Walking the talk? An ethical examination of the institutional logics of slow fashion firms

Purpose The purpose of this study is to adopt an ethical perspective to examine the institutional logics of slow fashion firms and how they inform firm behaviour. We aim to understand whether firms that self-identify as slow fashion are “walking the talk” and to discuss the potential ethical implications for the sustainable fashion movement of any misalignment between a slow fashion firm's “talk” and its “walk”. Design/methodology/approach We examined the Instagram accounts and websites of five firms that self-identified as slow fashion to capture their messaging and their practices. We used pattern inducing to analyse, categorise and interpret the qualitative data. Findings In applying a deontological ethical perspective to our findings we suggest that, in some cases, unethical implications can arise when a slow fashion firm's “talk” is misaligned with its “walk”. This misalignment may have negative consequences for the legitimacy of the sustainable fashion movement. Originality/value In integrating institutional theory with Kantian deontology, our exploratory study offers a novel perspective on slow fashion within the field of fashion marketing and sustainability studies.