Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Fashion, Dress and Merchandising

Committee Chair

Debanjan Das

Committee Member

Jessica Blythe

Committee Member

Elizabeth Shorrock

Abstract

Growing awareness of the fashion industry's environmental footprint in terms of water and chemical use, carbon emissions, textile waste, energy usage, and water pollution has focused international attention on sustainability issues in apparel industries. To showcase their commitment to sustainability, many fashion companies turn to certifications and accreditations from third-party organizations. These certifications and accreditations not only help improve a company's performance and marketability but also give them an advantage over their competitors. US textile buyers are also becoming more selective in their purchasing decisions, looking for high-quality products that are produced in a sustainable and socially responsible manner. This is driving textile manufacturers to adopt sustainable practices and to make sure they are providing the best products to their customers. Therefore, it is necessary to understand how social sustainable certificates are valued in a buyer-supplier relationship, how sustainable certificates help buyers building trust towards their suppliers, and how the authenticity of certificates influences the relationship between a buyer and their suppliers. To achieve these goals, a semi-structured interview approach was utilized to understand the U.S. fashion buyers’ perspective on social sustainable certification. The study findings revealed significant knowledge of the buyers regarding sustainable certification. The buyers talked about greenwashing, worker’s wages, child labor, fire safety, and building collapse in connection to certification. However, not all participants prioritize certifications as a factor in their decision-making process. Another finding revealed that even though the buyers are aware of what is going on in the fashion industry and they also agreed that certification does offer certain benefits, they do not practice certification requirements in real life.

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