Fashioning the Ecological Crisis : Sustainability and Feminism in Fashion Advertising and Communication in Contemporary Sweden

Sammanfattning: The corporatisation of social justice (gender justice, LGBTQI+ rights, racial justice) and environmental justice ideals in the last decades has grown immensely in western countries, exemplified by rainbow-clad ATM’s during Pride month or Nike using images of NFL player Kaepernick’s anti-racism protest action of taking a knee during the USA national anthem in a marketing campaign. One of the industries that has been particularly inundated with symbols of social justice is the fashion industry. This dissertation focuses on articulations of the environment, gender, and race through a study of sustainability and feminist discourses in fashion advertising and communication in Sweden – a country that prides itself on being a leader in sustainability and gender equality. The global fashion industry is one of the most polluting and environmentally damaging, for example, its contribution to climate change is significant. At the same time, profits from garment production rely on the exploitation of cheap, often female labour, predominantly from the global South. There is an inherent contradiction in discourses in the light of the material impacts which marks the importance of investigating the gender/environment nexus in fashion. While public awareness of greenwashing and insufficient ethical standards in the fashion industry grows, mass-consumption of clothing is not slowing down as a consequence. This conundrum is a central question in the thesis. Through analyses of interviews, social media and visual advertising material, the dissertation seeks to understand how discourses of sustainability and feminism circulate amongst digital media and consumers. It argues that ideology and interpellation play an important role in maintaining the dream of sustainable and socially just imaginaries of fashion.