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Fashion, Suppliers & the Global Crisis
The role of mainstream media during the Covid-19 global pandemic The media is undoubtably an incredible tool which allows news to be presented on a variety of platforms to the entire nation and beyond. Despite its positive implications, the delivery of news through media outlets can often cause negative emotions and provoke panic. This is something that we, as a nation, have experienced throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. There have been criticisms surrounding how Covid-19 news updates have been presented by the media. The focus has heavily been on the negative aspects of the pandemic, without a healthy balance. The positive aspects, such as communities coming together and showing a united…
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COVID-19: An Opportunity for Change?
How is the global crisis affecting consumer behaviours towards fashion? It seems an increasingly difficult question. Will the drastic changes we have seen in the short-term result in long-term positive change for the fashion industry? The complexity of our buying habits may need more than a month of lockdown to untangle the skein of consumerism. The complexities of aspirational culture: In an article on luxury fashion in China, the Journal of Retailer and Consumer Services looked at the relationship between the culture of aspiration which drives the luxury goods market and the economic reality behind its incessant growth. They look at fashion as a symbol and how this affects what…
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Fashion’s future: during difficult times and post-pandemic
There is very little break from the complete coverage of coronavirus across the news currently. A lot of fear for public health is still hanging (and quite rightly so) but a lot of perspective is starting to come to light. People are looking more at their values and what matters to them. With people staying home to help keep the population safe, this is of course having an impact on the local and global fashion industry. Of course, the news closer to home for many of us in the UK will be the concern around fashion retail workers and job uncertainty (regardless of the 80% government initiative). However, as usual,…
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What the Coronavirus really means for fashion
What our media and fashion industry are (and are not) telling us about the Coronavirus. For the past few weeks ‘coronavirus’ has dominated our media’s headlines. Every second, minute and hour, a new piece of information or advice is put out into the world. We know everything there is to know on the coronavirus (thanks to the media, we are all now experts). But, how much of what we are being told is true? Has this information really been amplified enough? Where it all began What started off being a virus from a far away place, has became a global pandemic. Starting in China, it travelled across the globe, which…
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Is fashion killing our planet?
The UN has predicted that the global population could reach a whopping 9.8 billion people by 2050. If this happens, we will need the equivalent of 3 planets to provide the resources needed to sustain our current lifestyles. So how can one planet create all these resources? And how can we as consumers change our behaviour to stop us killing our planet? How Bad is the Fashion Industry Environmentally? We all know that fast fashion is causing the fashion industry to be one of the main pollutants of the environment. Each year we, as a planet, consume more than 80 billion items of clothing. Another £12.5 billion worth of clothes…
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Can we find a sustainable solution to the business of fashion?
The need for growth? Sustainable fashion, can we find a solution when it comes the business side? I think we can all agree that the concept of a business model striving for growth and pushing for more sales and higher profits is generic. Everybody is going for this and it seems as though there really is no alternative. Ofcourse a business wants to grow and make more money, why else would somebody make it? Even charitable organisations, although they are not keeping all the money themselves will still push toward more sales and growth in order to make more charitable funds. The ethical impact? When it comes to the fashion…
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What’s new with vegan fashion?
Words by Olivia Penn I’ve been in the vegan scene since 2015. Things have changed a lot since then. With veganism growing substantially it is becoming easier than ever to live a vegan lifestyle. I’ve also changed a lot since then. Particularly regarding fashion. I’ve become more conscious about how I choose to dress and I have tried to minimise my effect on the environment. But back in 2015 when I first went vegan I remember really having no trouble at all trying to find vegan footwear. My go-to shops were the likes of New Look, Topshop and River Island, all of which had plenty of vegan footwear on offer;…
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A case for vegan fast fashion?
Without a doubt, the rise of vegan fashion is huge. Major brands, such as Gucci, Versace and Chanel, have pledged to no longer use real fur. This contributed to the drop-in sales of women’s fur by 41% in the UK alone, in 2018. Personally, I have never owned real fur, or real leather products. Aside from how expensive they are, I was always fully aware that they were made from animals and that to me never felt right. In terms of faux fur and leather, of course I think these are much better, and ethical, than killing animals. However, as I’ve began to research into the industry further, I’ve realised…
