The latest CAMRI Policy Brief, Fashion Media and Sustainability addresses the problem of throwaway fashion and how regulation and advocates a more proactive approach that can promote sustainable fashion, drawing on original analysis of 1,000+ media artefacts.

Fashion is among the biggest polluters, yet the media still promote throwaway fast fashion. The growing fashion public relations industry encourages and enables this media coverage. This policy brief identifies patterns in the way journalists and influencers cover fashion which contribute to unsustainable buying behaviours. Recent research recommends practical steps to improve media coverage to make consumption sustainable, by changing consumers’ understanding and reducing the pressure on them to buy ‘fast’ satisfaction. Policy recommendations here suggested are based on the extensive recording of fashion coverage – from magazines to newspapers, gossip weeklies to Instagram influencers. Anastasia Denisova proposes regulation of vocabulary and of affiliated links in journalism and social media, greater discussion of the psychology of buying and a ‘paid advertisement label’. Also recommended is a more engaged approach from magazines and other media with the aim of promoting restyling advice and more sustainable coverage for readers of differing financial means. 

THE AUTHOR
ANASTASIA DENISOVA is is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader BA (Hons) Journalism at the University of Westminster. Her monograph Internet Memes and Society was published in 2019. She researches viral online communication and digital journalism, fashion media and sustainability.

CONTENTS
Key Messages
Whats the Issue?
Research Evidence
Psychology of Fashion
The Sustainable Consumption Paradox
Sample and Method
Ten Patterns of Unsustainable Media Coverage
Impact of Research 
Review of Policy Options
Policy Recommendations
Notes

PDF, ePub and kindle versions available free from:
https://uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site books/10.16997/book/50
PDF 978-1-912656-91-2
ePub 978-1-912656-92-9
Kindle 978-1-912656-93-6
https://10.16997/book50
Published 1 March 2021

This title is published open access in the CAMRI POLICY BRIEFS series by the Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster and the University of Westminster Press. 

• Critical Digital and Social Media Studies series