Branding for the Better: Sustainable branding as driver of more sustainable fashion consumption

Abstract: This article focuses on how sustainable branding within the fashion industry can drive more sustainable fashion consumption. Present Western fashion industry is characterized by unsustainable consumption, where consumers’ urge to keep up with fast-changing trends using cultural and symbolic meanings prevents more sustainable fashion consumption development. We study how sustainable fashion branding is used in consumers’ ongoing identity creation processes and how such branding can set coordinates for consumer action that guide towards more sustainable fashion consumption. The findings and analysis are based on a qualitative method where phenomenological interviews seek to capture consumers’ first-hand experiences of consuming a sustainable fashion brand. The study shows the importance of considering how consumers’ varying perspectives of a sustainable fashion brand leads them to view, use and consume the brand in different ways. The study also shows that it is possible to drive more sustainable fashion consumption by providing consumers with a brand-controlled set of coordinates that generates and facilitates more sustainable consumption.