Author’s note: This is a reworked version of my research proposal for my MSc in Psychology of Fashion. Although I haven’t carried out the official research yet, I believe the themes it explores: fashion, wellbeing, and sustainability, have the potential to generate powerful insights that could transform our approach to sustainable fashion consumption.
In a world where the consequences of climate change are mounting, the urgency to rethink how we consume has never been so critical. Yet, mass production across industries persists at an alarming rate, with fast fashion standing out as a major contributor.
Photography Aaron Weiss. Blind consumerism in NYC, Ivan Farias.
Sustainable fashion practices, however, can encourage consumers to think about the stories behind our clothes: where they came from, what they mean to us. They empower us to make fashion choices that align with our values and not just our social media feeds. Whether it’s curating unique looks from second-hand gems or reviving old favourites through upcycling, sustainable style is not just better for the planet, it’s more creative, more personal, and more rewarding.
Buried Deep vintage showroom, Paris.
UNEP detailed the fashion industry as producing 10% of total global carbon emissions, overtaking those produced by international flights and overseas shipping combined (UNEP, 2023). Its relentless and gluttonous drive to produce more, faster, cheaper, manifests itself in the trail of carbon emissions, water pollution, and textile waste left behind. Meanwhile, less than 1% of all clothing waste is recycled (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017) as our landfills overflow with often barely worn garments, tossed out just as quickly as they were made.
You obviously don’t need to know all the facts and figures to know that fast fashion is a big part of the problem. However, it would be fair to assume that knowing more about the importance of sustainable fashion would naturally lead to more sustainable shopping choices, right?
A recent study by Stepanova (2024) shines a new light on the topic: her results demonstrate that knowledge of ecological fashion (i.e., your knowledge of the need for sustainable fashion practices) doesn’t predict sustainable consumption.
Could this be down to the classic ‘willful ignorance’ trope? Potentially. This could be explained by what is known as Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT; Festinger, 1959), which proposes that we all have a natural desire for consistency between what we believe and how we behave.
Photograph of Leon Festinger, author of Cognitive Dissonance (1959).
When there’s misalignment (for example, we care about sustainability but still shop fast fashion) it creates an uncomfortable psychological tension called cognitive dissonance. Rather than changing our behaviour to match our values, people – like those in Stepanova’s study – might ease that discomfort by ‘rationalizing the inconsistency’, allowing them to justify inaction (Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2019). For example, instead of cutting down on fast fashion, we might tell ourselves things like, “One person can’t make a difference,” or “It’s not my problem.”
But there may be another layer to Stepanova’s conclusion.
What set her research apart from contradicting studies (e.g. Ceylan, 2019; Liu, 2021; Razzaq, 2018) was that it was conducted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a period defined by global uncertainty and stress. Further research from the same period suggests that pandemic-induced stress heightened public susceptibility to social influence (our tendency to conform): a key driver of fast-fashion consumption (Liu et al., 2021; Wenderski, 2023). Despite their awareness of the environmental impact of their choices, people were spending more time shopping on-trend, fast fashion items just to instill some sense of normalcy.
Interestingly, Penz and Drewes (2022) discovered that during COVID-19, people with high self-efficacy were better able to resist social influence pressures (and thus less likely to jump on fast-fashion bandwagons). Those same individuals also tended to show stronger pro-environmental attitudes, suggesting that higher self-efficacy also promotes a greater likelihood of adopting environmentally responsible behaviors, even during stress. This makes sense: if you believe in your ability to achieve desired outcomes, you’re more likely to feel confident about your individual actions impacting global issues.
Conversely, low self-efficacy creates fertile ground for cognitive dissonance, making it all too easy to justify unsustainable shopping habits with a ‘my choices don’t make a difference’ mindset. So, while it may seem as though people simply acted with ignorance, CDT helps us to see that they were likely dealing with an internal conflict compounded by the stress of COVID and social influence pressures.
This is the fun part:
More fashion-related research conducted during the pandemic showed that using fashion as a tool for self-expression actually boosted self-efficacy (Wenderski, 2023). In other words, dressing for yourself, not for social approval, made people feel more in control, and was also associated with being more likely to buy sustainably.
So my question is: during times of stress, when wellbeing dips and impulsive, unsustainable consumption calls out to us, could fashion that promotes self-expression:
*boost self-efficacy?
*reduce vulnerability to social influence?
*nurture pro environmental attitudes?
*help us to resolve the dissonance between what we value and how we behave?
*and promote sustainable fashion consumption?
Furthermore, if this is the case, is self-expression through fashion a stronger predictor of sustainable consumption than knowledge of ecological fashion?
If so, we could be looking toward a powerful yet underemployed tool in the fight against fast fashion, rooted in psychological empowerment. Such a tool could be the key to designing better sustainable marketing strategies that don’t just inform people, but also help them feel capable of making change. For example, strategies that highlight personal agency, rather than depend on social pressure or trends. It might also offer valuable insights into emerging fashion therapy avenues, where sustainable fashion may be used as a tool for promoting self-efficacy and confidence. Whatever the case, exploring how fashion can support both mental health and sustainable choices in this manner is a vital step toward a better future for the industry, and for the planet.
Hopefully, in about a year’s time, I’ll be back with some answers. After administering a battery of psychometric scales to the public and conducting some data analysis that’s likely far more complex than I’m currently prepared for, I’m hoping to uncover something meaningful.
References:
Ceylan, O. (2019). Knowledge, attitudes and behavior of consumers towards sustainability and
ecological fashion. Textile & Leather Review, 2(3), 154-161.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2017). A new textiles economy: Redesigning fashion’s future.
https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/a-new-textiles-economy
Festinger, L. (1959). Cognitive dissonance. New York.
Harmon-Jones, E., & Mills, J. (2019). An introduction to cognitive dissonance theory and an
overview of current perspectives on the theory.
Liu, Y., Liu, M. T., Perez, A., Chan, W., Collado, J., & Mo, Z. (2021). The importance of knowledge
and trust for ethical fashion consumption. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 33(5),
1175-1194.
Penz, E., & Drewes, K. L. (2022). What shapes pro-environmental attitudes and intention for
sustainable fashion consumption during a stressful time event?. Sustainability, 14(22), 15331.
Razzaq, A., Ansari, N. Y., Razzaq, Z., & Awan, H. M. (2018). The impact of fashion involvement and
pro-environmental attitude on sustainable clothing consumption: The moderating role of Islamic
religiosity. Sage Open, 8(2), 2158244018774611.
Stepanova, K. (2024). Fashion sustainability: Factors which influence ecological fashion behaviours
(Doctoral dissertation, Institute of Art, Design+ Technology).
United Nations Environment Programme. (2023). Sustainability and circularity in the textile value chain: A
global roadmap. https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/Full%20Report%20-
%20UNEP%20Sustainability%20and%20Circularity%20in%20the%20Textile%20Value%20Chain%
20A%20Global%20Roadmap.pdf
Wenderski, M. (2023). The use of fashion as a mood enhancer and its effect on mental health in
emerging adults in Canada during a global pandemic (Doctoral dissertation, Lethbridge, Alta.:
University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Education
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