Baylor Expert: Five Tips to Choose Sustainable Fashion

April 17, 2023

Contact: Kelly Craine, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-297-9065
Follow us on Twitter: @BaylorUMedia

WACO, Texas (April 17, 2023) – Fast Fashion is the most popular trend in retail fashion today.  Fast Fashion isn’t a specific style but rather is clothing produced quickly and cheaply to respond instantly to consumer demand. Low prices and popular online retailers allow people to purchase clothing more often but at a devastating cost to the environment.

According to EarthDay.org, the fashion industry is one of the largest global polluters, creating 4% of all greenhouse gas emissions, 40 million tons of landfill waste and 35% of microplastics in the ocean. 

According to fashion expert Jay Yoo, Ph.D., associate professor of apparel merchandising in the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences at Baylor University, consumers are learning more about the environmental impacts of fashion and searching for better options. 

Fashion expert Jay Yoo, Ph.D., associate professor of apparel merchandising in the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences at Baylor University
Fashion expert Jay Yoo, Ph.D.

Yoo’s research shows that purchasing apparel products that help reduce negative impacts on the environment has emerged as a lifestyle.

“Fashion-conscious consumers are ready and willing to forgo fast fashion for more sustainable options produced in an ecologically and socially responsible way,” said Yoo. 

Yoo recommends five ways you can use your purchasing power to support sustainable fashion.

  • Choose natural fibers - organic cotton, linen or hemp.
  • Avoid clothing that requires dry cleaning.
  • Donate to and shop at resale stores.
  • Purchase from retailers that are committed to sustainability.
  • Encourage your friends to join you in supporting sustainable fashion.

Although fashion is often understood to center on apparel choices, fashion impacts nearly every aspect of human lives, Yoo said, including health, social responsibility and environmental issues involving consumptive behaviors. His additional research interests include appearance-related behaviors and their implications for individual and social well-being from consumer perspectives, from body-tanning behaviors, body image and quality of life among cancer patients, retail therapy and mental health, and irrational shopping and extreme body modification.

At Baylor, Yoo teaches courses in Fashion Theory and Consumption, History of Dress and Global Dress and Culture. He also has published his research in the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, and Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing and Service Industries.

He earned his Ph.D. in retail merchandising from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, his master’s degree in apparel design from Cornell University and his bachelor’s in clothing and textiles from Seattle Pacific University.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. 

ABOUT ROBBINS COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

The Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences at Baylor University seeks to prepare leaders in health and quality of life through science, scholarship and innovation. Together, the departments housed within the Robbins College – Communication Sciences and Disorders; Health, Human Performance and Recreation; Human Sciences and Design; Occupational Therapy; Physical Therapy; Public Health; and a number of Army-Baylor graduate programs – promote a team-based approach to transformational education and research, establishing interdisciplinary research collaborations to advance solutions for improving quality of life for individuals, families and communities. For more information, visit the Robbins College website