Fashion, Style & Popular Culture - Volume 1, Issue 2, 2014

In the aftermath of a disaster, much attention is given to the reconstruction efforts of architects, urban planners and non-profit agencies. However, very little is known about the role of the fashion industry and its contribution to disaster response and recovery efforts. To what extent do disasters prompt the fashion industry to address the needs of disaster victims? Does it compel them to reassess the creative potential of fashion? If so, what is the extent of their involvement and impact? In addressing the role of fashion in disaster, this article has three goals – the first, to understand the nature and effectiveness of creative responses to disaster; the second, to analyse consumer perception and attitudes towards disaster-related initiatives undertaken by the fashion industry; and finally, to discuss ways in which the fashion industry might aspire to contribute to the impacts of disaster in ways that are more meaningful and socially responsible.

Scholars and practitioners assume that women aspire to fashion photographs of idealized models. It is unknown, however, what makes a fashion image aspirational because previous researchers have not explored the various dimensions that evoke this concept. In this article, I share the development of a taxonomy that explains the evaluative criteria and image elements that elicit aspiration in fashion photographs based on data gathered in focus groups with 100 women. Findings reveal that women aspire to a fashion image according to their evaluations that it is honest, empowering and socially responsible. The models, creative direction and visual cues in the image trigger these three aspirational criteria. My research contributes the first taxonomy of aspiration in fashion photographs and to the enhancement of knowledge about consumer engagement with images. Industry professionals are encouraged to incorporate promotional photographs into their corporate social responsibility agenda and produce imagery that represents women’s diverse beauty and character alongside glamour and artistry.

Consumer misbehaviour is non-normative behaviour in consumption situations and is a form of socially irresponsible behaviour motivated by self interest. Consumer misbehaviours have been widely reported on Black Friday (BF), the day after Thanksgiving in the US when retailers offer ‘doorbuster’ deals. Based on the exchange paradigm and the General Aggression Model (GAM), five hypotheses were developed and tested with structural equation modelling using data from BF shoppers (N=260). Results found that the presence of unpleasant fellow customers positively influenced perceptions of inequity, while crowding negatively influenced perceptions of inequity. Perceptions of crowding negatively affected consumer misbehaviour on BF, while the presence of unpleasant customers inflated consumer misbehaviour on BF. A positive relationship was found for perceptions of inequity on BF consumer misbehaviour. Both presence of unpleasant fellow customers and perceived crowding had significant indirect effects on BF consumer misbehaviour via perceptions of inequity. We show how BF misbehaviour is socially irresponsible and use a social responsibility framework to interpret results and suggest solutions that fairly balance the needs of all stakeholders.

Achieving a cultural standard of appearance that is thin, physically fit and muscular is advocated as a personal appearance goal for individuals to seek in American culture; benefits are thought to accrue for those who meet this arbitrary and socially constructed standard. Much time, effort and expense can be directed towards appearance management behaviours practiced to this end and both emotional anguish and physical harm can occur in its elusive search. This article describes a college freshman seminar course dedicated to building body image resilience and healthy decision-making regarding appearance behaviours; concurrently, the course helps to build a personal sense of social responsibility so that students are better prepared to advocate for social change and personal empowerment regarding cultural norms of appearance. Herein are described the learning objectives of the course, topics covered and related activities and the impact these experiences have on developing body image resilience and healthy behaviours among students. Through these strategies and teaching pedagogy, we see evidence that building a strong sense of body image resilience and personal goals of healthy living can mitigate the pressure felt to attain such a standard and the dangers of pursuing bodily perfection.

The major focus of this article is to highlight the consumer’s understanding of sustainable practices in the context of fashion branding and how it relates to purchasing behaviour. My colleagues and I questioned 151 consumers through snowball surveys transmitted via social media to measure consumer receptiveness to sustainability as a marketing issue. As a result, we suggest there is potential value for both wholesale and retail companies to create sustainability standards and branding methods in order to highlight this important message; such efforts could include an industry-wide logo, trademark or rating system. While there are currently a multitude of sustainable business practices being employed, including corporate indexes, certification programmes, core value inclusion and advertising, these have not achieved a high level of visibility with the end consumer. Companies are spending millions on sustainable practices but are failing to communicate the message through industry-wide standards reflected in a simple product mark. Through this study we argue that a concerted educational campaign is needed to promote mainstream consumer awareness and adoption of sustainability standards. In addition, for the United States market, federal involvement may be necessary to help create acceptable benchmarks. The irony is that multiple studies have been done – some of which we later examine – showing that consumers may be ready to embrace branded sustainable products in the world of fashion. One question remains: are they willing to pay an additional price for something that can benefit the planet? Does the consumers’ conscience stop at their wallet? We posed these questions accordingly. The results of our study show that consumers do value products made using sustainable practices. Moreover, when asked if it made a big difference in their purchasing decisions, the answer was yes, as long as the price did not increase significantly. The conundrum was that many respondents we surveyed just did not seem to fully understand the meaning of sustainability. For that matter, there is also a great deal of confusion about the meaning of sustainability across the fashion industry: it is a complicated subject.

As a result, we recommend a threefold action plan for the fashion industry:

1. Convey and educate in an easy, transparent way what sustainability means for the consumer, clarifying the myriad of mixed meanings within the industry.

2. Consolidate and streamline industry standards and create federal benchmarks for measuring the sustainability of fashion manufacturing processes. This will prevent companies from ‘green-washing’ their products through trumped-up advertising.

3. Establish and publicize a standard sustainability logo, trademark or ranking system to provide consistent product labelling and allow consumers to choose sustainably manufactured products.

‘PUNK: Chaos to Couture’, Metropolitan Museum of Art

BOOM! – A Baby Boomer Memoir, 1947–2022, Ted Polhemus (2012) Raleigh, NC: Lulu Press, 400 pp., ISBN 978-1-47099-995-7, p/bk, $24.82

DECADES: A Century of Fashion, Cameron Silver and Rebecca DiLiberto (2012) London: Bloomsbury (oversize format with colour and black and white fashion images and text), 255 pp., ISBN: 978-1-59691-663-0, h/bk, $60

The Many Lives of Miss K., Jean-Noel Liaut (2013) New York: Rizzoli Ex Libris, ISBN: 978-0-8478-4129-5; 244 pp., p/bk, $24.95

The Great Gatsby, Directed by Baz Luhrmann (2013) Australia and USA: Warner Brothers