Entrepreneurial Practices of Independent Fashion Designers and Small Fashion Producers in Poland: Their Links with the Sustainability Discourse and Spatial Ramifications

Because independent designers and small fashion producers may be directly involved in or oversee all stages of the fashion value creation chain, they seem particularly well-positioned to practice sustainable fashion approaches. As small but very numerous participants in the contemporary ecosystem of fashion, these actors can potentially act as important agents of change with regard to the introduction and promotion of sustainable fashion, and they can inspire unique developments implementing environmental and ethical production standards. Drawing on qualitative research—content analysis of results of semi-structured in-depth interviews with independent designers and fashion producers based in diverse locations in Poland (N = 33) conducted in 2020–2023—the authors discuss how such fashion actors perceive the notions of independence in fashion and sustainable fashion and what types of sustainable fashion approaches they indeed implement in their daily professional practices, taking into account clothing design, sourcing of fabrics and textile accessories, sewing and distribution of the produced garments. The problems and challenges encountered by independent fashion designers in their daily functioning are explored, particularly in terms of applying sustainability principles in their entrepreneurial strategies as well as their attitudes towards and links with other actors in the fashion ecosystem. Finally, the so far underexplored issue of spatial and non-spatial factors that impact on the location strategies of independent fashion producers and cooperation with external partners is considered. Five different location types are distinguished depending on firm size, garment type, the owner’s personal pathways and their wish to make symbolic references to a particular area or quarter.