Homo Consumens, Amidst Advertising and ‘Sports’ Fast Fashion. The Role of Ethics in Marking Out the Vulnerability of Consumers

Abstract

AbstractNowadays, with the Internet and the algorithmic machines, not only has fashion advertising become ubiquitous and engaging, advertising media has also become a paragon for other communicative languages. The relationship between fashion and advertising has certainly implemented the sales and visibility of lots of brands but it has also boosted consumerism as a guide for our buying decisions. Such consumerism-centred phenomenon has paved the way to the development and success of fast fashion, making people free to experiment with their own identity and suggesting new choice criteria. Such a dimension will be brought into focus by exploring the advertising of (fast) fashion for the promotion of psychophysical wellbeing. Post pandemic crisis and the strengthening of people’s central role and responsibility in personal and collective health, a lot more attention has been paid to wellbeing and therefore to body care. Some areas of fashion have tapped into the new vulnerabilities of today’s consumers and have boosted not just the consumption of goods and activities that promote psychophysical wellbeing, but also a lifestyle that is about not “consuming” the body and opting instead for long-term wellbeing, thus prompting people to reflect on the role of fashion experiences and on their own choices in a conscious, self-directed way.