A Revolution Through Research: Building a Community of Scholars in Sustainable Fashion

Moving the Needle people

Project Overview:

The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries globally, annually emitting 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases, consuming 132 million tons of coal and 79 trillion liters of water, and producing 190,000 tons of oceanic primary microplastics. In addition, it creates over 92 million tons of waste per year, including unsold products which are often burned or discarded in landfills in developing countries.

This project is making Yale the home of The Sustainable Fashion Consumption Research Network(Link is external), a growing network of 120+ international academic researchers and practitioners working on issues of fashion consumption in the context of sustainability. This makes it possible to achieve two key goals for the “Moving the Needle” initiative(Link is external): connecting and supporting scholars researching this important area and connecting interested students with scholars actively conducting research in the field. 

Since receiving funding from YPS, the project team has begun rebuilding and redesigning the Sustainable Fashion Consumption Research Network website to increase its functionality for the existing network and for external stakeholders who want to learn more about this area of research.  In addition, the team is organizing outreach to the network to share insights and opportunities to present and collaborate, host remote monthly meetings for members, and plan the Second Symposium of the International Sustainable Fashion Consumption Research Network which will be held at Yale October 27-29, 2025.

Project Leads

  • Dr. Meital Peleg Mizrachi

    Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Economics at Yale University

  • Heather Fitzgerald

    Managing Director, Yale Center for Business & the Environment (CBEY) | Staff Manager, Business and the Environment Learning Community

  • Mary E. Davis

    Undergraduate capstone faculty member at the Jackson School of Global Affairs | Faculty Affiliate at the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale.