The DOI matches its Crossref record; 18 of the 18 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Fashion, its Sacrifice Zone, and Sustainability
Abstract
This article proposes a revision to the customary framework of sustainability that is being used by dress scholars, environmental activists and policy makers, so that it includes the putative “non-fashion” clothing traditions of the world. Why, until now, the traditions of the Other have been systematically undervalued and obscured is explained from a decolonial perspective. They constitute a “sacrifice zone” of fashion, the emergence of which is connected to the ethnocentrism embedded in the fashion system and fashion scholarship. This failing is a legacy of the colonial era that has been insufficiently addressed but rather obscured by layers of theory and practice. Only by recognizing and correcting systemic ethnic bias, and thereby eliminating the sacrifice zone of fashion, can the fashion industry achieve sustainability. The article concludes with a call for a radical re-writing of fashion history.
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In the citing paper
“This classification is a direct weaponization against Indigenous epistemologies, ontologies, bodies, and lands, in which Niessen (2020) has theorized as fashion sacrifice zones:”
From Indigenous Fashion: A Genealogy of Material Brilliance (2025) · cites this paper as Niessen, 2020
In the citing paper
“Niessen (2020) reminds us how German sociologist and social philosopher, Georg Simmel,”
From Indigenous Fashion: A Genealogy of Material Brilliance (2025) · cites this paper as Niessen, 2020
In the citing paper
“I find comfort in Niessen's (2020) statement that non-fashion is a symptom of colonial thought.”
From Indigenous Fashion: A Genealogy of Material Brilliance (2025) · cites this paper as Niessen, 2020
In the citing paper
“dress traditions and their makers associated with fashion's Other half, that are destroyed for and by the expansion of industrial fashion”
From Indigenous Fashion: A Genealogy of Material Brilliance (2025) · cites this paper as Niessen, 2020
Citations
Cites
Europe and the People without History
Gran, P., & Wolf, E. R. (1984) · The History Teacher · doi:10.2307/493157 · Cited by 3,777
Europe and the People Without History
Weil, J. (1985) · Anthropology of Work Review · doi:10.1525/awr.1985.6.3.38.1 · Cited by 555
Re-orienting fashion : the globalization of Asian dress
Niessen, S. A., Leshkowich, A. M., & Jones, C. (2003) · Cited by 162
Self-citation(1995) · Berg eBooks · doi:10.2752/9781847881342 · Cited by 137
Lévi‐Strauss, C. (1952) · UNESCO eBooks · Cited by 123
Japanese Fashion: A Cultural History
Slade, T. (2009) · Cited by 86
Welters, L., & Lillethun, A. (2017) · Bloomsbury Publishing Plc eBooks · doi:10.5040/9781474253666 · Cited by 68
The Fashion history reader: global perspectives
(2010) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.48-2226 · Cited by 51
Fashion History: A Global View
Welters, L., & Lillethun, A. (2018) · Cited by 50
Welters, L., & Lillethun, A. (2011) · Cited by 41
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 7
- Baizerman Suzanne, 1996, The Visible Self: Global Perspectives on Dress, 97
- Davis Wade., 2009, The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World
- Niessen Sandra A., 2003, Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress, 243
- Pye Elwood A., 1988, Artisans in Economic Development. IDRC Series 262.
- Simmel Georg., 1905, Philosophie Der Mode
- Skov Lise., 2003, Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress, 215
- Teunissen José., 2005, Global Fashion Local Tradition: Over de Globalisering Van de Mode, 8
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Castoff from the West, pearls in Kantamanto? A critique of second‐hand clothes trade
Manieson, L. A., & Ferrero‐Regis, T. (2022) · Journal of Industrial Ecology · doi:10.1111/jiec.13238 · Cited by 70
Wang, M., Murphy, R., & Christie, I. (2025) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su17020631 · Cited by 32
Britain’s ‘Dark Factories’: Specters of Racial Capitalism Today
Sullivan, A. (2022) · Fashion Theory · doi:10.1080/1362704x.2022.2046861 · Cited by 29
Defining defashion: A manifesto for degrowth
Niessen, S. (2022) · International Journal of Fashion Studies · doi:10.1386/infs_00082_7 · Cited by 20
Self-citationNew Fashion Identity and the State in China: A Decolonial Interpretation
Fu, C. (2023) · Fashion Theory · doi:10.1080/1362704x.2023.2166205 · Cited by 20
Metadata
- Authors
- Niessen, S.
- Corresponding author
- Niessen, Sandra
- ORCID
- Niessen, Sandra
- Venue
- Fashion Theory
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-08-07
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 859-877
- ISSN
- 1362-704X (ISSN-L)
- 1751-7419
- OpenAlex
- W3048109782
- Semantic Scholar
- 480b56e7a76ceda359bfa3c9338b019663818dbf
- Cited by
- 62
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 66.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Fashion Theory (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Fashion and Cultural Textiles
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Cultural and Historical Studies
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Decolonial Thought and Epistemologies
- Keywords
- sustainable fashion, sacrifice zones, decoloniality, ethnocentrism, colonial legacy, fashion history
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