The Hope Hypothesis

I’ve been working on a project this summer; and I must tell you, I’m pretty excited about the results. Like many other people all over the world, my plans for this summer went down the drain a bit. I was supposed to spend the majority of my summer abroad; so, with Covid-19, I’m sure it doesn’t surprise any of you that my plans simply did not happen. With internships getting cancelled left-and-right and the opportunity to travel eliminated, I had to come up with a new plan for this summer.

Guided by an inspiring, girl-boss mentor, I started working on, what I like to call, the Hope Hypothesis. I’m not going to really go into detail about the results of my project or the story I hope to tell because I’m going to save that for when I actually publish the final piece, BUT I want to shed light on one major data point that I think you all should know. When asked “what is one cause in which you hope to see a positive change post Covid-19,” 33% of Gen Zers selected environmental issues out of six different options. I know this may not seem huge to you, but the options were very current and diverse: environmental issues, accessibility/socioeconomic issues, changes in consumer habits, mental health awareness, systemic racism as well as the option to fill in their own answer. Quite honestly, environmental issues came in ahead of the other options by over 10%.

This morning, I read an article on the Business of Fashion by Sarah Kent (2020a) entitled “Will Fashion Ever Be Good for the World? Its Future May Depend on It.” In the article Kent states, “this crisis has started to bring to light some of the systemic problems in the industry... It’s revealed just how fragile the industry is” (para. 7). While a pandemic is certainly not the way that anyone wished, or continues to wish, that progress happen, the coronavirus crisis has drawn attention to many of the environmental and sustainability issues that have supported the fashion industry for so long. For example, the coronavirus crisis highlighted the fashion industry’s reliance on global supply chains for its manufacturing – “manufacturers from China to Italy to California abruptly shut down as the coronavirus spread, creating ripple effects across global supply chains” (Kent, 2020b, para. 3). Interestingly though, brands are now forced to re-examine their manufacturing methods in favor of flexibility and transparency (2020b, para. 5).

While it is true that the Covid-19 pandemic forces brands to be flexible when they may not have done so otherwise, I believe that consumers are becoming more and more aware of the harsh environmental impact of many different industries, including the fashion industry. In my opinion, the data point illustrates that consumers, young consumers in particular, are not only aware of the frightening issues facing our environment, but also want and expect positive change to be a result of this pandemic. While there certainly is fear and anxiety about the unknowns of the present, there is hope for a better future.

Bye for now,

McGee