What Are The Main Obstacles To Sustainable Clothing? It's Not Price, It's Information!

In September 18th, Premi research re Vision Paris (Paris PV fabric exhibition), held in Paris, France, will publish a research report jointly sponsored by the French Fashion Designers Association (hereinafter referred to as "IFM") and Premi re Vision. This report examines the relationship between consumers and sustainable fashion, including France, Italy, Germany and the United States. The results show that prices and styles are no longer the main obstacle to people's purchase of sustainable clothing.
　　 Buying sustainable clothing and spending
In the survey, 45.8% of French respondents said they bought at least one sustainable fashion commodity in 2018 (including environmental brands, used retailers or local producers). In Germany, Italy and the United States, the proportion of respondents reached 43.4%, 46.7% and 55.3% respectively.
Consumers in four countries spend an average of 136 euros ~166 euros in buying a sustainable coat. Underwear costs 95 euros ~123 euros, shoes cost 134 euros ~191 euros, and leather goods cost 172 euros ~212 euros. Compared to France, the cost per person per year is 700 euros, and the above figures are quite impressive.
In Germany and the United States (especially outstanding), the consumption of sustainable clothing exceeds that of organic cosmetics, but in France and Italy, the consumption of sustainable clothing is still lagging behind the consumption of organic food and organic cosmetics.
Major obstacles to buying sustainable clothing
But consumers who want to buy sustainable clothing still face some obstacles, and lack of adequate information is one of the main factors. Among the respondents, the percentage was 61% in the US, 50.4% in France and 42.9% in Germany.
In Italy, 59% of respondents believe that the first obstacle they face is that they do not know where to buy such goods. This factor is regarded as the second major obstacle by the other three countries.
Gildas Minvielle, director of IFM economic observation center, said that consumers could not find where they could buy sustainable clothing, indicating that their supply was insufficient and the market did not meet the needs of consumers.
In contrast, the percentage of respondents who considered price factors to be the primary obstacle was small: Germany 38.9%, France 33.4%, Italy 25.5% and the United States 25.4%.
However, the proportion of style factors among respondents is only 8%~19%, depending on the country. Premi Lasbordes re Vision SA general manager Gilles Lasbordes believes that this data is consistent with the continuous improvement of fabric quality at the exhibition. He stressed: "now the consumer view is that sustainable and beautiful clothes do not conflict."
The survey found that only 22.8% of French consumers could freely tell a fashion brand that sells sustainable clothing. The proportion in other three countries is also not high, Germany 26.9%, Italy 30%, the United States 30.8%.
In addition, in Europe, only 19.7% of women and 26.7% of men surveyed thought they had enough information, which accounted for 23.7% and 42.4% respectively.
Basic understanding of sustainable fashion
Asked about the basic concepts of sustainable fashion, in France and Italy, 41.6% and 40.7% of respondents thought that the environmental protection production process was their priority.
Among US respondents, the most important factor is the type of fabric. The percentage of respondents holding this view is 41.7%.
30.3% of German respondents believe that workers' working environment is their greatest concern.
Interestingly, none of the four countries listed the origin of their products as a primary consideration.
It is reported that the complete report of the research will be announced at the September 18th innovation forum, and will be delivered by IFM research director Gildas Minvielle and Thomas Delattre.