Out with the Old and in with the New - Consumer Clothing Practices and how they contribute to a Circular Fashion Market

Abstract

A transition to a circular fashion market requires substantial changes in the way consumers purchase, use and dispose of clothes. Nevertheless, the concept has not yet been researched from a consumer perspective. The aim of this study was to close this gap by identifying consumer clothing practices in Sweden, and discuss how these practices can contribute to a circular fashion market. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Swedish consumers, addressing the everyday enactment of clothing practices. The practice theory perspective enabled the study to capture behaviour, rather than intention, in all three phases of the clothes consumption process: purchase, use and disposal. The findings resulted in the identification of five practices relevant to the practical implementation of a circular fashion market and their varying contributions. Two of the practices were divided in to different versions, as they varied in their contribution. Those deemed to contribute were second hand purchasing, doing laundry through alternative methods, mending, and disposing of clothes through selling or donation. Those deemed to not contribute to a circular fashion market were doing laundry in the traditional sense, clearing out and disposing of clothes in the general waste. In conjunction, the findings revealed a partial implementation of the circular economy concept in the Swedish fashion market, which this article argues could lead to increased consumption. The nature of the findings further enabled the identification of problematic practice elements, which culminated in a discussion of how consumer practices can be reconfigured to be more in line with a circular fashion market.