Sustainability as Distinction : Discourse, Identity, and Elite Fashion in Shanghai

Fan, Qin and Brookes, Gavin and Muth, Sebastian (2025) Sustainability as Distinction : Discourse, Identity, and Elite Fashion in Shanghai. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

In Shanghai’s high-end fashion sector, sustainability has become more than an ethical ideal; it is now a marker of elite distinction, blending global eco-conscious narratives with local notions of prestige. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of distinction and concepts of habitus, taste, and capital, this thesis investigates the discursive mechanisms behind this phenomenon. Specifically, it examines how sustainable fashion is constructed as an exclusive form of cultural capital within post-reform Shanghai, where luxury consumption and sustainability converge. To explore these issues, the study adopts an innovative ethnography-led, corpus-validated mixed-methods approach. The analysis combines multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork across Shanghai’s sustainable fashion industry with a corpus-assisted discourse study of fashion branding and communication texts. This integration of qualitative and quantitative techniques captures both lived practices and linguistic patterns, enabling triangulation of data for a nuanced understanding of how language and practice jointly construct value and social meaning. The analysis shows how the discourses of authenticity, trust, and moderation articulate the value of sustainable fashion and reinforce elite distinction. The discourse of authenticity emphasises quality craftsmanship, uniqueness, local heritage, expert endorsement, and natural materials to frame sustainable products as exclusive and indicative of refined taste. The discourse of trust builds consumer confidence through transparency initiatives and educational engagement (such as workshops and storytelling), inclusively fostering an exclusive community of ethically-minded consumers and thereby reinforcing class boundaries. The discourse of moderation frames ethical consumption as an act of moral self-restraint and minimalist aesthetics, portraying sustainable minimalism as an elite virtue and status symbol. Together, these discourses construct sustainability as a privilege for Shanghai’s elite consumers, demonstrating how ostensibly egalitarian sustainability ideals are repurposed to entrench social hierarchies. The findings also illustrate the value of integrating ethnographic insight with discourse analysis to unpack the complex links between consumption, language, and elite identity in contemporary China.