Slow Fashion Movement: An Exploratory Study

The retail industry currently is dominated by fast-fashion spurring overconsumption where consumers buy more than they need, leading to fashion waste. Fast fashion leaves a pollution footprint, with each step of the clothing life cycle generating potential environmental and occupational hazards. There is a growing movement of “ethical consumerism” with consumers demanding that the goods they buy be made in ways that do not harm the environment or the workers who make them. This is materializing into a new movement counteracting the increasing demand for fast fashion – the “Slow Fashion” movement. The purpose of this study was to explore consumer perceptions of the slow-fashion movement using semi-structured interviews which will be utilized to create a survey which then can be tested with a larger sample set. After analysis of the interviews, the following themes emerged: slow fashion characteristics (related to consumer lifestyles), slow fashion influencers (i.e. social media, fashion designers, magazines), and facilitators to slow fashion purchase (i.e. money, product quality, country of origin, availability of information, corporate social responsibility). The analysis of interviews indicates that even though consumers are willing and ready to accept the slow fashion lifestyle they currently do not possess adequate knowledge on slow fashion to make an informed purchase decision. Slow fashion is still at its introductory phase; however, there is definitely more interest and awareness among consumers about ethical behavior and its consequences.