Your browser does not support the PubReader view.
Go to this page to see a list of supporting browsers.
한국복식학회(IJCF) 학술지영문홈페이지
[ Article ]
International Journal of Costume and Fashion - Vol. 25, No. 2, pp.1-16
ISSN: 2233-9051 (Print) 2288-7490 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Dec 2025
Received 02 May 2025 Revised 27 Aug 2025 Accepted 13 Sep 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7233/ijcf.2025.25.2.001

Creativity as a Successful Market Strategy for Sustainable Fashion Products

Yoo Jeong Park ; Yoon Kyung Lee†
Instructor, Dept. of Fashion Design and Marketing, Seoul Women's University, Seoul, South Korea
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Clothing and Textiles, Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea

Correspondence to: † pollinalee@pusan.ac.kr

Citation Park, Y. J. & Lee, Y. K. (2025). Creativity as a successful market strategy for sustainable fashion products. International Journal of Costume and Fashion, 25(2), 1-16.

Abstract

This study investigates how sustainability-related constraints can stimulate creativity in fashion design. Treating limited resources as an exogenous motivator, we analyzed fashion products from three successful sustainable brands—FREITAG, PEATSMAMA, and RE;CODE—that utilize recycled materials. Creativity was assessed by 15 fashion experts in Korea using two established frameworks: Bessemer’s Creative Product Analysis Matrix (CPAM), focusing on novelty, resolution, and elaboration, and Amabile’s Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT). The results show that sustainable fashion products scored significantly higher in creativity (M = 4.20) than conventional products (M = 2.55). This suggests that environmental constraints can positively influence creative performance. These findings provide strategic insights for fashion brands aiming to develop innovative and sustainable products and offer implications for design education by demonstrating how material limitations can foster greater ideation and originality in the design process.

Keywords:

Sustainability, Creativity, Limited resources, Fashion products, Recycled materials.

