How influential is Social Media Influencers in Sustainability?

- Credit to Amber Schmailing



As social media continues to carve itself an integral role in the purchasing process, the impact that social media influencers have on the decisions of consumers becomes increasingly greater. In fact, an astonishing 49% of consumers utilize social media as a guide to aid in purchase decisions. At the same time, there is a clear trend of consumers engaging in sustainable shopping. This is evidenced by the 37% increase in the word “sustainability” being entered into search engines since the start of 2020. This all being said, influencer marketing and sustainability go hand-in-hand. 

The ever-increasing reliance on social media influencers to determine the up-and-coming trends provides valuable opportunities to promote sustainable fashion habits. As the adverse impacts of fast fashion, non-degradable materials, and runoff from chemicals have been brought to light on a multitude of platforms, many consumers have started turning to social media to become educated on the topic of eco-fashion and seek guidance on shopping sustainability. Around 41% of eco-friendly consumers self-reported that they primarily use social media platforms to gain knowledge on the latest trends, news, and products in the sustainable fashion industry. This insight is quite interesting, considering only around 34% of the same surveyed group go straight to product/brand pages to perform research. This being said, to some degree, social media networks often have a more substantial reach to communicate with and influence consumers than the actual brands themselves do.

Though social media can prove to be useful in promoting green fashion, the issues of greenwashing and credibility can serve as challenges. As many companies and influencers have recognized the trends of recycled fashion and zero-waste productions, the challenge of greenwashing has become prevalent. Essentially, greenwashing is the act of outwardly promoting a product or service as being green and ethical to appeal to the conscious consumer, but, in reality, not actually doing much to contribute to closing the loop on the circular economy. This misleading promotional practice could lead to consumers purchasing products under the false narrative that they’re contributing to the sustainable fashion revolution. To mitigate any opportunities of being misled by greenwashing, consumers should pay close attention to the credibility of their information. Many times, such greenwashing and false claims of sustainability are made by sources that are not verified. This being said, conscious consumers must be careful to perform the due-diligence of checking their sources before making purchases so they can be certain that they understand who made their clothes. 

Bringing such awareness to zero-waste, fair fashion practices is the underlying mission of Vivify Textiles. In providing luxury fabrics with cutting-edge technologies, Vivify has sought to rethink what it means to be fashion-forward. Through usage of the regenerative process of the circular economy, Vivify has been able to achieve sustainability goals of significantly reducing landfill waste and other environmental costs, such as pollution, water consumption, run-off, and excess use of raw materials. In embracing the full-circle, reduce, reuse, recycle model of the circular economy, Vivify engages in upcycling to reuse raw materials to bring high-quality, sustainable fabrics to the market.

Through the relaunch of Vivify’s podcast, Ethical Fashion Room, consumers can become educated on ethical production and sustainability in the fashion industry. Listeners can look forward to leaders in the sustainable fashion industry making guest appearances on the podcast to share their expertise and thoughts about trending topics. Be sure to tune in to the Ethical Fashion Room podcast when it relaunches in November and peruse the website to learn more about how Vivify Textiles is setting the tone for the future of the fashion industry!