The new age of marketing retail fashion, which stresses social entrepreneurship, has furthered many movements. However, this emphasis on social entrepreneurship has also led other, less philanthropic, companies to benefit from those movements without explicitly stating how they support them. For example, customers have pressured companies to engage in environmentally friendly business practices due to increasing concerns about the climate. Unfortunately, these eco-friendly alternative methods can severely decrease profit margins. For that reason, to forego any extra costs while maintaining a good brand image, some companies have reverted to participating in “greenwashing” and simply providing misleading information rather than changing their protocols. Due to the relevance of social movements and brands’ desire to resonate with younger generations, this immoral marketing technique has evolved into appropriating social issues called “woke-washing.”
“Woke-washing” is the practice of using social movements to further the brand without explicitly addressing how the business is positively impacting the matter. Examples of “woke-washing” include Kendall Jenner’s infamous Pepsi commercial, which capitalized on protest movements and police brutality without aptly discussing the problems nor how Pepsi was supporting the movement.
Another example prevalent throughout the world is the addition of rainbows into logos, merchandise, and advertising during February – Pride month – without ever explicitly disclosing how those brands are trying to impact the LGBTQ+ community positively. As Aja Barber, a writer and consultant focused on fashion’s intersection with feminism, race, and colonisation, states, “Marginalised people are still not included while having their movements commodified for mass consumption”.
Although many people may not know the terms woke-washing or greenwashing at the moment, talking, debating, and understanding them will increase awareness. Hopefully, the attention will lead to change consisting of companies coming forward, acknowledging their shortcomings, and leading to a universal increase of transparency in all regards. Increased transparency is critical in solving these issues and many others in the fashion industry. Without increasing transparency, companies will continue to take advantage of their workers, unsuspecting customers, and the marginalised people of the various movements they profit from without supporting. Thankfully, due to the digital age, and with the help of people like Aja Barber, these terms will quickly become more well-known. Eventually, making it impossible for fashion brands to hide information from their consumers and help increase the amount of authentic social entrepreneurship across the globe, which in turn will help progress many different movements.
By Jan Liam Fitzgerald
