Research - peer-review › Journal article
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DOI
Little
attention has been given to the ethics of fashion consumption despite
the often trenchant critique of the fashion industry for intensifying
cycles of production, consumption, and disposal and encouraging in
consumers a superficial sense of identity and the good life through
apparel. In this article, we suggest that although relationships with
clothes are not often explicitly stated as “being ethical,” the capacity
to be ethical can pervade the buying and wearing of clothes. We focus
on the fashion designer, environmental campaigner, and critic of
consumption Vivienne Westwood and those who consume her clothing. Using a
single case study approach (combining interview data, participant
observation, internal and external documents, and literature), we
examine the ethical potential of consuming fashion. We show how ethics
in consumption is a critical engagement with how products such as
clothes are bought and used, and understanding the value of the products
we choose to buy. Consumers find themselves personally implicated with
and caring for a designer’s work and become responsible for reflecting
on their own consumption decisions rather than cheaply satisfying
immediate desires.
Publication information
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Management Inquiry |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| ISSN | 1056-4926 |
| State | Published - 1 Jul 2015 |
