Understanding and implementing sustainability by Polish designers – owners of small, independent fashion brands

Authors

  • Monika Murzyn-Kupisz Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Managemen https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8482-970X
  • Mónika Szilágyi‑Csüllög ELTE Eötvös Loránd University
  • Orhidea Edith Kiss ELTE Eötvös Loránd University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24917/20833296.192.2

Keywords:

entrepreneurship, fashionpreneurs, Poland, SMEs, sustainable fashion

Abstract

Implementing sustainable development goals defined by UNESCO encompasses diverse activities and spheres of contemporary life, including the issues of responsible production and consumption (goal 12). The fashion sector is often mentioned in this context and considered both ethically and environmen[1]tally problematic, especially taking into account clothing overproduction coupled with decreasing of its quality and offshoring to non -European countries. Fashion designers – owners of independent fashion brands based in specific local contexts – seem to be especially well prepared to implement in practice the idea of sustainable fashion often also referred to as responsible, ethical or slow fashion. The paper presents results of a qualitative exploratory research among Polish small, independent fashion firms. Analysing in -depth interviews with creative entrepreneurs based in different parts of Poland (Kraków, Łódź, Bytom, Warsaw, other cities and towns), the investigation considers issues such as: how do they understand the concept of sustainable fashion, how do they implement it in their entrepreneurial activities, what challenges and opportunities do they see in this respect, especially taking into account that their entrepreneurial activities situate them between the more symbolic -economy oriented creative sector and the more practically -oriented traditional garment and apparel sector?

Author Biographies

Monika Murzyn-Kupisz, Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Managemen

Monika Murzyn‑Kupisz (corresponding author), holds a PhD and a post -doctoral habilitation
in economic sciences from Krakow University of Economics and an MA in European Leisure Studies (a joint diploma of Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Tilburg University, Universidad de Deusto and
Loughborough University). She is a professor in the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management,
Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. She specialises in multidisciplinary research within the
broad fields of socio -economic geography, urban studies and cultural economics, with a special focus
on cultural and creative activities including activities of artists, creative entrepreneurship, heritage
and museums in particular their analysis in the context of Central and Eastern Europe

 

Mónika Szilágyi‑Csüllög, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University

Mónika Szilágyi‑Csüllög, studied business and management in France (MBA/DESS – CAAE). She
also worked as a brand manager in international media companies (ELLE, Marie Claire, Interieur,
Nők Lapja Évszakok) linked with the fashion industry. In 2015 she developed the strategy of the
Fashion and Luxury Brand Management postgraduate course, which was the first to be accredited
in Hungary. In 2020, she launched the Sustainable Fashion Brand Management course, for which
she works as a course leader and lecturer at the Budapest Metropolitan University. She is also a PhD
candidate at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, where she is researching consumer acceptance
of sustainable fashion at the Doctoral School of Psychology, Department of Organisational and
Leadership Psychology, ELTE Faculty of Education and Psycholog

 

Orhidea Edith Kiss, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University

Orhidea Edith Kiss, obtained her PhD degree and her habilitation in psychology at the Faculty
of Education and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. She is an associate
professor in the Institute of Psychology of ELTE and the leader of the Department of Organisational
and Leadership Psychology. She also works as an organisational psychologist. The main focus of her
studies are consumer decision -making, psychological aspects of online shopping and the organisational factors behind economic decisions. She is also interested in the issues of organisational trust and changing management approaches in the present economic context.

 

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Published

2023-12-31

How to Cite

Murzyn-Kupisz, M., Szilágyi‑Csüllög, M., & Kiss, O. E. (2023). Understanding and implementing sustainability by Polish designers – owners of small, independent fashion brands. Entrepreneurship – Education, 19(2), 30–46. https://doi.org/10.24917/20833296.192.2

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 2 (2023): The issues of local entrepreneurship

Section

Articles

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