
The fashion industry is grappling with a fundamental question: how can sustainability coexist with the inherent joy of shopping? How do we make the concept of buying less not only accessible but also appealing? At the core of shopping lies a dopamine hit—an intrinsic human craving for novelty. Each purchase delivers a new high, so the challenge becomes finding an efficient way of getting that same dopamine hit without overconsumption.
We're up against a massive wave of fast fashion. It's not enough to tell consumers that their buying habits are unsustainable, the answer is to help them discover their own sustainable practices—personal, contextual approaches that resonate with their individual lives. The concept of sustainability is complex, it isn’t a finish line; it’s a journey – we will always be sustainable in progress. The idea is not to overwhelm the consumer with the whole, but rather help them look at their part, a small drop in the ocean. It is when they see this connection, change happens.
The real question is, how do we help consumers protect both the planet and their wallets? There’s often a disconnect between what we know and what we do. People understand the impact (the inner) of that $10 dress—they’ve heard the stories, and seen the headlines. But that awareness doesn’t always translate into action (the outer). Why? One reason is maybe it’s the sheer abundance of choices—we see something, we want it. If we don’t see it, maybe we think twice.
But the answer isn’t that simple. We’ve started the conversation about sustainability; now, we need to help people put it into practice. At the heart of the Creatnet Way is an understanding of the interconnections—how the decisions we make as individuals (the part) resonate and impact the broader world around us (the whole). It’s about making that connection between the allure of a cheap dress and the real cost to the planet and then empowering people to make a different choice.