Research & Brand Policy Design
Fashion Sustainability . 2023
Overview
This study examines the cause of fashion overproduction, its detrimental impact on the environment and proposes a multi-stakeholder strategy to drive collective action from brands, consumers and regulators to address the mounting issue of overproduction waste.
Project Scope
Research & Policy Design
Executive Summary Report Writing
My Role
Researcher + Report Author
Policy Designer
Methods & Tools
Secondary Research
Literature Review
Synthesis & Insights
Policy Recommendations
Research Mentor
Konstantine J. Rountos, PhD
Team of 1
Independent Research project
Duration
8 Weeks
Context
Between 2000 and 2015,
clothing sales doubled from 50 billion units to 100 billion units annually, while the number of wears of a garment halved.
(Payne and Mellick, 2022)
The increasing overproduction and overconsumption have become one of the growing global environmental challenges posed by the fashion industry owing to its fast-fashion and linear take-make-waste business model.
Research Process
Overproduction issues were examined by analyzing
1) shortcomings in business practices
2) consumption dynamics between the global north (primary consumer) and south (production hub)
A comprehensive analysis was done, examining systemic complexities at macro, meso, and micro levels within supply chains, brands, and consumer dynamics.
Key Findings
To tackle the challenges of overproduction and overconsumption, the concept of endless growth itself needs to be explicitly addressed (Hirji, 2022).
Brands will reconsider their production practices only when it makes a business case for them to increase profitability alongside reducing production volume.
A creative exploration of policies is needed to achieve this.
Research Summary Poster
