The Future of Where
I have always been a fashion lover.
Ever since I was young, I knew that I would end up in the fashion industry in some way, shape or form. I’ll be the first to admit, before this blog and my thesis project, I was not the most educated or informed consumer. I’m often the consumer that falls victim to fast fashion and the never-ending cycle of new, new, new that this industry offers. As an undergraduate student, I studied psychology and sociology; and in turn, I became fascinated by consumer psychology – particularly as it pertains to the luxury industry. Consumers’ purchasing intentions and behaviors intrigue me. I believe that there is so much more to clothing than simply protection or necessity. It’s an outward representation of who we are, who we want to be and who we want you to believe we may be.
So, my love of fashion combined with my passion for storytelling and desire to better understand consumer behavior led me to UNC Chapel Hill studying to attain my Master’s in Strategic Communication.
In January of 2020, I was presented with the opportunity to write a blog on the subject of my choosing. Building on my established interests in consumer psychology and fashion, I thought it’d be interesting to marry those two subjects together with another current topic: sustainability.
Just a few months after I started Is Green the New Black?, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and this platform quickly became a current source on the happenings in the sustainable fashion industry as the pandemic was literally unfolding. With this blog, I not only had a finger on the pulse of the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on the sustainable fashion industry, but I also had an opportunity to speak on what the future of the industry may look like.
Based on the global situation and my established interests in sustainable fashion and luxury, I felt it would be timely and insightful to look into the ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the luxury industry’s supply and production practices for my thesis project. By partnering together detailed consumer research and firsthand insight into the luxury industry itself, I believe I have become not only a trusted and informed fashion journalist, but also a voice on the future of this industry.
After a year and a half of writing this blog and extensive original research, my thesis project culminated into an Industry Report on sustainable sourcing and consumer behavior in a Covid-19 world. It not only discusses context, findings and key takeaways, but it also ends with recommendations to both the industry and its consumers on the future of “where” and what they can do to help.
To all my Is Green the New Black? readers, I have so enjoyed writing, reading, learning and growing with you all over the past year and a half.
I hope that you have learned something you maybe didn’t know.
I hope that you have thought twice about something that you thought you wanted.
I hope you better understand that your purchasing decisions have an impact on the environment.
I hope that you enjoyed the blog.
All the best,
McGee