In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium at the University of Southampton we are joined by Tazmin Jeffreys to discuss her independent research project titled: “Rural vs Urban: Differences in consumer clothing habits and attitudes towards fast fashion”

In recent years fast fashion has become one of the main polluters in the world due to its major environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas contribution, waste water production and landfill. With the help of government policies, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, producers can limit their contribution to the fast fashion crisis. However, producers need to balance this with their understanding of consumer habits. Recent literature has looked into habits and attitudes of consumers towards fast fashion, however there is limited evidence about whether location impacts this. Therefore, this study looks into the comparison of rural and urban participants’ clothing habits and knowledge of fast fashion.

Further Reading:
Harnett, D.S. (2011) Fashion and Shopping Orientation of Rural vs. Urban UW-Stout Students. Master’s Thesis. The Graduate School University of Wisconsin-Stout. Available at: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=48ac8de1c148032e040 70506ddf8f592b198243f

United Nations (2018) UN Helps Fashion Industry Shift to Low Carbon | UNFCCC, United Nations Climate Change. Available at: https://unfccc.int/news/un-helps-fashion-industry- shift-to-low-carbon (Accessed: 30 November 2023).

Zhang, B., Zhang, Y. and Zhou, P. (2021) ‘Consumer Attitude Towards Sustainability of Fast Fashion Products in the UK’, Sustainability, 13(4), pp. 1–23. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041646

Episode guest: Tazmin Jeffreys
Episode host: Prof Simon Kemp
Episode editor: Lily Killner

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