Sufficient consumption as a missing link toward sustainability: The case of fast fashion
Metadatos
Afficher la notice complèteAuteur
Garcia Ortega, Beatriz; Galan Cubillo, Javier; Llorens Montes, Francisco J.; de Miguel Molina, BlancaEditorial
Elsevier
Materia
Fast fashion Sufficient consumption Sustainability Business strategy Anti-consumerist washing Circular economy
Date
2023-03-04Referencia bibliográfica
B. Garcia-Ortega et al. Sufficient consumption as a missing link toward sustainability: The case of fast fashion. Journal of Cleaner Production 399 (2023) 136678[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136678]
Patrocinador
Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain PDI2021.124396NB.I00; European Regional Development Fund (European Union); CRUE-Universitat Politecnica de ValenciaRésumé
The fashion industry has been driven by limitless consumption-led growth spearheaded by companies in the fast
fashion segment, with a dominant business model based on massive accelerated demand, production, consumption,
and disposal. Despite companies’ efforts to decouple the pursuit of growth from its negative impacts, a
more sufficiency-driven approach seems imperative to curb consumerism and contribute more effectively to
sustainability. This study draws on the literature to build a three-pillar framework of potential strategies to
enable fashion companies to foster sufficient consumption and reduce dependence on the sale of new items, with
benefits expected for both consumers and companies. Subsequently, it uses multiple case study to examine
qualitatively the annual reports issued during 2013–2014 and 2020–2021 by a sample of ten top companies in
this segment. The goal is to assess whether these companies are embracing such strategies, what (if any) evolution
occurs between these two periods, whether the 2030 Agenda with its SDG12 ‘Responsible consumption
and production’ plays a mediating role in their adoption, and what is the logic behind such evolution. The results
show that, although such adoption is gaining momentum, companies tend first to embrace strategies with less
impact on their traditional modus operandi. Further, the laxity of SDG12 enables companies to profess
commitment even when not addressing any of the strategies to foster sufficient consumption. This study aims to
give actors critical awareness of this issue and provide practical guidance for managers to adopt and combine
these strategies decisively to fully embrace the principles of circular economy and a more holistic approach to
sustainability. It also advises companies to avoid the risk of ‘anti-consumerist washing’—a newly identified
variant of greenwashing—and proposes to study a ‘hierarchical pyramid of business strategies to rationalize
consumption