ABSTRACT

Sustainability and fashion are often presented as antithetical constructs, with the consumption of fashion being largely seen to be in the hands of women in much the same way as is responsibility for the environment. This chapter explores the role of gender in the context of sustainability and fashion discourse and practice. Our gender, sexuality, ethnicity, social and economic class, education etc. can all make us feel included or may emphasize our otherness. I want to encourage you to look for difference and otherness where it is not explicit and to challenge the gender neutrality of language used in the sustainability and fashion discourse. This is essential for real change, albeit providing no absolute solution.