Why Vegan and Environmentally Conscious Fashion Struggles to Sell Itself
I first met Marianna Kupść, founder of the Kern Institute on consumer behaviour, at the Sustainable Fashion Institute’s Innovative Materials exhibition back in April this year, where she dropped a mic-worthy statement: ‘The world needs innovations, but the customer’s conscience just wants to be exempted from guilt.’ That was when I realised she’d be the one to shed some raw light on why many vegan and environmentally conscious fashion brands often struggle to connect with consumers—and how they might begin to change that.
What began as a conversation about fashion consumption—or rather, overconsumption—turned into a deep dive into human nature: complex, contradictory, and far from straightforward. This is a rare exploration of the complex psychology behind fashion consumption that offers a critical insight for anyone whose business survival depends on getting consumers on board.
What truly drives consumers to choose one fashion item over another? What macrotrends shape buying habits today and into the future? And crucially, what do vegan and environmentally conscious fashion brands get fundamentally wrong – and brilliantly right?
The Real Reason People Buy (Hint: It’s Not Just Ethics)
There is a persistent gap between fashion, ecology, and ethics. Many brands working to bridge this divide put admirable effort into making sustainable fashion more visible and accessible. But that’s actually… wrong. ‘Regardless of the message, fashion brands should think of themselves and present as fashion brands first,’ says Marianna. That means sparking desire before donning the hero cape.
For activism to make tangible waves when paired with commerce, it should be framed as a positive change – or at least a promise of a better future. If it feels like a lecture, it rarely lands. ‘The most successful – and impactful – storytelling draws on hope, not doom. Yes, life is hard, and we are drowning in waste – but customers do not need to be reminded of this every single time they sit down for a reward, which is what a purchase mostly is.’ This is why the most successful brands will tell customers that together, they can do much more and much better – rather than scaring them with data and apocalyptic images of ‘what if not’. ‘If a brand takes on the heavy lifting of advocacy and charity, while offering the customer the cherries on top – fashion products that feel inspired or imbued with hope and milestones achieved – that’s where the magic starts.’
‘The most successful – and impactful – storytelling draws on hope, not doom.’
In light of recent events, ice cream might provide more clarity. Following his arrest during a Senate Gaza protest on 14 May 2025, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen made headlines again—not for the ice cream, but for activism. The arrest was loud, the protest louder still, and the cause could not be graver. It’s far from the company’s first or last activism endeavour – yet they’ve never imposed that on their customers. ‘The guy is accomplished and rich and could easily be enjoying himself somewhere warm and beautiful. Instead, he decided to speak out against genocide. And the customer? They’re not being shamed into the movement. They’re just having a bit of ice cream and feeling quietly connected to something bigger,’ says Marianna.
The contemporary customer uses shopping – fashion included – like pills one prescribes for oneself; they don’t call it retail therapy for nothing. Depending on the mood, we might need a comfort pill to lift us after – or during – an eventful day, or a reward or reassurance of our acquisition prowess (or our credit card’s, in many cases).
And since neither images of slaughtered animals nor trees falling in the Amazon are the kind of mental drink one takes with such a pill – and there are only so many pictures of planting staples one can look at before nodding off – how can a vegan and environmentally conscious fashion brand feed into a customer’s dopamine hit?
Geeks, Not Artists. Rethinking the Fashion Pitch
For starters, the most sought-after products have always possessed some element of ‘genius’. Over the last 20 years, fashion has capitalised on adding an “art” factor to its products – through collaborations with artists, or simply positioning fashion items as works of art. Historically, most artists were seen as supernatural – their talent a gift from God. (‘Think about all the perks that come with being chosen!’) ‘Nowadays, we know so much more about creativity. It is, at its core, science – a constant struggle to picture the world more accurately.’
Marianna explains this with a full stroll on the art history; after mastering mimesis – the art of mimicry of reality in forms, perspective, light and shade – came Impressionists, who, while coming across as ridiculous, where striving to convey the optic rules of light and its workings with the atmosphere. Then came the Cubists, who added the time dimension to the paintings, followed by Abstractionists, who aimed to understand what the reality of art actually is. ‘Art and science share the same cognitive paradigm. At the very core, we are all trying to find the ultimate truth in a way we consider most authentic.’
Authenticity is perhaps the most overused word of the past few years, particularly in marketing. As storytelling becomes more diverse and more scrutinised, professionals have begun appearing in the public sphere whose authority and charisma are grounded in years of genuine dedication to a cause or field.
And with the way technology is developing today, science is where we can expect the most excitement in the coming years. ‘Science is the new art. Until recently, being an artist – a photographer, graphic designer, etc. – was considered very cool; now it’s the scientists’ time,’ Marianna argues. Well-spoken scientists are becoming the most coveted – by both the public and by brands. They are undoubtedly clever – after all, mastering a scientific discipline requires more than just a bit of brainpower. They speak with confidence and authority, and carry an enigmatic je ne sais quoi – perhaps because they don’t obsess over their hair or contouring, or whether they’re being photographed from their ‘good’ side.
