Sustainable Fashion—Rationale and Policies

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,

In my opinion the paper is on target with this journal.

Concerning the fast fashion and the fashion industry there are some relevant references to read and add.

Gazzola, P., Pavione, E., Pezzetti, R., & Grechi, D. (2020). Trends in the fashion industry. The perception of sustainability and circular economy: A gender/generation quantitative approach. Sustainability, 12(7), 2809.

Joy, A., Sherry Jr, J. F., Venkatesh, A., Wang, J., & Chan, R. (2012). Fast fashion, sustainability, and the ethical appeal of luxury brands. Fashion theory, 16(3), 273-295.

Vătămănescu, E. M., Dabija, D. C., Gazzola, P., Cegarro-Navarro, J. G., & Buzzi, T. (2021). Before and after the outbreak of covid-19: Linking fashion companies' corporate social responsibility approach to consumers’ demand for sustainable products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 321, 128945.

Please, explain better " These changes are often positively described as a "democratization of the fashion", implying a positive process in which the purchasing power of consumers in the field of fashion expands [17]"
The concept of  democratization of the fashion is relevant, you have to improve the relevance in the paper.

Environmental implications of fast fashion: This paragraph is too short. Please, improve them. 
Suggested references: 
Mukendi, A., Davies, I., Glozer, S., & McDonagh, P. (2020). Sustainable fashion: current and future research directions. European Journal of Marketing.
Khandual, A., & Pradhan, S. (2019). Fashion brands and consumers approach towards sustainable fashion. In Fast fashion, fashion brands and sustainable consumption (pp. 37-54). Springer, Singapore.
Ræbild, U., & Bang, A. L. (2017). Rethinking the fashion collection as a design strategic tool in a circular economy. The Design Journal, 20(sup1), S589-S599.

The concept of circular economy, in my opinion, should be introduced in the paper.

2.1.1. Sustainable fashion can take many forms. From the consumer perspective it can include:

In my opinion a table will be more effective.

2.1.2. Slow Fashion: expand, using also circular economy and sustainability, this paragraph.

Public policies to promote sustainable fashion: very good, check if there is something new. 

Page 8, line 373-377: in my opinion it is too colloquial, too little formal.
Please: change.

Page 1, line 13: there is a mistake, there is not a dot.

It is a good paper, with some changes will be ready for publication.
Best

Author Response

Dear Authors,

In my opinion the paper is on target with this journal.

Concerning the fast fashion and the fashion industry there are some relevant references to read and add.

Gazzola, P., Pavione, E., Pezzetti, R., & Grechi, D. (2020). Trends in the fashion industry. The perception of sustainability and circular economy: A gender/generation quantitative approach. Sustainability, 12(7), 2809.
Joy, A., Sherry Jr, J. F., Venkatesh, A., Wang, J., & Chan, R. (2012). Fast fashion, sustainability, and the ethical appeal of luxury brands. Fashion theory, 16(3), 273-295.

Vătămănescu, E. M., Dabija, D. C., Gazzola, P., Cegarro-Navarro, J. G., & Buzzi, T. (2021). Before and after the outbreak of covid-19: Linking fashion companies' corporate social responsibility approach to consumers’ demand for sustainable products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 321, 128945.

Response: Thank you very much for the helpful and interesting references. The three articles are now incorporated in the article

Please, explain better " These changes are often positively described as a "democratization of the fashion", implying a positive process in which the purchasing power of consumers in the field of fashion expands [17]"
The concept of  democratization of the fashion is relevant, you have to improve the relevance in the paper.

Comment: Thank you, we have expanded the explanation of the process and its context to the subject of the article. We hope this is now more relevant

Environmental implications of fast fashion: This paragraph is too short. Please, improve them. 
Suggested references: 
Mukendi, A., Davies, I., Glozer, S., & McDonagh, P. (2020). Sustainable fashion: current and future research directions. European Journal of Marketing.
Khandual, A., & Pradhan, S. (2019). Fashion brands and consumers approach towards sustainable fashion. In Fast fashion, fashion brands and sustainable consumption (pp. 37-54). Springer, Singapore.
Ræbild, U., & Bang, A. L. (2017). Rethinking the fashion collection as a design strategic tool in a circular economy. The Design Journal, 20(sup1), S589-S599.

Comment: Thank you for these excellent references. We have added information from them both to the section Environmental implications of fast fashion and to the rest of the article

The concept of circular economy, in my opinion, should be introduced in the paper.

Response: We completely agree. We have added two paragraphs which deal with circular economy in the chapter Sustainable fashion - Assumptions and Constructs

2.1.1. Sustainable fashion can take many forms. From the consumer perspective it can include:

In my opinion a table will be more effective.

