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sustaInaBlE FashIon : a handBooK For Educators
The way in which ethics is marketed can support
attempts to bring about sustainable change in the fashion
industry, but can also undermine these efforts when
claims are unsubstantiated or vague. The contributions
in the Marketing section of this Handbook provide
useful starting points to engage students in marketing
related courses such as visual merchandising, promotion,
consumer behaviour, strategic fashion management and
communications.
Fashioning an Ethical Industry displays examples of students’
work relating to sustainability on its website at http://
fashioninganethicalindustry.org/studentwork/. Your own
students may find inspiration in these pages. We would also
be very happy to receive images and information about
students’ work in your own university, college or school for
consideration for the website.
aBout thE contrIButIons In thE MarKEtIng chaptEr
In Ethical Issues in Fashion Marketing, Rosemary
Varley from London College of Fashion, UK, provides an
introduction to three key areas that could be used within a
marketing programme or to highlight ethical issues within
a strategic management context. She suggests specific
learning activities and essay questions to guide educators
in the use of the material provided. The three areas are
the evidence of a change in consumer attitude towards
ethical products; the characteristics of an ethical consumer;
and the opportunities for fashion business to achieve
competitive advantage by means of an ethical offer.
A review of two mini-presentation activities, designed to
introduce students to ethical issues related to sourcing
in fashion retailing, is provided by Dr. Claire Orwin, De
Montfort University, UK, in Sourcing Ethically: Learning
Through Presentations. In the first activity students
investigate brands that have been criticised for their
sourcing activities and the subsequent steps that have
been taken to safeguard workers from exploitation. The
second activity involves researching clothing brands that
are promoted as being either ethical or environmentally
sensitive. Students evaluate a company’s policies to
determine how successful they believe the company’s
approach is.The focus of the assignment presented by Connie
Ulasewicz from San Francisco State University, USA, in
Visual Display and Merchandising for an Ethical Fashion
Industry is for students to create window displays with
the primary objective of motivating passersby to stop,
think and learn about some part or process of ethical
fashion creation.