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The Sustainable Bra: Analysis of Lingerie Brand's Communication
on Instagram
Kadian A. Gosler
PhD Candidate
University of the Arts London
20 John Prince’s Street, Marylebone
London W1G 0BJ
K.Gosler0720171@arts.ac.uk
Abstract
In the field of fashion, sustainability is a priority, and the lingerie market is no exception. According to
market research firm Mintel, the 2020 global lingerie market is valued at over $36.7 billion, with bras
holding the most extensive market segmentation. Due to the complexity of the bras mixed materials,
small pattern pieces, construction methods, and difficulty in disassembling there are significant
challenges to turning it into a sustainable garment. With the rise in smaller lingerie brands that are
well educated in the critical nature of sustainability, it is essential to recognise the approaches taken
in the brands' communication of their sustainability through product design, material selection and
messaging. This study employs a qualitative approach to examine five sustainable lingerie company's
Instagram page, posts, and hashtags applying textual and visual analysis to understand sustainability
branding and initiatives. The research discusses the current sustainable approaches that lingerie
brands are utilising with practical implications.
1. Introduction
In recent years the lingerie field has seen an increase in the entry of sustainable lingerie brands and
prominent brands interested in sustainability. Brands such as M & S (2019), Hanky Panky (Glassberg,
2018), and Intimissi (Parry, 2013) have all created recycling-resale schemes while others such as
Harper Wilde are partnering with a recycling firm to research methods of recycling bras into new
products (Segran, 2019). Social media has become a prominent channel for many fashion brands to
advertise (Na and Kim, 2019) with lingerie being no exception. Sustainable lingerie brands like Laura
Intimates, Uye Surana, and Underprotection have primarily utilised social media to inform and
connect with consumers. However, there are currently no studies examining the lingerie field’s
approach to marketing sustainability using social media or whether those brands have high
engagement. This paper delivers part one of a two-part pioneering study examining the former.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Sustainable Fashion
Sustainability is a leading priority in fashion, as the field has become one of the most polluting industries. In 1987
the Bruntland report defined sustainability as designs “that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on
Environment and Development, 1987, p. 43). Since then sustainability has yielded over sixteen new
terminologies for instance ‘eco-friendly’, ‘ethical’, and ‘bio’ (Candeloro, 2019; Thomas, 2008) which are often
confusingly used interchangeably (Evans and Peirson-Smith, 2018). Academics have focused on aiding the
fashion industry to become more sustainable developing new guidelines and design approaches such as slow-
fashion (Fletcher, 2010), design for zero waste (Rissanen and McQuillan, 2016), design for disassembly (Jin
Gam et al., 2011, 2009), and upcycling (Han et al., 2017). Furthermore, as lack of knowledge is a barrier for
many designers (DeLong et al., 2013; Hur and Cassidy, 2019) researchers have developed innovative
ways to encourage and teach future sustainable practitioners (DeLong et al., 2017; Grose, 2017; Radclyffe-
Thomas, 2018; Wang et al., 2018). Within the initiatives, there is still a disconnect in fashion companies as
stakeholders, designers and marketers all define sustainability differently (Thomas, 2020).
2.2 Marketing and Sustainability
Yan et al. (2012) assert that easily comprehensible marketing and branding generates a positive
attitude from consumers towards sustainable brands. However, brands have no set approach to
market themselves as sustainable (Athwal et al., 2019). Due to the term sustainability’s ‘multiple
layers of definition and usage’ (Thomas, 2008), there has been “confusion” (Beard, 2008) and
misapprehension by brands and marketers when employing the term. Academics propose eco-
fashion brands must develop trust through clear and transparent branding initiatives (Beard, 2008;
Kumar and Christodoulopoulou, 2014) that educate consumers (Fisher et al., 2008; Weiss et al.,
2014) which in turn aids in informing their purchase decisions (Ritch, 2015). Similarly, intimate apparel
researchers established the importance of developing a strong brand identity (Granot et al., 2010) that
allows consumers to affirm their ideal style (Vigolo and Ugolini, 2016), lower their perceived risk and
develop positive attitudes leading to purchase intent (Rose et al., 2016). A sustainable lingerie brand
must develop a brand image and identity to influence consumer perceptions through marketing activities
(Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000; Kapferer, 2008). Since brand identity is no longer solely determined by the
brand, but now is co-created with consumers and influencers (Holt, 2003; Gensler et al., 2013) a marketing
strategy inclusive of social media can influence consumers sustainable purchases (Biswas, 2016; de
Lenne and Vandenbosch, 2017).