References

  • Abel, J. I., Buff, C. L., & O’Neill, J. C. (2013). Actual self-concept versus ideal self-concept: An examination of image congruence and consumers in the health club industry. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 3(1), 78–96. [https://doi.org/10.1108/20426781311316915]
  • Allwood, J. M., Laursen, S. E., Russell, S. N., de Rodríguez, C. M., & Bocken, N. M. P. (2008). An approach to scenario analysis of the sustainability of an industrial sector applied to clothing and textiles in the UK. Journal of Cleaner Production, 16(12), 1234–1246. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2007.06.014]
  • Amabile, T. M. (1982). Social psychology of creativity: A consensual assessment technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43(5), 997–1013. [https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.43.5.997]
  • Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity and innovation in organizations (Vol. 5). Harvard Business School.
  • Baer, J. & McKool, S. S. (2009). Assessing creativity using the consensual assessment technique. In Handbook of research on assessment technologies, methods, and applications in higher education (pp. 65-77). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. [https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-667-9.ch004]
  • Banbury, C., Stinerock, R., & Subrahmanyan, S. (2011). Sustainable consumption: Introspecting across multiple lived cultures. Journal of Business Research, 65(4), 497–503. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.02.028]
  • Besemer, S. P. & Treffinger, D. J. (1981). Analysis of creative products: Review and synthesis. The Journal of Creative Behavior. 15(3), 158-178. [https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.1981.tb00287.x]
  • Chang, M.-H. & Chou, H.-W. (2018). Enhancing creativity assessment reliability: A comparison of CAT and structured evaluation methods. Creativity Research Journal, 30(2), 145–155. [https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2018.1446741]
  • Chen, H.-L. & Burns, L. D. (2006). Environmental analysis of textile products. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 24(3), 248–261. [https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302x06293065]
  • de la Motte, H. & Östlund, Å. (2022). Sustainable fashion and textile recycling. Sustainability, 14(22), Article 14903. [https://doi.org/10.3390/su142214903]
  • Fletcher, K. & Grose, L. (2012). Fashion and sustainability: Design for change. Laurence King Publishers.
  • Graeff, T. R. (1997). Comprehending product attributes and benefits: The role of product knowledge and means-end chain inferences. Psychology & Marketing, 14(2), 163-183. [https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6793(199703)14:2]
  • Gwilt, A. (2014). A practical guide to sustainable fashion. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Hargrove, R. A. (2012). Fostering creativity in design education: A conceptual model of metacognitive scaffolding. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 23(4), 717–728. [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-012-9211-7]
  • Jeon, K. W. (2010). Measurement of creativity. Changjisa.
  • Kim, I., Jung, H. J., & Lee, Y. (2021). Consumers’ value and risk perceptions of circular fashion: Comparison between secondhand, upcycled, and recycled clothing. Sustainability, 13(3), 1208. [https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031208]
  • Koberg, D. & Bagnall, J. (1974). The universal traveler: A soft-systems guide to creativity, problem-solving, and the process of reaching goals. W. Kaufmann.
  • Krippendorff, K. (2004). Reliability in content analysis: Some common misconceptions and recommendations. Human Communication Research, 30(3), 411-433. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2004.tb00738]
  • Kudrowitz, B. M. & Dippo, C. (2013). Comparing structured and unstructured creativity evaluation methods. International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation, 1(3), 140–155. [https://doi.org/10.1080/21650349.2013.815167]
  • Lee, Y. K. (2022). Exploring the value of sustainable fashion products among young Korean consumers. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 16(3), 1–12. [https://doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2022.2136251]
  • Lee, Y. K. & DeLong, M. (2016). Improving creative design skills. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 40(2), 397–408. [https://doi.org/10.5850/JKSCT.2016.40.2.397]
  • Lee, Y. K. & DeLong, M. (2018). Rebirth product development for sustainable apparel design practice in a design studio class. Fashion Practice, 10(1), 34–52. [https://doi.org/10.1080/17569370.2017.1413797]
  • Lubart, T. I. (1994). Creativity. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Thinking and problem solving (pp. 290–332). Academic Press. [https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-057299-4.50016-5]
  • Margolin, V. & Buchanan, R. (Eds.). (1996). The idea of design. MIT Press.
  • Navinchandra, D. (1991). Exploration and innovation in design: Towards a computational model. Springer-Verlag. [https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3114-1]
  • Niinimäki, K. & Hassi, L. (2011). Emerging design strategies in sustainable production and consumption of textiles and clothing. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19(16), 1876–1883. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.04.020]
  • O’Quin, K. & Besemer, S. P. (1989). The development, reliability, and validity of the revised creative product semantic scale. Creativity Research Journal, 2(4), 267-278. [https://doi.org/10.1080/10400418909534323]
  • O’Quin, K. & Besemer, S. P. (2006). Using the creative product semantic scale as a metric for results-oriented business. Creativity and Innovation Management, 15(1), 34–44. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8691.2006.00367.x]
  • Paço, A., Leal Filho, W., Ávila, L. V., & Dennis, K. (2021). Fostering sustainable consumer behavior regarding clothing: Assessing trends on purchases, recycling and disposal. Textile Research Journal, 91(3–4), 373–384. [https://doi.org/10.1177/0040517520944524]
  • Plucker, J. A., Beghetto, R. A., & Dow, G. T. (2004). Why isn't creativity more important to educational psychologists? Potentials, pitfalls, and future directions in creativity research. Educational Psychologist, 39(2), 83–96. [https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3902_1]
  • Rhodes, J. M. (1961). An analysis of creativity. Phi Delta Kappan, 42(7), 305–308. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20342603
  • Runco, M. A. (2007). Creativity: Theories and themes: Research, development, and practice. Elsevier Academic Press.
  • Ruppert-Stroescu, M. & Hawley, J. (2014). A typology for creativity in fashion design and development. Fashion Practice, 6(1), 9–35. [https://doi.org/10.2752/175693814X13916967094759]
  • Ruppert-Stroescu, M., LeHew, M. L. A., Connell, K. Y. H., & Armstrong, C. M. (2015). Creativity and sustainable fashion apparel consumption: The fashion detox. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 33(3), 167-182. [https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302X15579990]
  • Schor, J. B. (2005). Prices and quantities: Unsustainable consumption and the global economy. Ecological Economics, 55(3), 309–320. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.07.030]
  • Stacey, M. & Eckert, C. (2010). Reshaping the box: Creative designing as constraint management. International Journal of Product Development, 11(3–4), 241–255. [https://doi.org/10.1504/IJPD.2010.033960]
  • Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The nature of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 18(1), 87–98. [https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1801_10]
  • Stokes, P. D. (2001). Variability, constraints, and creativity: Shedding light on claude monet. American Psychologist, 56(4), 355–359. [https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.4.355]
  • Stokes, P. D. (2006). Creativity from constraints: The psychology of breakthrough. Springer.
  • Ward, T. B. (2007). Creative cognition as a window on creativity. Methods, 42(1), 28–37. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymeth.2006.12.002]
  • Weisberg, R. W. (2006). Creativity: Understanding innovation in problem solving, science, invention, and the arts. Wiley.
  • Winter, D. D. N. (2004). Psychology and consumer culture: The struggle for a good life in a materialistic world. In T. Kasser & A. D. Kanner (Eds.), Shopping for sustainability: Psychological solutions to overconsumption (pp. 69–87). American Psychological Association. [https://doi.org/10.1037/10658-005]