‘Science is the new art.’
‘Imagine someone like that wearing your T-shirt. One would start thinking – if such an expert chooses to wear that particular T-shirt, they must know what they’re doing, right?’ And no, they don’t need to be experts on T-shirts. Their professional accomplishments are far more reliable than the high praise or catchy tags of celebrities – many of whom are revealed to be mere products of branding, not talent.
‘This is science branding at its best,’ says Marianna. Using something genuinely trustworthy to invoke positive emotion while sharing a noble value – that’s the mix that, unfortunately, most ethical and environmentally engaged fashion brands get wrong as they either preach to the choir or induce shame and fear, instead of offering hope and agency. ‘That dopamine boost we get when we click “buy” – it’s what used to be the boost from passing a survival test. A mental pat on the back for a job well done.’ We think we live in a different world from our ancestors, but certain things remain the same – like how we wish to see ourselves, and how we wish others to see us.
Science is also riding in, dressed in white, in the field of consumer studies – offering technology and data that go beyond speculation and educated guesses. ‘Recent studies employ consumer brain–computer interface1 to access knowledge without disruption by consciousness. Psychological research analyses the deep mechanisms by which consumption shapes our understanding and perception of reality, and how psychology and clothing are connected. “Enclothed perception” is real, as studies show. The way we dress – and believe we present ourselves – has a tangible impact on our performance as individuals.’
Data shows where the money goes – and it’s all about crafting the attributes of a desirable lifestyle. ‘We all live in a world of symbols,’ says Marianna. What consumers truly buy isn’t just a suit or a pair of shoes – it’s an image of themselves. This applies to fashion as much as to other lifestyle markers, including food (‘Why else buy a single fancy loaf of bread when you could get several less fancy ones for the same price?’) and electronics, even though we all just use them to scroll, text, and make reels.
The Virgin and the Myth of Customer Loyalty
‘Ethical and environmentally conscious fashion is the Virgin of all fashion sectors – noble, but one-dimensional,’ says Marianna. ‘If you think about it, you can’t become holy in the first place. How do you become something so ideal it’s not even real?’ asks Marianna. And since we’ve already established that holiness is no pill for a reward-seeking fashion consumer – nor is martyrdom of the consumer, however noble the cause – a brand that comes as close to holiness as it gets must offer additional features to feed into one’s aspirational agenda. The stick and carrot is a game; a stick alone is something most will simply choose to walk past – except in those rare moments when they are seeking redemption, which, unfortunately, happens far less often than many brands would like to believe.
‘Ethical and environmentally conscious fashion is the Virgin of all fashion sectors – noble, but one-dimensional.’
‘Brands tend to forget they are just one among many. To build sales and communications strategy solely on stewardship – whether animal or environmental – is simply not enough.’ Unless ethical and environmentally conscious fashion brands can weave excitement and aspiration into their products, they’ll continue to struggle.
The question is – if we’re all just seeking approval in the world of symbols, is there really such a thing as customer loyalty? Marianna doesn’t mince words. ‘Not at all. But there is cooperation – a kind of deal with a brand, to buy an item and build one’s image by drawing on what the brand has already achieved.’ This is how brand–consumer relationships are formed, and the more successful – or sharp – a brand is, the better the light it shines on an individual customer. ‘When someone says “conscious consumerism”, I’d rather define it as consuming with full awareness and agency over the image one is building – as an ethical or environmentally concerned individual.’
‘(…)To build sales and communications strategy solely on stewardship – whether animal or environmental – is simply not enough.’
This is where the work is cut out for ethical and environmentally conscious fashion brands. ‘Look how the mainstream fashion system is constructed – there are big, expensive brands that create dreams and excitement that few can afford but most aspire to, and there are accessible brands that most people can actually afford. Both benefit from the glamour created by the former,’ says Marianna.
With only a budding vegan and environmentally conscious luxury fashion sector – such as Giulia & Romeo or Sarah Regensburger, and Stella McCartney or Nanushka respectively – and the first vegan haute couture dress created only in 2022 by Iris van Herpen in collaboration with Magnum (yes, the ice cream – again), small and often passion-driven brands are left to fend for themselves – to be both the drivers and the passengers of this still-developing sector. ‘They’ll have to create an alternative system on their own. And we’ve all either fallen into another trap of “easy come, easy go” by making products too accessible, or preached too much about technicalities that no one really cares about – apart from the founders and developers,’ says Marianna. This is where innovation and the consumer lose each other.