2.3. Social Media - Instagram
Started in 2010, currently owned by Facebook the largest social networking platform, Instagram is a
visual photo-sharing social network (Ting et al., 2015) with over ‘1 billion monthly active users
worldwide’ and more than 500 million active users (“Social Media & User-Generated Content,” 2020,
2020). This makes Instagram the sixth most popular social site (Moshin, 2020). With its high
interaction rate (Ahmed, 2017), Instagram allows users to share images, videos and stories collated
via hashtags and locations. Roncha and Radclyffe-Thomas (2016) assert that social media is
advantageous for companies aiming to market their products, enabling them to build relationships and
foster trust with consumers (Strähle and Gräff, 2017) through two-way dialogue and engagement
(Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004). In fact, 59% of marketers believe social media is essential to their
overall marketing strategy, with over 81% of businesses currently using Instagram (“State of Social
Annual Report,” 2019). Applying an interactive Instagram strategy through the usage of hashtags and
stories, brands can increase consumer interaction (Bergström and Bäckman, 2013; “State of Social
Annual Report,” 2019) leading to a positive attitude which indirectly affects purchase intentions for
sustainable clothing (de Lenne and Vandenbosch, 2017; Makakala and Neffling, 2020; McClure and
Seock, 2020). An effective social media strategy for sustainable apparel should ‘educate’, ‘engage’
and provide brand transparency (Joergens, 2006; Strähle and Gräff, 2017). Therefore, this study
investigates how sustainable lingerie brands use their Instagram to communicate sustainability to
followers.
3. Methodology
3.1. Sample
Five sustainable lingerie brands were selected for this study with the requirement they have a large
following, active post history and an Instagram marketing strategy [see Table 3.1]. As three of the
brands - Underprotection, Pact, and Organic Basics - also sold other product categories outside of
bras and knickers, posts that did not feature a bra product were removed from the dataset which
lowered their number of post totals. Furthermore, images excluding bras and focusing solely on
knickers or hosiery were also removed. Images that featured other types of non-clothing geared
content were documented and coded for categories. Videos were also included as brands used this
medium as another method to disseminate information and connect with followers. Lastly, the brands’
stories, groupings of short videos and images, were assessed further to inform their sustainability
initiatives.
Table 3.1. Sustainable Lingerie Brands and Instagram Profile Analysis
3.2. Data Collection
Instagram is the most successful social platform at generating user engagement (Elliot, 2014) which
can be measured based on the number of likes and comments (D. Lee et al., 2018; S. H.-N. Lee et
al., 2018). Thus, posts from November 2019 to November 2020 were collected for all five brands.
Using Excel, a codebook was developed to manually record the date, number of likes and comments,
image descriptions, post copy and hashtags. The researcher also logged memos during the
documentation procedure to aid in the qualitative analysis. Comments were accounted for numerically
excluding sentiment analysis due to the scale. The final data sample totalled 926 Instagram posts,
excluding stories.
3.3. Coding Procedure
The visual content of the post images which were described textually was initially coded, then the post
copy through open coding to uncover categories inductively. Next, the second round of coding was
undertaken to simplify, combine and assess the code variables. This aided the development of the
codebook's variables and definition page [see Table 3.2 and 3.3]. Subsequently, more coding rows
were added utilising three categorisation systems developed based on post content classifications
(Çukul, 2015; del Rocío Bonilla Quijada et al., 2020) and communication strategy (Goor, 2012) [see
Tables 3.4 to 3.6]. This led to sixty variables employed throughout the coding process with images
and posts copy eligible for more than one coding category. Post copy was separately assessed for
usage and frequency of green or sustainable verbiage. The codes were then quantified by counting
their frequency to understand their usage and interpreted to articulate the brands visual and textual
sustainability communications on social media.
