Fashion Product Solutions and Challenges for Environmental and Trend Conscious Consumers

This paper documents current product solutions offered by the fashion industry for environmental and trend conscious consumers, and determines challenges, to discover product development strategies for more sustainability. This study reviewed green and ethical practices in contemporary fashion products based on literature and brand cases. A classification of main sustainable solutions was adapted, and results were collected accordingly. This study identifies eight solution categories, and most prominent examples of products and brands were highlighted, containing one or more design features. It is important to summarize approaches as there are differing designs due to creators’ individuality. The general aim of all presented product examples is the reduced impact on environment and society. Challenges were identified with respect to the total impact of solutions and other product factors such as value, quality, or aesthetics. The results can be beneficial for the future development of new solutions for more environmentally friendly fashion. However, it is suggested that solutions need to be analysed critically to identify the real environmental value.