Fashion Sustainability: The Practices Among Fashion Students During the COVID-19

Abstract

Fashion is one of the world’s most in-demand industries, with a tendency to fluctuate and change. However, during COVID-19, fashion was one of the affected industries, with many fashion businesses closing down, changing people’s perceptions of fashion. People tend to follow trends or styles, which contradicts the nature of fashion. However, as the COVID-19 virus has spread, people have become more cautious about spending their money in order to survive and prefer to seek out more practical ways of consuming fashion, such as sustainability activities. The purpose of this study is to examine how COVID-19 has influenced fashion sustainability practices among Malaysian fashion students through semi-structured interviews with 21 people. The findings show that participants are hesitant to spend money on fashion items and prefer to use their remaining clothes by experimenting with more “mix and match.” Furthermore, they try to avoid purchasing second-hand fashion items, primarily from fast-fashion brands, or they switch to slow fashion and focus on pre-loved items if they still want to buy. They also emphasise “waste to wealth” by upcycling their old fashion items, such as embellishments, embroidery, patchwork, beading, quilting, or altering their dress. Finally, to encourage themselves to engage in one of the sustainability activities, participants prefer to donate unused items to the needy or exchange them for coupons (e.g., at H&M). Finally, COVID-19 has altered people’s perceptions of fashion and gradually educated them to engage in fashion sustainability activities.