Certifiably Sustainable, the Fashion Industry and Affordability for the Mass Market

Supervised by: Dr. David Horan, Assistant Professor, School Office Trinity Business School

Project Background

My research question is: Are sustainable fashion certifications mutually exclusive with affordable, inclusive options and what adjustments could be made to existing sustainability certifications to expand the accessibility of the sustainable fashion space?

I chose this research question as a consumer of fashion who finds it hard to make ethical and informed decisions surrounding fashion within a student’s budget. Knowing what is and isn’t greenwashing is hard, being led to a false sense of security with, for example, the ‘conscious’ line at H&M, so I sought transparency and guidance by sustainability certifications. Yet, in the fashion industry, these certifications tend to come with a hefty price tag that is simply out of reach to the majority of the population – but we all buy and wear clothing – so why should the ability to buy ethical clothing be exclusive to an elite group?

By analysing the existing certifications present in the sustainable fashion space I aim to identify what brands on the more affordable end of the sustainable fashion scale are doing to reach certification standards while keeping prices low. In doing so gaps in the certifications that create exclusivity around sustainable fashion can be identified and potential solutions proposed.

I want to contribute to research surrounding the accessibility of sustainable fashion and transparency in this space. The ability to make ethical, informed, consumption choices should not be exclusive to those who can afford the likes of a €300 Patagonia coat for winter. The environmental and social impact of fashion is the responsibility of all and the certifications present don’t take into account the currently high levels of exclusivity in this space. I also believe that there should be a quantifiable, straightforward way for consumers to know and understand the impact of buying from fast fashion stores – the only brands that have sustainable certifications have sustainability as their core objective and that isn’t representative of the wider market. 

Project Methodology 

I will be researching the question: Are sustainable fashion certifications mutually exclusive with affordable, inclusive options and what adjustments could be made to existing sustainability certifications to expand the accessibility of the sustainable fashion space?

I intend to take a grounded theory approach to this qualitative research through secondary research.

Week 1: Content analysis of the various sustainability certifications will be key at the start of the research timeframe.

Week 2: Content analysis of the more affordable brands and what certifications they have achieved as well as how sustainability is woven into their business model.

Week 3-4: Followed by thematic analysis to identify the patterns present across the abilities of affordable fashion brands to achieve certification and more importantly spot where certification is difficult to achieve.

Week 5-6: The final step will be to take these gaps in the current certifications available and propose an improved model to improve transparency across a wider segment of the fashion industry as well as take into account accessibility. I intend to incorporate work from the “bottom of the pyramid” idea of organisations providing products to low-income earners.

Drawing from my studies in business and economics, specifically a module in Qualitative Research Methods, I will utilise document, content, and thematic analysis techniques to analyse existing certifications and affordable fashion brands' sustainability practices. This research module provides me with essential research skills necessary for project execution. Specifically, I will be researching the following certifications: BCorp, EcoCert, GOTS, OEKO-TEX, Global Recycling Standard Certification, Textile Exchange, PETA, Climate Neutral Certification, Simpli Zero, 1% for the Planet, Sedex Ethical Trade Audit, Fair Trade, Fair Wear Foundation, BSCI, WRAP and SA8000. This investigation will fall alongside looking at the following fashion brands in the sustainable space: Boody, Subset, Honest Basics, Yes Friends, CHNGE, Dilly Socks, People Tree, Mighty Good Basics, PACT, Sense Organics, Rapanui, Tentree, KOTN, Happy Earth and Tala.

Intended Outcomes

The intended outcome of my research project is to contribute to the body of knowledge surrounding the sustainable fashion industry, the accessibility of this industry and environmental and social brand certifications. Although a tangible application of this research is not possible in this timeframe the goal is to conduct research that has the potential to produce a positive impact on bringing the fashion industry closer to reaching higher ethical standards. 

Literature Review

From the preliminary search I have done, there is extensive research on the barriers to sustainability in the fashion industry, in addition to research on environmental certifications and their impact. However, there is a lack of cross-over in these areas which I believe leaves out a key area for focus. So, I hope that my research could have the potential to critique environmental certifications and offer solutions to create a better alternative. Any of the work I have read on the affordability or accessibility of sustainable fashion has generally taken a political approach to pointing out the injustice of the industry and is not tied into the cross-over I am interested in, the certification of sustainable fashion brands. Under the guidance of my supervisor, I had a look into work on the “bottom of the pyramid” which will provide insight into making products more affordable to low-income users. There is a lack of work within this area related to the fashion industry specifically but a growing focus on sustainability keeps it relevant to my research question. 

Affordable sustainable fashion/increase sustainable fashion market share:

• Otto von Busch (2018) Inclusive Fashion—an Oxymoron—or a Possibility for Sustainable Fashion?, Fashion Practice, 10:3, 311-327, DOI: 10.1080/17569370.2018.1507145
• Otto von Busch (2022) “What is to be sustained?”: Perpetuating systemic injustices through sustainable fashion, Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 18:1, 400-409, DOI: 10.1080/15487733.2022.2069996
• Henny Puspita & Heeju Chae (2021) An explorative study and comparison between companies’ and customers’ perspectives in the sustainable fashion industry, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 12:2, 133-145, DOI: 10.1080/20932685.2020.1853584

Certifications in the fashion industry:

• Varda, Hebe & Varda, Ivi (Hebe). (2014). Signalling sustainability: drivers, types of signals and methods a comparative study between certified and non-certified companies within the UK sustainable fashion sector. 10.13140/RG.2.2.31746.79045.
• Oelze N, Gruchmann T, Brandenburg M. Motivating Factors for Implementing Apparel Certification Schemes—A Sustainable Supply Chain Management Perspective. Sustainability. 2020; 12(12):4823. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124823
• Eung Jin Lee, Joonheui Bae & Kyung Hoon Kim (2020) The effect of sustainable certification reputation on consumer behavior in the fashion industry: Focusing on the mechanism of congruence, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 11:2, 137-153, DOI: 10.1080/20932685.2020.1726198

Sustainable fashion industry/inclusivity of the fashion industry:

• Antonella Moretto, Laura Macchion, Andrea Lion, Federico Caniato, Pamela Danese, Andrea Vinelli, Designing a roadmap towards a sustainable supply chain: A focus on the fashion industry, Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 193, 2018, Pages 169-184, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.04.273.
• Atik, Deniz, et al. “Fashion, Consumer Markets, and democratization.” Journal of Consumer Behaviour, vol. 21, no. 5, 23 May 2022, pp. 1135–1148, https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2061.
• Julia Adamkiewicz, Ewa Kochańska, Iwona Adamkiewicz, Rafał M. Łukasik, Greenwashing and sustainable fashion industry, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 38, 2022, 100710, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2022.100710.
• Henninger, C.E., Alevizou, P.J. and Oates, C.J. (2016), "What is sustainable fashion?", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 400-416. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-07-2015-0052

Bottom of the pyramid:

• Business & Society 2022, Vol. 61(8) 2115–2155 © The Author(s) 2021 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/00076503211001826 journals.sagepub.com/home/bas
• Dembek, K., Sivasubramaniam, N. & Chmielewski, D.A. A Systematic Review of the Bottom/Base of the Pyramid Literature: Cumulative Evidence and Future Directions. J Bus Ethics165, 365–382 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04105-y
• Abhinav Srivastava, Srabanti Mukherjee, Charles Jebarajakirthy, Aspirational consumption at the bottom of pyramid: A review of literature and future research directions, Journal of Business Research, Volume 110, 2020, Pages 246-259, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.12.045.