While Americans and Europeans love to talk about sustainable fashion, consumers in emerging markets like China and India are far more likely to actually buy sustainably-made clothes, according to a recent story from Forbes.
“Though ‘eco fashion’ or ‘sustainable fashion’ has typically been associated with developed markets due to their higher price point,” the story notes, “research indicates that emerging market economies actually seem to care more about ethical fashion than their developed market counterparts.”
That research, coming from both the Global Lifestyle Monitor and MasterCard, found that “65 percent of consumers in emerging markets actively seek out sustainable fashion versus 32 percent or less in mature markets.” And, those emerging markets are projected to keep getting bigger.
Citing a host of different factors as to why these places might favor sustainable options — proximity to manufacturing sites being chief among them — the story notes that, so long as “their attitude toward sustainability stays the same,” these markets are poised to make an outsized impact on the fashion landscape, and could potentially even become the “solution to the world’s fast fashion crisis.”
You can read more about it at Forbes.
