The holiday season is an exciting and joyful time of the year, but it can also be one of the most wasteful times. The retail industry is ready to profit from gifts and holiday apparel, and the amount of waste accumulated once the season ends is exponential. Retailers pressure consumers to purchase as much as possible so these companies can make space for the new year's inventory (Allon, 2022). As a result, the multitude of industries that capitalize off of consumers during the holidays cause substantial harm to the environment. One industry that holds a considerable amount of power over consumers' shopping habits is the film industry. People everywhere are watching their favorite holiday movies this season, and the practices behind these beloved films notoriously promote unsustainable shopping habits and excessive waste. However, once the film industry begins to recognize its connection to the fashion industry and its opportunity to encourage sustainability, the trajectory of holiday shopping madness will shift, leading consumers to incorporate sustainability into their holiday traditions.
Recognizing the current habits of the film industry will help develop new ways of assessing whether a practice is harmful in the long run. It has been a challenge for many production films to incorporate non-consumptive practices, as the larger the budget films have for factors like wardrobe, the larger their carbon footprint gets (Calawerts, 2022). Major Hollywood productions, such as The Devil Wears Prada, have spent up to 1 million dollars on wardrobe and costume designers (Elle, n.d.). This contributes to the pollution the fashion industry has generated, as 10 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and 20 percent of the globe's wastewater were caused by the fashion industry (Cho, 2021). In addition, consumers are increasingly becoming influenced by the growing film and media presence, purchasing 60% more of what they used to purchase in the year 2000 (Klimaki, 2020). The film industry contributes to these downfalls due to large budgets and the resulting impact on consumers.
Films can take inspiration from costume designers who have positively changed the industry and turned towards discovering sustainable ways of curating unique wardrobes. Sinéad Kidao, who worked as the assistant costume designer on the set of Little Women, worked with costume designer Jacqueline Durran to establish innovative methods to introduce sustainability to the film industry and the wardrobes behind admired characters. These designers hand-dyed costumes, used locally grown natural materials, swapped clothing, and thrifted whenever possible to develop the intricate and unique clothing in the film Little Women (Parsons, 2020). This distinctive character contributed to its enduring popularity. Sinéad also works producing The Costume Directory, a resource for costume designers to discover collated sustainable brands and materials to use on film sets and learn how to improve their sustainability efforts. Holiday film designers can look at these previous successes in the industry to eliminate unnecessary waste accumulated from costumes and limit the season's environmental impact.
These designers can showcase their efforts to change the direction of film wardrobes and become a sustainable industry, leading consumers to shift their attitudes and look towards sustainability as well. Television programs and movies are increasingly watched during the holiday season when the weather shifts unpleasantly, becoming North America's most heavily consumed product (Shrum et al., 1998, p. 447). Specifically, product placement in movies results in positive emotional responses in consumers and subconsciously affects their post-decision-making processes, aka their purchasing behaviors (Jin & Villegas, 2007, p. 244). These holiday films hold immense power and can encourage consumers to begin holiday shopping sustainably, helping the holiday season turn towards eliminating unnecessary waste.
Drawing on the influential reach of holiday films, the industry must lead by example, promoting the sustainable practices used on-screen to resonate with viewers. In a highly wasteful time of the year, the fashion and film industry can work as one to make the holiday season all the more joyful, leaving behind lessons for many consumers to adopt into their holiday shopping habits.
References
Allon, G. (2022, December 23). The fashion industry’s dirtiest secret. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-fashion-christmas-shopping-clothes-returns-shein-zara-waste-mountain-2022-12#:~:text=Many%20fast%2Dfashion%20companies%20are,make%20space%20for%20new%20ones.
Calawerts, G. (2022, March 1). The Impact Of Emerging Sustainable Practices In The Film Industry. Arts Management & Technology Laboratory. https://amt-lab.org/blog/2021/12/what-does-sustainability-look-like-in-the-film-industry
Cho, R. (2021, June 10). Why Fashion Needs to Be More Sustainable. Columbia Climate School. https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/06/10/why-fashion-needs-to-be-more-sustainable/
Jin, C., & Villegas, J. (2007). The effect of the placement of the product in film: Consumers' emotional responses to humorous stimuli and prior brand evaluation. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for marketing, 15, 244-255.
Klimaki, S. (2022, December 15). As People Rush For Their Christmas Shopping, Young Say No To Fast Fashion. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sylviaklimaki/2020/12/15/as-people-rush-for-their-christmas-shopping-young-say-no-to-fast-fashion/?sh=6cef07a82d8f
Parsons, S. (2020, February 7). Sourcing Sustainable Costume with the Costume Directory’s Sinéad Kidao . Eco-Age. https://eco-age.com/resources/sourcing-sustainable-costume-with-costume-directory-sinead-kidao/
Shrum, L. J., Wyer Jr, R. S., & O'Guinn, T. C. (1998). The effects of television consumption on social perceptions: The use of priming procedures to investigate psychological processes. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(4), 447-458.
50 juicy details you didn’t know about ‘The Devil Wears Prada.’ Elle . (n.d.). https://elle.in/article/50-facts-filming-devil-wears-prada/#:~:text=The%20wardrobe%20budget%20was%20%241,the%20whole%20thing%20to%20charity.
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