The Conscious Fashion Report 2020

Searches for “vegan leather” have increased by 69% year-on-year, averaging 33,100 online monthly searches, while searches for “faux leather” remain constant — this data suggests that customers tend to respond more positively to the keyword “vegan” rather than “faux.” Demand for “eco vegan leather” has also been increasing over the past year, showing that shoppers are becoming conscious of the fact that not all vegan options are environmentally friendly. Meanwhile, searches for leather have decreased by 3.5% year-on-year.

Since November, searches for “organic cotton” have risen by 23%, while “recycled plastic” has seen a 35% rise in interest since January. Demand for Adidas recycled plastic sneakers has been particularly high, resulting in a 305% increase in page views for the brand’s shoes. Fashion searches including the keyword “biodegradable” have also increased 10% since the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, searches for real fur have slowed down, decreasing 8% year-on-year. Despite what appears to be a decrease in interest for products made with real fur.

• Denmark is the country that has seen the biggest year-on-year growth in searches for sustainable fashion, with the highest percentage of searches coming from Copenhagen.
• When buying sustainably, Danish shoppers invest in denim.

• In Australia, denim, swimwear and sportswear are among the top performing categories when it comes to sustainable fashion.
• As opposed to their European counterparts, who tend to search for “sustainable fashion,” Australian shoppers are more interested in “ethical fashion:” online searches for “ethical” fashion pieces have increased 67% over the past three months.

• In Germany, the majority of eco-conscious fashion searches come from Berlin, where the most searched terms include “faux fur coats” and “vegan leather jackets.”
• When shopping for eco-friendly items, German shoppers turn to parkas and sneakers.

• Spanish shoppers search for eco-friendly sweaters. The most used keyword when searching for cruelty-free products is “vegan.”
  The top performing sustainable brands in Spain are Stella McCartney, Patagonia and Ecoalf.
• Demand for the latter — which has been endorsed by Queen Sofía of Spain — has increased by 33% over the past 12 months.

• In France, the most searched term is “vegan Dr Martens boots,” followed by “vegan Veja sneakers” and “faux leather trousers.”
• After Jean-Paul Gaultier presented his first upcycled Haute Couture collection to mark his retirement, online searches including the keywords “recycle” and “upcycle” collectively went up 25% over the following 24 hours.

• When shopping for environmentally-friendly fashion, Canadian customers are particularly interested in parkas and jeans.
• Over the past 3 months, searches for Eileen Fisher’s organic cotton dresses and Patagonia’s jackets have been on the rise.

• Italian shoppers from the Lombardi region are the ones who drive the highest number of eco-friendly fashion searches, with the term “eco fur” being the most used keyword over the past 12 months.
• Searches for “recycled fashion” have increased 64% in the past 3 months.

• Fashion searches including the keyword “organic” are currently trending in the UK and are up 19% month-on-month. “Second-hand” and “vegan” are also popular keywords among British shoppers.
• Dresses by Reformation, Faithfull the Brand and Maggie Marilyn are the most searched for sustainable products.

• “Vegan leather” and “vegan shoes” are trending searches among US shoppers.
• The product categories driving the most searches are long coats and jackets. Nanushka’s vegan leather puffer jacket was the most searched for product in February.

• Moscow is generating the highest number of searches for sustainable fashion.
• Russian customers are especially interested in t-shirts made of organic cotton, as well as vegan leather boots.

+ info: Enjoy the Report