Transparency in High Street Fashion Brands

Radical transparency has been highlighted as one major trend for the fashion industry in 2019. Clothing retailers have lost consumer trust over claims such as ‘greenwashing’ and data protection breaches, urging them to take actions to regain this trust. While consumers have taken initiative with trends such as ‘slow’ fashion and rental consumption, the largest change can be facilitated by large corporations, especially fast fashion organisations, with value, entry and mid-market segments amounting to 60% of global market share in the fashion industry. The apparel industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, globally accounting for 8% of greenhouse gas emissions and 20% of wastewater. Under consideration of the UN sustainable development goals and increased pressures from stakeholders, fashion retailers are increasingly engaging in initiatives such as the offer of sustainable product lines from companies including H&M, ASOS, Primark and Zara. These however receive a high level of mistrust from consumers, who perceive discrepancies in companies’ CSR communications and their actual actions. This research report aimed to investigate whether an increased level of transparency of high street fashion brands could increase consumer trust and in turn their purchase intention for sustainable product lines.