‘As customers, we’d be entirely happy with any novel product, even if made with the most primitive methods. We don’t need innovation as much as we need novelty – to keep us excited about acquiring new things.’ The numbers reflect this. In the first world, a purchased item is worn once or twice before being discarded. In poorer countries, the figure might rise to seven or eight times2. ‘How we value things comes down to how many resources – time, money, effort – we had to invest to obtain them.’
That said, the planet does desperately need innovation – especially in recycling and repurposing materials that don’t take centuries to break down or contaminate the environment. But if ethical and environmentally conscious brands want to grow sales and reach, they must make their products more exciting and more worthy of pursuit.
‘How we value things comes down to how many resources – time, money, effort – we had to invest to obtain them.’
‘Our nature is contradictory. We seek comfort – until we realise that everything worth having, and enjoying, are things we had to put in actual effort to obtain. This is how we prove to ourselves that we can go and achieve more,’ says Marianna. Therefore, while emotional comfort is important, for a fashion brand wanting to position itself as desirable, it must also include some degree of access challenge. ‘If something is too easy to access, it stops being a credit to our resourcefulness.’
Conspicuous consumption was never really about the products themselves – it was, at its core, about showcasing one’s competitive advantage over others in a relatively homogenous, shared socioeconomic setting. ‘Consumption is conditioned by competition. It’s a relic of patriarchal capitalism—where having more proved one’s superiority. Like in nature, the strongest keep the prey.’
‘If something is too easy to access, it stops being a credit to our resourcefulness.’
This is a Women’s World
The good news is that, as a species, we are slowly evolving from a homogenous mass – where adaptation was key to survival – into a collection of individuals who, when given the right endorsement, strive towards collaboration rather than competition. The shift towards a win–win spirit is especially evident where women take the lead.
Feminism has gained traction over the past decade, but what sets it apart from earlier waves is that women are now focused on building and redefining their own traits, rather than acquiring masculine traits that were historically distributed to maintain control over resources. ‘Archaeological studies show women were active hunters, biologically suited to the task. Another, more contemporary research has shown that when women were told they are, contrary to popular belief, more reasonable and logical in calculations and resource management, they outperformed men on the same mathematical tasks3.’
This shows how much programming has been applied over the centuries. ‘In fact, women are now reclaiming those traits that were taken from them, such as leadership and protectiveness. You could say patriarchy was a top-down approach to management, but if you look closer, matriarchy is not the exact opposite; it’s about equal opportunities, not domination,’ says Marianna. This is a global shift, with more and more women taking charge in various fields – including those historically assigned to men, such as science and technology. Not bad for 170 years of feminism versus 5,000 years of patriarchy, right? Soft power is winning over hard power.’
‘(…)if you look closer, matriarchy is not the exact opposite; it’s about equal opportunities, not domination,’
About Marianna Kupść
Marianna Kupść is the founder of Kern Institute, a consultancy focused on decision-making psychology, and a Brand Strategy Director and Behavioural Economist with 15 years’ experience helping global brands align strategy with real consumer behaviour. She currently leads strategy at Channel Factory, supporting markets across EMEA, the Americas, Asia, and Africa, and advising clients such as Adidas, Reserved, and 4F. Academically, she holds two Master’s degrees — in Art History and Economics (the latter completing in June 2025) — combining cultural fluency with analytical rigour. Her strengths lie in strategic thinking and lifelong learning, as identified by the CliftonStrengths framework.
In addition to consulting, Marianna writes for industry publications and frequently appears as a speaker at conferences and panel discussions. Whether advising brands such as Adidas, Reserved, or 4F, or engaging wider audiences, she approaches every challenge with curiosity, empathy, and a firm belief that strategy must serve human needs as much as business objectives. Marianna runs the Instagram account @Decyzje Zakupowe, followed by over 10,000 professionals interested in consumer insight.
Action Points for Vegan and Environmentally Conscious Fashion Brands
Together with Marianna Kupść of the Kern Institute, we’ve created this practical summary of action points to help vegan and environmentally conscious fashion brands sharpen their consumer strategy. If you’re working in this space, you’re likely aware that today’s customers are more than just buyers – they’re complex, often contradictory individuals navigating ethical concerns, emotional triggers, and aesthetic expectations all at once.
These action points aim to help you meet them where they are: by understanding not just what they buy, but why. It’s a crucial step towards more impactful storytelling, stronger brand-consumer relationships, and a more effective path to long-term growth.
Further reading:
- SuJin Bak, Yunjoo Jeong, Minsun Yeu, Jichai Jeong, Brain–computer interface to predict impulse buying behavior using functional near-infrared spectroscopy at Nature ↩︎
- Fast fashion statistics by Uniform Market ↩︎
- Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Poor Economics:A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, PublicAffairs, 2011 ↩︎