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The purpose of this study was to investigate how consumers’ meaningful experiences with an apparel brand’s quality products can result in a strong consumer–brand relationship, fostering product longevity and sustainable consumption behaviours. Consumer–brand relationship theory was used as a theoretical lens to examine consumer–brand relationships developed via the use of a brand’s quality products. In this analysis, an outdoor apparel brand, Patagonia, was selected as a representative brand because of its effort to deliver quality products and initiatives to foster meaningful consumer–brand relationships and sustainable consumption. Netnography, an interpretive analysis of online textual discourse, was used to collect the consumers’ essays from Patagonia’s website. These essays were about the consumers’ experiences with Patagonia products. The essays were analysed using a theory-driven content analysis based on the consumer–brand relationship theory. Results revealed six types of consumer–brand relationships with three dominant relationships, including ‘partner quality’, ‘love and passion’ and ‘interdependence’. It was also found that a strong relationship with the brand positively affects consumers’ emotional attachment with the brand’s products, reducing the disposal of garments and resulting in product longevity. Theoretically, this study furthers our understanding of the relationship that consumers develop with a sustainable apparel brand by providing empirical evidence about the formation of product attachment in the context of the consumer–brand relationship. The findings also offer managerial suggestions to apparel brands by providing insights into how to develop a meaningful, persistent consumer–brand relationship in a sustainability context.

Unsustainable clothing consumption patterns, especially prevalent in the Global North, have come to the spotlight of media, policy-makers and the academic community in recent years. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the routine lives of citizens globally, which has impacted some consumers’ attitudes towards fashion and consumption practices. This study employs terror management theory and voluntary simplicity to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers’ attitudes towards clothing consumption across six different countries, from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. A structured qualitative study with closed, open-ended and multiple-choice questions was completed by a sample of consumers (N = 3748) across these countries. Among all participants of this study one-third reported that the pandemic had affected their attitude towards clothing and this study was mainly conducted to investigate the nature of those attitude changes. Qualitative analysis identified patterns of change in consumers’ attitude towards clothing (e.g., minimalism, grateful mindset, conscious mindset, decreased fashion desire, longevity and style confidence), which reveal potential for a lasting shift towards more sustainable consumption patterns. The results of this study highlight valuable managerial implications: the industry needs to respond to this shift in consumers’ attitude and move towards more sustainable business models and processes. Sufficiency-oriented business offerings, in particular, are becoming more accepted in the fashion industry. Moreover, these results are relevant for predicting future consumption patterns, especially considering that pandemics may become a more regular part of life.

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