Author: Mariko Takedomi Karlsson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Human Ecology, Lund University

Despite growing awareness of the environmental and social consequences of fast fashion, the overproduction and overconsumption of clothes continues. To attract a more mindful public, fashion brands have employed “woke” marketing tactics and published adverts that illustrate a political and social awareness around race, LGBTQ+, feminism and the environment. Famously, sportswear brand Nike used images of NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s anti-racism protest in a marketing campaign. You may also recall Dior’s €750 (£640) T-shirt printed with the slogan “we should all be feminists”, a phrase taken from author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s feminist TEDx talk which was later used in Beyoncé’s…