Comment: Thanks for the suggestion. We have added a table, see: 'Table 1: Different approaches to sustainable fashion, advantages and disadvantages'

2.1.2. Slow Fashion: expand, using also circular economy and sustainability, this paragraph.

Public policies to promote sustainable fashion: very good, check if there is something new. 

 Response: Thank you. We have added extensive reference to the circular economy. As for the policy, as far as we know there is no more up-to-date policy

Page 8, line 373-377: in my opinion it is too colloquial, too little formal.
Please: change.

We believe our original closing paragraph was more accessible and compelling. But have toned down the colloquial tone in tune with the suggestion of the Reviewer. 

Page 1, line 13: there is a mistake, there is not a dot.
Comment: We corrected the mistake. Thank you

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors, 

Thank you for a very concise and important paper. The language used is clear and the facts are presented in a logical manner. Therefore, the paper should be accepted 

Best regards

Author Response

Comment: Thank you very much, we appreciate the feedback

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

In this paper, the authors presented the history of fast fashion, the adverse impact of fast fashion on environment and society, and the potential remedies to fast fashion. The demand for proper regulations is rationalized and some regulations in the fashion industry are discussed.

 I have enjoyed reading the paper. The writings can be improved. Overall, I think the paper puts up a good case that fashion industry has imposed growing threat to environment; and incentives and regulations should be put in place to solve the problems.

My main suggestion to the authors is to improve the flow of the discussions. Section 1 discusses the history of fast fashion and its environmental and social impacts. Maybe you could put these two in subsections. For example,

1.1 The rise of fast fashion

 1.2 The adverse effects of fast fashion

1.2.1 environmental implications

1.2.2 social implications

Comment: Thank you very much. We've added subtitles and improved the flow of the article so we now believe it's better

The section “Technology increases consumption of excess fashion” seems to go well with subsection 1.1. Section 2 discusses some solutions to fast fashion problem. Subsection 2.1 is on sustainable fashion and slow fashion and subsection 2.2 is on public polices and regulations.

We have tried to rework the text, but feel that to start moving different sections leaves many areas incomplete, especially after making the revisions requested by Reviewer 1.  We understand the rationale behind this comment, but feel that the article at present flows well and the substantive divisions in presenting the material are coherent. We would request to leave the present order as is.

Some other detailed comments are as follows.

• Line 26: In the sentence “By its very definition, …,” there are two “it.” Change the second “it” to “fashion.”

Response: Done. Thank you

• Lines 33-37: how is the matter of local dress relevant in your discussion?

Response: In the professional literature on the history of fashion and culture, it is common to distinguish between local dress and fashion. While local dress relies on tradition and is characterized by preserving a community’s attire and way of dressing, fashion by definition, changes regularly. We therefore found the reference to be relevant  and request that it remain.

• Line 35: “mass fashion” is not defined.

Response: Thank you. We have added clarification to the term

• Line 47: should be “…lead to …”

Response: Thank you. We corrected the mistake

• Lines 51-53: the sentence is too long. Please rewrite.

Response: We edited the sentence.

• Line 60: “in terms of prices…”

Response: We edited the sentence.

• Line 77: there is an extra comma.

Response: Thank you. We corrected the mistake

• Line 101: the sentence “The fashion industry’s balance sheet is also embedded with …” is unclear. How is it relevant to the next two sentences?

Response: We believe that environmental injustice is reflected, among other things, in the fact that while in the global north there is a tremendous waste of clothing, in the global south workers are employed under inappropriate conditions. We tried to illustrate this point by emphasizing the tremendous waste. However, we edited the sentence a bit to sharpen the point.

• Lines 108-113: The “decline in the perceived value of clothing details” seems to be another adverse effect of fast fashion to fashion. Do you think it should be a subsection 1.2.3? As you have discussed how technology and social media would quickly educate consumers about fashion (in the section “Technology increases consumption of excess fashion”), how can the public or the average consumer appreciate less of high quality and lasting clothing? 2 You have done a good job discussing the history of the fast fashion production (e.g., shorter cycle and lower cost). I don’t think it is clear why the consumers would appreciate fast fashion especially in the age of internet where people can learn quickly what would trend in clothing.

This comment poses an interesting question.  We have added a sentence with our answer, although this is clearly a topic which would benefit from future research.

• Line 114: This paragraph is on the role of advertising in the fashion industry. It seems to explain the rise of fast fashion, correct?

Comment: Absolutely. We have thickened this part of the article to make this point even clearer

• Line 182: what is the definition of sustainable fashion? Isn’t it contradicting with the definition of fashion?

