing production by 75 per cent before 2030 to bring its footprint in line with planetary boundaries. Fashion’s ability to do this has already been called into question, as it struggles to meet already low emission reduction targets .

By Lauren Cunningham

By Vogue Business Team

By Lucy Maguire

“Brands have had to overcome several barriers just to sign up [to The Fashion ReModel], because this gets to the heart of the business and challenges how businesses traditionally measure success,” says Lennon. “The biggest barriers to start with will be figuring out how scaling circular business models helps us reach net zero and science-based targets. Also looking at financial metrics and identifying common language for that, defining what success looks like and over what time scales you can expect a return on investment.”

Part of the challenge is getting brands to disclose the full picture, not just the positives. According to Fashion Revolution’s 2023 Transparency Index , 38 per cent of brands are transparent about their efforts in developing circularity initiatives — such as advanced recycling methods beyond reuse and downcycling — but 88 per cent refuse to disclose production volumes.

In this context, is a voluntary scheme like The Fashion ReModel enough? EMF has set up a technical reference group (as yet unnamed) to represent broader stakeholders and hold brands to account. The project has also been endorsed by multi-stakeholder groups including the Global Fashion Agenda, the British Fashion Council, Textile Exchange, Wrap, Fashion for Good and Business for Social Responsibility (BSR).

Lennon says EMF is under no illusions: this project is simply a starting point, and much more will need to be done to solve fashion’s sustainability woes. “Demonstration projects are not about solving everything all at once, they’re about getting started, building confidence, showing other actors in the system what is possible, and increasing the minimum bar over time,” she explains. “Of course we need to go bigger and faster.”

Below, industry experts react to the initiative and share their hopes for its execution.

Liv Simpliciano, policy and research manager at Fashion Revolution

The fashion industry’s waste problem has unfairly made sacrifice zones across the globe — the Atacama Desert in Chile, the Dandora dumpsite in Kenya and Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana, to name a few. While it’s essential for big fashion to prioritise circularity, it’s crucial to recognise that this effort has long been underway in waste-receiving countries. Affected stakeholders with lived experience must be at the centre of these discussions, otherwise it will be a failure. A substantial transfer of wealth is imperative, directing resources towards communities impacted by waste in receiving countries to mitigate the existing harm and enhance their resilience. Any circularity efforts that fail to acknowledge and rectify past damages, only reinforces the status quo.

Mostafiz Uddin, founder and CEO of Bangladesh Apparel Exchange

It is welcome that this issue is getting further exposure, but we must guard against too many initiatives and not enough action. Brands are under lots of pressure right now and the reality in the current business model is that they need to keep increasing sales to remain competitive. Resale at scale is not hugely profitable as things stand. While the initiative is light on detail and practicalities for now, it’s clear that a joint effort is needed. Brands can’t make this happen alone because they don’t control the human ecosystem. It should be a much wider approach, including national governments and the UN.

Vanessa Barboni Hallik, founder and CEO of Another Tomorrow

Explicit commitments to decoupling a viable economic future for fashion from rising production volumes are essential. This type of transformation has precedent, notably in the car industry where both resale and service or repair make up significant revenue across the major names. I would start with a concrete question: taking 2023 as the reference year, how could each brand make the same amount of profit with 20 per cent less new garment production as a starting point? A tremendous amount of waste comes from misproduction, effectively the making of clothing no one purchases. Addressing this is a crucial part of the equation, otherwise you continue to throw resources down the drain, which is a tragedy when we are far exceeding our planetary boundaries. In some respects addressing this root cause is more challenging than building on new business models and designing for circularity as it requires deep, data-based, industrial supply chain innovation.

Faith Robinson, head of content at Global Fashion Agenda

One of the biggest barriers preventing fashion from existing in a circular economy is the complexity of the collaboration models needed to support new business models. Global Fashion Agenda has also learnt from its circularity work in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia, that it is important to respect the nuanced contexts of each region and not to assume a ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ when it comes to applying circular systems in different parts of fashion’s global value chain. Waste sorters in the informal sector are experts on circular economy and critical stakeholders — their insights need to be acknowledged as fashion refines its strategies.

Graham Forbes, global plastics campaign lead at Greenpeace USA

Only time will tell if this initiative results in meaningful corporate and government reform, or if it becomes another vehicle for rebranding the industry’s dependence on fossil fuels and complicity in the global plastics crisis. The biggest barrier is greenwashing — the extent to which participating brands rely on false solutions such as flimsy sustainability claims and recycling, or take meaningful steps to shift away from fundamentally broken business models. This initiative needs to go beyond marketing departments and deliver real corporate reforms and public policies that prioritise reuse, redesign, rental, resale, repair and remaking. They already have the answers. It’s just a matter of doing it.

Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected] .

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