In the minds of consumers today, having sustainable clothes no longer means they can’t have nice clothes. Among the hurdles facing consumers who want to buy sustainable fashion products, lack of information and lack of knowledge on where to find such products. The thorny issue of information is predominant. When it comes to sustainable fashion, consumers don’t see price or style as an obstacle. This is especially true of France, Italy, Germany and the US. Only 22.8 per cent of French consumers are able to mention a fashion label that sells sustainable products.
Compared to food and cosmetics, sustainable fashion is lagging behind in France and Italy. This isn’t the case in Germany and especially in the US, where consumption of responsible fashion exceeds that of organic cosmetics. For French and Italian consumers, environmentally friendly production processes are the priority. For Americans, the type of material used is the first concern. For German interviewees, the priority concern is that of working conditions. Product provenance isn’t the prime concern for any of the groupings. In 2018, 45.8 per cent of French interviewees bought at least one sustainable fashion item, from eco-responsible brands, secondhand or from a local producer. The figure is 43.4 per cent for Germany, 46.7 per cent for Italy and 55.3 per cent for the US.
