Cultures of Sustainability in the Fashion Industry

This article addresses the remarkable variability across the fashion industry in how people working in the industry define and operationalize "sustainability." Based on in-depth interviews conducted in Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and London, I provide a qualitative analysis of how broad social and cultural movements intersect with the particular work roles of fashion industry participants to shape meanings and practices of sustainable fashion. I find that there are fundamental differences between how business managers, on the one hand, and designers, on the other hand, define and enact sustainability, as well as important tensions concerning what counts as sustainability within these two groups. I argue that resolving the ambiguities around fashion sustainability is unlikely to result from greater coordination among industry actors because such resolution would necessarily privilege certain meanings, values, and practices over other conflicting and competing approaches. I also demonstrate that attention to corporate policies and workplace dynamics is important but not sufficient for appreciating what sustainability means for fashion industry participants, which requires analysis of the social and cultural contexts that shape work, enterprise, and related ethics and values.