Sustainable Wardrobe Management and Sourcing

This unit focuses on practical strategies for extending garment life, sourcing sustainable apparel, and assessing brand claims to make informed fashion purchasing and merchandising decisions. Students practice care, repair, resale/upcycling techniques and evaluate real-brand case studies to prepare for developing sustainable marketing or merchandising plans in the final unit.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze consumer decision-making and marketing influences related to sustainable fashion, including identification of greenwashing tactics and their impact on purchasing behavior
• Apply garment and footwear care, storage, alteration, and repair techniques to extend product life and document cost–benefit decisions for repair versus replacement
• Demonstrate approaches to sourcing sustainable apparel by comparing vintage, resale, upcycling, and affordable sustainable brands, and by evaluating provided case-study brands using established sustainability and value criteria
• Evaluate and score brands’ sustainability claims and ‘feel-good’ factors using a rubric, and recommend consumer or retail actions that align with ethical and business goals