Value vs Values: Why Sustainable Fashion Needs to Sell More Than Ethics
- arthursbeth
- Nov 28, 2025
- 3 min read
Subplot of my ‘sustainable fashion needs to be more like fast fashion’ opinion, is that most people don’t shop their values. They shop their value.
Sustainable fashion is guilty of marketing to people like they’re microplastic vigilantes with money to burn - most are just choosing between outfits and rent. They’re human beings in a cost-of-living crisis, with five seconds between scrolling, working, worrying and ordering dumplings.
If sustainable fashion really wants to reach beyond the already converted, it has to stop leading with virtue and start leading with value. I’m not talking about price - I’m talking about perceived benefits that brands, their products, their services add to real people.
People don’t shop to prove they’re good people. They shop to feel something.
Let’s start with the thing everyone knows but no one wants to fully admit.
Most people aren’t avoiding fast fashion because of exploitation, emissions or microplastics. They’re shopping fast fashion more than ever. They’re shopping it because:
It’s cheap enough
It’s fast enough
It looks like what everyone else is wearing
And it gives them that little hit of ‘new’ when the parcel drops
It’s not that values don’t matter. Year on year we see they matter more. But sustainability values aren't prioritised in the current climate - the fatigue is real. When you’re tired, overstimulated and watching your rent crawl upwards, ethics alone are very rarely the deciding factor.
Acknowledging real values is the bridge to the intent-knowledge-action gap we’re seeing.
People don’t buy brands because they’re ‘sustainable’.
They buy brands because they offer opportunities:
To look how they want to look
To feel how they want to feel
To keep up, stand out, blend in, shape-shift, belong
To experience
Sustainability is a filter for some. Value is the driver for most.
Fast fashion nailed value psychology
Fast fashion has spent the last 20+ years studying modern attention spans. It knows exactly how to:
Hit you with hyper-relevant content at 11:47pm when you’re half asleep
Use influencer ecosystems to turn an outfit into an identity
Serve choice overload so you feel like there’s always something 'more you' one scroll away
It’s a behavioural design machine.
Sustainable fashion, on the other hand, often leans on:
Guilt - sounding like ‘you really shouldn’t buy from [latest Zillennial household favourite]’
Morality - giving ‘this is the right choice’
Technical language - GOTS, rPET, scope 3, regenerative-something
None of these are necessarily wrong. They’re just not calibrated to how most people actually make decisions.
The brands that are winning in the sustainable space are the ones that understand this, and they’re quietly playing a very different game.
So what does value look like in sustainable fashion?
If you strip it down, value is simply:
'What do I get from this, in my real life, that feels worth my money, energy, attention and identity?'
You can translate that into a few practical lenses:
Values are the engine. Value is the invitation.
The invitation looks like: “This is for you. It makes your life better. It feels good now and holds up later.”
If you make that clear, then your values actually have a chance of being seen, and acted on.
Where Irigai comes in
This is the whole space I built Irigai for - the gap between good intentions and good communication.
Irigai helps sustainable fashion brands:
Translate ethical foundations into real-world value propositions
Build systems and stories that speak to desire as much as duty
Connect with people who don’t yet identify as 'sustainability people' - but might, if they’re invited in the right way
Values are why you started. Value is how you scale.
If you're a resale platform, circular brand, upcycler, slow fashion label or fashion tech founder and you know your impact is strong but your story isn’t landing yet - that’s the work I’m here to do with you.
Get in touch and we'll see how we can translate your values to align with those who will elevate you.
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