Fashion Consumers and Their Consumption Patterns as an Opportunity or a Major Challenge to Fashion Sustainability in the Polish Context?

Consumers are important stakeholders in the fashion market who may influence and inspire changes in the functioning of the fashion sector through their sartorial choices and demand for particular clothing features as well as practices linked with frequency of shopping, clothing maintenance, and disposal. Looking at the Polish fashion market from the perspective of demand, fashion consumption patterns were investigated in the context of general consumer preferences and choices as well as sustainable behaviours. The analysis was based on the results of the questionnaire survey of a representative sample of the adult Polish population (N = 1067) conducted in 2022. Several major relevant issues were studied in detail, such as the factors and features of clothing that are taken into account in clothing purchases, declared spatial patterns and motivations of garment purchases, and motivations and barriers to more sustainable sartorial choices. The issue of consumer attitudes to used clothing, including second-hand clothing acquisition, alteration and repair, sharing and disposing of clothing, was also analysed. Polish consumers’ ethnocentric attitudes and willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable fashion were examined. Another important matter that was considered was the awareness of sustainability-oriented initiatives of fashion firms. The impact of economic, socio-demographic, and spatial (geographic) factors on (more sustainable) fashion purchase, maintenance, and disposal choices was taken into account, including the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.