Public Understanding Towards Sustainable Clothing and the Supply Chain

Vaeovan Saicheua, Tim Cooper and Alistair Knox

There are issues that have been raised through the contradiction between fashion culture and its sustainability. Public understanding is important to promote potential strategies to help the fashion industry evolve into a more sustainable aspect.

This paper is part of a sustainable supply chain development model research to demote disposal clothing. It examines different points of views from representatives of UK consumers and clothing industry experts towards sustainable clothing through manufacturing and end-of-life practices. This paper aims to discover the problems effecting sustainability, which currently exists in fashion supply chain including both consumer and industry perspectives. This includes green manufacturing, views of organic garments, angle of reusing or recycling used/unwanted clothes, and aspects of second hand clothes in the UK market.

This paper will utilise semi-structure interviews to determine and clarify the British public awareness and understanding towards the topic of sustainable clothing. The consumer side of the survey reflects the view that some consumers are informed and aware of the issue, other show little interest in sustainability aspects of fashion. The industry side of the survey indicates the potential path in promoting the topic of sustainability in the fashion supply chain, as it is part of an ongoing research of market leading firms.

The implication of this paper can be made of use throughout fashion industry to drive their sustainable business models according to public behaviour and market conditions.