The practice of blogging : slow fashion and sustainable consumption

Abstract: The textile industry is the second largest polluter in the world after the oil industry. It is also the fastest growing export industry in Sweden. In Sweden therefore public opinion puts high pressure on the industry to become greener. Green consumption, e.g. buying less and choosing clothes sustainably produced, is put forward in popular discourse as a way to change the industry from so-called fast to slow fashion. However, green consumption is seldom straightforward and finding slow fashion and evaluating a product’s ecological footprint requires time, energy and mind work from consumers. Therefore consumers turn to for example fashion blogs for guidance since blogs offers advice and guidance in this complex arena. In this paper I focus on how Swedish fashion blogs construct ideas of slow and sustainable consumption and propose practices contributing to sustainability. Drawing on the theoretical framework of practice theory, I operationalize these blogs as intermediaries, translating a complex market for consumers. Through a textual analysis of self-identified slow fashion and sustainable fashion blogs I investigate the construction of ideas of slow fashion and sustainable consumption, and explore if and how the blogs propose consumers to put such ideas into practice. The result suggests that technology enables construction of ideas about slow fashion and sustainable consumption within the framework of blogging, where fashion is presented in a way where it is associated with more sustainable values. These ideas are presented to serve consumer as a source of inspiration for change of unsustainable habits with a hope of leading to more sustainable fashion practices.