Comment: The definition of sustainable fashion is not uniform and even controversial. However, assuming that fashion is based on creativity, self-expression and aesthetic celebration with the help of clothes, sustainable fashion certainly meets all of these and therefore does not contradict the definition of fashion.

• Line 223: what is the definition of slow fashion? Is slow fashion the same as sustainable fashion?

Comment: Yes, slow fashion is a term parallel to sustainable fashion.

• Line 226: why are the ideas of sustainable fashion or slow fashion controversial? Is it controversial from the production perspective or the consumer perspective? The examples in Lines 227-228 suggest it is from the consumer’s point of view. These ideas may not be aligned with profit-maximization objectives for the clothing factories. This is why policies or regulations may help.

Response: The ideas of sustainable fashion constitute a challenge -- both from the point of view of manufacturers and from the point of view of consumers, which range from consuming sustainable fashion to stopping fashion production, a position that is sometimes advocated by environmental activists. As for manufacturers, there is controversy surrounding the issue of what might be considered sustainable fashion and what is considered greenwash. We added a clarification about this point in the form of a table --  as requested by reviewer 1 and believe this helps clarify the position. As for the need for policy and regulation, we certainly agree.

• Line 229: the phase “…buying second-hand clothes significantly reduces transparency in the production processes” needs some clarifications.

Comment: We have added clarification. We hope it's clearer now.

• Line 231: is it not entirely clear why sustainable fashion or slow fashion is an alternative to fast fashion? Since fashion reflects social norm, slow fashion does not seem to be consistent with fashion.

No, we disagree with this argument:  slow fashion recognizes that designing clothes, selecting and wearing them appropriate constitutes a natural and legitimate expression of creativity for societies around the world.  Advocates of slow fashion simply argue that consumers should be satisfied with a smaller range of products made from more robust materials.  They also believe that the increasingly rapid change of fashion lines needs to be replaced with an approach where the pace of the industry is comparable to the life span of clothing sold itself and where change in wardrobes is simply slower.

• Line 340: It is unclear how increasing minimum wage to reduce CO2 resolves the fast fashion problem. Please explain.

We have explained that the fast-fashion model relies on the steadily lower price of the apparel, which allows consumers, even with modest means, to afford the constant purchase of clothes and maintain enormous, ever-larger wardrobes.  By raising minimum wage, prices on clothing would increase, which by basic supply and demand logic, implies that there will also be a drop in consumption rates We believe that this point is already clear in the present text, but could rewrite if the editors felt it necessary.

Reviewer 4 Report

Dear authors, I found your manuscript very interesting and well prepared. It fits the journal´s scope very well.

I wish you all the best in your work

Author Response

Comment: Thank you very much, we greatly appreciate your feedback

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,

you have absolutely improved your work but there are some minor changes to do:

page 6, line 250: there is a dot before the first word of the phrase.

page 7, line 296: Changing consumer perceptions about the role of price of clothing.  There is a wrong margin.

page 7, line 332: there is a bullet point... it is empty

page 7, table 1: the third column is not clear for me. There is a wide explaination of concepts and after the word "DISADVANTAGES". Please, check and correct.

page 13, line 365 Labeling), campaigns and choice architecture [51-52]. It is [51,52].

page 14: wrong margin of number bullet points. Please, check.

Check reference 43, there is a wrong font.

After there modifications the paper will be ok for publication.
Best

Author Response

Comment: page 6, line 250: there is a dot before the first word of the phrase.

Response: Thank you, we have removed the unnecessary dot.

Comment: page 7, line 296: Changing consumer perceptions about the role of price of clothing.  There is a wrong margin.

Response: Thank you, we changed the margin.

Comment:  there is a bullet point... it is empty.

Response: Thank you, we have removed the unnecessary bullet point

Comment: page 7, table 1: the third column is not clear for me. There is a wide explaination of concepts and after the word "DISADVANTAGES". Please, check and correct.

Response: Table 1 explains the essence of each of the possible solutions for sustainable fashion consumption and in the columns lists the advantages and disadvantages of each solution in the field of sustainable fashion. We have added a clarification in the description of the columns, we hope it is now clearer.

Comment: page 13, line 365 Labeling), campaigns and choice architecture [51-52]. It is [51,52].

Response: Thank you, we corrected it

Comment: page 14: wrong margin of number bullet points. Please, check.

Response: Thank you, we tried to fix it, but without success. We assume this is related to the template format. We would be happy if the final editing team could help with the issue

Comment: Check reference 43, there is a wrong font.

Response: The font in reference 43 is the same font as in the other references. However in reference 41 the font was incorrect. We changed the font to the correct font.

Reviewer 3 Report

None

Author Response

Comment: Thank you very much.

Round 3

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,

the paper is fine for me.

best