Slow Fashion : Tailoring a Strategic Approach towards Sustainability

This research explores one avenue for achieving sustainability within the fashion industry; which as it exists today is unsustainable. The Slow Fashion movement has an existing foundation in the larger fashion industry and is already making strides towards sustainability. The authors used this opportunity to examine a strategic approach, as its current approach is ad hoc. First, the authors assessed the Slow Fashion movement using the 5 level Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. To analyze the Slow Fashion movement further, the concept of Leverage Points was used to provide a focused lens to assist the author’s in navigating through the fashion industry’s complex system. Findings were synthesized into thirty strategic recommendations that target various players in the Slow Fashion movement. Three key recommendations will provide the most leverage in strengthening the Slow Fashion movement: 1) Co-create Slow Fashion Principles to represent the values of the movement and a shared definition of sustainability 2) Establish an overarching global network and local chapters for the Slow Fashion movement 3) Harmonize global garment and textile labelling initiatives under a Slow Fashion label.