PARIS — After years of sustainability reporting, certification programs and environmental disclosures, fashion consumers say they still don’t understand sustainable fashion.
That was among the biggest findings from a consultation conducted by Paris Good Fashion and Make.org, which found that information, transparency and education have become consumers’ top priority when it comes to ethical and sustainable fashion.
The consultation, conducted between Feb. 19 and April 16, gathered 168,587 participants across France, Italy, the U.K. and the U.S., generating 1,680 proposals and more than 481,000 votes. Of the 1,449 proposals validated for analysis, 915 received more than 70 percent support.
Presented Wednesday at the Institut Français de la Mode, the findings suggest a growing disconnect between the language used by sustainability professionals and policymakers and the actual understanding and concerns of consumers.
“The first thing that came back everywhere was: ‘We don’t understand sustainable fashion. We don’t know how to buy sustainable fashion,'” said Isabelle Lefort, cofounder and general delegate of Paris Good Fashion.
