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Constraints and Drivers of Growth in the Ethical Fashion Sector: The Case of France

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Sustainable Fashion Supply Chain Management

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Supply Chain Management ((SSSCM,volume 1))

Abstract

This chapter explores the extent to which ethical issue is valuable in the case of fashion sector. In particular, it examines the main barriers to ethical fashion consumption. The industry context of fashion items is of particular interest due to its significant global supply chain complexity and the variety of impacts and challenges across the supply chain from raw materials to design, manufacture, packaging, logistics, consumer use, and postuse disposal. Findings from an empirical study involving 1086 French consumers indicate that despite the increasing concerns of individuals about the ethical issue, French consumers have little interest in ethical fashion. The main barriers to the purchase of ethical fashion items are related to the consumers’ lack of knowledge and disinterest, and the style attribute. In effect, consumers perceive ethical fashion products as old fashioned and with lower quality or not in line with their style of dress.

Furthermore, our study indicates that three sociodemographic variables—gender, age, and income—have a considerable effect on consumers’ purchasing behavior towards ethical fashion products.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Ethical fashion involves a form of production that takes working conditions into account and uses specific raw materials (e.g., organic cotton) avoid harming the environment (Joergens 2006).It is also described as “fashion with a conscious” as it concerns labor conditions and the environment (Shen et al. 2012).

  2. 2.

    Launched in 2005 by the competitiveness cluster, Up-Tex (High Performance Textiles), in order to develop textiles from agroresources using ecoefficient processes.

  3. 3.

    The Toluna QuickSurveys website was used as a support to design and deliver the questionnaire.

  4. 4.

    Old clothes re used by consumers to make some new products (e.g., fashion accessories, hand bags, gloves, and cushions).

  5. 5.

    Clothes, shoes, and accessories.

  6. 6.

    The concern of adults with respect to the wellbeing of future generations is positively linked to more responsible consumer behavior (purchase of organic products, reduction of waste, purchase of “green” products, etc.) (Urien and Kilbourne 2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IPAG Business School, Paris, France

    Mohamed Akli Achabou

  2. Humans and Management in Society, HuManiS (EA 1347), EM Strasbourg Business School, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

    Sihem Dekhili

Authors
  1. Mohamed Akli Achabou
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  2. Sihem Dekhili
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Correspondence to Mohamed Akli Achabou .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Textiles & Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR

    Tsan-Ming Choi

  2. Hong Kong Polytechnic University Dept. Logistics & Maritime Studies, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR

    T. C. Edwin Cheng

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Achabou, M., Dekhili, S. (2015). Constraints and Drivers of Growth in the Ethical Fashion Sector: The Case of France. In: Choi, TM., Cheng, T. (eds) Sustainable Fashion Supply Chain Management. Springer Series in Supply Chain Management, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12703-3_9

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