The Fashion Land Ethic: Localism, Clothing Activity, and Macclesfield

Abstract

Almost 60 years after Aldo Leopold first articulated “the land ethic” this paper extends, to the fashion context, Leopold’s view that an ecological conscience is based in a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the places in which humans live. The paper’s starting point is that the site of an activity is a criterion for sustainability change. It explores place, or in Leopold’s words, “an intense consciousness of land” in garments and clothing activity in the town of Macclesfield in the north of England. Through a focus on the fashion resources, actions, and relationships in one location, it aims to build understanding of the emancipatory aims of localism in a fashion context and explore how connections between place, nature, society, and clothing can act as an explicitly normative route to create sustainability futures.