Climate justice isn’t sexy: The double failure of sustainable fashion marketing and activism

This article asks the question: Why is sustainable fashion not ‘sexy’ for mainstream customers? Marketing departments are curators of desire, and trending social media hashtags tell us that making a political statement holds more selfie-potential than ever. Trend forecasting and market analyses point to growing trends in sustainable food, cars, personal care and home products. This article starts with the premise that fashion has been uncharacteristically slow to adopt this save-the-world Zeitgeist. Using a climate justice vision of sustainability that considers both social and environmental impacts, this critical review of literature and historical events explores the role of marketing and activism in popularizing sustainable fashion among mainstream consumers. After a brief overview of sustainable fashion, this article lists successful mobilization strategies identified in academic literature across several disciplines. These strategies are then compared with contemporary sustainable fashion activist techniques through an analysis of recent mobilization efforts. Sustainable fashion marketing campaigns are also critiqued through comparison with existing trend-diffusion models. With a few colloquial flourishes along the way, examples from popular media are highlighted to argue that marketing teams and activist groups have deviated from their usual tactics on this issue, while they ought to employ tools that they have sharpened over time to foster a mainstream market for sustainable fashion. This article finishes with a hopeful call to action for these groups.