Can Community Engagement Enhance Sustainable Fashion?
By Jairo Ayala
Fashion is an extraordinary art form and communication tool that has been used to promote self-expression, cultivate confidence, and serve cultural functions for centuries. Although a marvelous medium for artistic expression, the harmful environmental and social effects of the fashion industry have taken center stage. As a result, sustainable fashion has gained significant momentum as a movement. Despite this, many challenges remain to produce large-scale, systemic change within the industry including increased globalization, a lack of proper resources to implement sustainable practices, and the industry's focus on economic growth.
One major challenge for mobilizing change is consumer attitudes surrounding sustainable fashion. Although awareness has increased among the public, research shows these attitudes do not necessarily translate into purchasing behaviors. Additionally, the rise of fast-fashion has contributed to an increase in consumerism and many brands are producing collections at an alarming rate. Consumers play a key role in advancing sustainable practices, and it is evident that modern-day consumption practices must be revisited in order for systemic change to occur.
So how can community engagement facilitate this change?
“Community engagement” refers to the inclusion of community members in solving complex issues. It is a powerful tool that is used to promote equitable decision-making among community members and key stakeholders.
A few key principles of community engagement include:
“Increasing community knowledge about the issue(s) aimed to address.”
“Encouraging individuals to co-create additional knowledge.”
“Using this knowledge to improve the community or address the identified problem.”
“Creating future opportunities for engagement.”
“Ensuring that these opportunities and effective communications become a regular and on-going component of the process.”
Although typically used by government agencies to address environmental and social issues, community engagement principles are also relevant to business–especially when it comes to corporate social responsibility. Sustainable fashion is currently a multi-sector issue and all parties are responsible for mobilizing change. Relevant stakeholders, including online communities, non-profits, and apparel businesses can all implement these principles to empower consumers to shift their consumption habits.
Increasing knowledge and education is a key principle of community engagement. With research pointing towards a discrepancy between consumer attitudes and their purchasing behaviors, it is evident that further educational resources are needed to encourage changes in modern-day consumption patterns.
One great community engagement tool many nonprofits use to disseminate knowledge is social media. Large platforms like Remake, an organization that works towards providing education surrounding sustainable fashion, is a perfect example of how information can reach large groups online. Through their social media posts, Remake highlights many important issues within the industry and provides people with tangible action steps to mobilize industry-wide change. With nearly 141,000 followers on Instagram, education on these topics is accessible to everyday users.
Another great example within the non-profit sector is Fabscrap, a Brooklyn-based organization that focuses on rescuing and distributing dead-stock, or leftover fabric, from larger design companies. Fabscrap offers a variety of educational workshops that focus on upcycling and the artistic reuse of clothing. Examples of workshops include painting on clothing and customization of existing garments. Additionally, Fabscrap is a great resource for local designers to outsource their fabrics in a way that decreases textile waste while continuing to promote fashion as an art form.
Aside from non-profits and community groups, apparel businesses within the industry must also work towards embracing community engagement practices and finding innovative ways to encourage consumers to partake in sustainable consumption.
There are many wonderful illustrations of how apparel businesses can promote sustainability while building community. As highlighted by journalist, Phil Rosen, in an article for Greenbiz, brands like Houdini Sportswear use innovative designs to create circularity and simultaneously engage its customers in the production of their products. According to Rosen, Houdini Sportswear creates clothing that is biodegradable and is designed for re-use rather than disposal. The company acknowledges the importance of engaging customers in the production of their products and aims to “allow customers to contribute to a regenerative and collaborative circular economy” by providing supply-chain transparency.
Similarly, slow fashion brand, Alabama Chanin, places community building at its center. Founded by fashion designer, Natalie Chanin, in 2006, Alabama Chanin focuses on local production, ethical manufacturing, and building community in Florence, Alabama. Collections are made using domestic grown organic cotton and are sown in their local factory, a former textile mill, while handmade pieces are sown by local artisans. The brand also supports their local community of creators through The School of Making, which sells sewing kits, patterns, and fabric—including scrap bundles—to uplift local creativity.
Although these are great examples of how apparel businesses can encourage customers to engage in sustainable consumption, such efforts are rare across the industry. The majority of apparel businesses have poor traceability when it comes to sourcing and supply chains are for the most part, obscure. The good news is that there are many companies, like Houdini Sportswear and Alamaba Chanin, that are developing creative ways to encourage sustainable consumption and serve as pioneers for other businesses to follow.
Apart from creating and distributing knowledge, cross-organizational collaboration is critical in community engagement. This is often done by creating coalitions and other community groups. For example, global coalitions like the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, facilitate knowledge transfer and partnerships within the textile and apparel industry. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition includes roughly 270 organizations ranging from brands, retailers, suppliers, service providers, trade associations, nonprofits, and academic institutions with the goal of reducing environmental impact across the industry.
Here at The Fashion Connection, we also prioritize creating opportunities for collaboration across the industry. Through our online platform, we help facilitate connections between practitioners across the field and provide resources for brand startups as well as social entrepreneurs. As a quiet but powerful voice in the larger fashion landscape, building connections between industry pioneers, social organizations, and all interested parties is essential to the growth of the sustainability movement.
Despite the fast-paced essence of our current fashion industry, sustainability is growing as an area of importance for consumers, especially among Generation Z . There is a growing body of evidence that suggests consumers have an overall positive attitude towards products that claim to be sustainable. More and more people are caring about sustainability when it comes to the clothes they wear, and increasing community engagement within the industry is the next step to facilitate a shift in consumption practices. By applying key community engagement principles, the fashion industry can continue to undergo systemic, powerful transformation.
Jairo Ayala
Jairo is a passionate community engagement professional based in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. He has had the pleasure to work for various human service initiatives and is passionate about advancing human rights in the fashion industry. He holds a degree in social work and hopes to use this to contribute to a more ethical, sustainable industry.