Table 3.2. Image Classifications (Gosler, 2020)
Table 3.3. Post Copy Classifications (Gosler, 2020)
Table 3.4. Post Content Classifications (Çukul, 2015)
Table 3.5. Post Content Classifications (del Rocío Bonilla Quijada et al., 2020)
Table 3.6. Communication Strategy Classifications (Goor, 2012)
4. Findings
4.1. Pact
Figure 4.1. Pact Instagram Images Illustrating Bra (top row) & Non-Bra Posts (bottom row)
Pact is a home goods and clothing brand developing 'sustainable and ethical fashion'. Utilising a fair-
trade factory, they produce a small range of organic cotton bras. Pacts' Instagram features out of 260
posts, 24 (9.2%) images with a bra. The bra images often display white women outdoors in nature
(41.7%) intimating activity or exercise (29.2%). Post copy for the images was conversational (20.8%)
but mainly incline to epigrams (45.8%), which describe pithy statements often colloquial in nature.
Due to Pact communicating directly to their followers, these posts were also coded as ‘relationship’.Of
the total, only 40 (62.5%) posts did not include the bra, but were a part of the communication strategy.
These images predominantly displayed messages (42.5%) such as 'Winter. Or as we call it Netflix
season' (February 1st) and 'Reminder: Every day is Earth Day' (April 30th); inclusive of outdoor nature
scenery (37.5%) or plants (27.5%). Copy for these posts reflects that 27.5% trend towards
sustainable education, living, and informing about the brands' sustainable practices.
1
Pact uses
hashtags 79.7% of the time focusing on #wearpact, infrequently applying hashtags signalling
sustainability such as #organicallyme and #Fairtradecertified.
2
The brand utilises Instagrams’ stories
feature with a story called ‘sustainability’, featuring twenty-eight images covering agriculture, textile
recycling, and their commitment to the planet.
4.2. Organic Basics
Figure 4.2. Organic Basics Instagram Images Illustrating Bra (top row) & Non-Bra Posts (bottom row)
1
See Appendix A for examples of the various brand’s post copy and classification.
2
Pact’s sustainable hashtags match with the sustainable verbiage used in 15.6% of their posts. See
Appendix B Post Usage of Sustainable Verbiage for more information.
Organic Basics is a clothing brand dedicated to eco-friendly and ethically made products 'that care of
you, the people that made them - and the environment'. Their Instagram features 259 posts, of which
their bra-based posts made up 26.3% (n= 68). Most images exhibit white women, with few diverse
and inclusive models (29.4%), participating in exercise (26.5%) or posing in a studio setting (39.7%).
Multiple posts mention the models (44.1%), who have thousands of followers, occasionally
highlighting consumer content (25%). Models often displayed their faces directly gazing (48.5%) at
the camera. The post copy primarily promotes or describes products (33.8%) with some quirky
epigrams (19.1%) meant to establish a relationship (22.1%) or stimulate self-efficacy (25%). Ten
(14.7%) bra posts were devoted to sustainable practices, living, and education. Of their total posts,
17.4% (n= 48) focus on a sustainable communication strategy. These images exhibit a mix of outdoor
nature (48.9%), messages (28.9%), making materials/fabric (20%), and scenes of workers or
production (17.8%). Those posts copy favoured (73.3%) towards informing about sustainable
practices, education, and living. One of Organic Basics most liked posts (4,256) discusses the brands'
efforts to offset CO2 and provides followers with information on how to do so.
3
They applied a
substantial hashtag strategy, with 91.2% of posts on average using twenty-eight tags. As noted in
Thomas (2008), their hashtags often include sustainable terminologies, such as #sustainablefashion,
#slowfashion, #ethicalfashion, #recycledfashion, and new terms, namely #conciousfashion and
#veganfashion. Organic Basics applies an educational strategy using stories to compartmentalise and
inform followers with multiple sections, for instance ‘Regenerate’, ‘Re-Tights’, and ‘Low Impact’.
4.3. Underprotection
Underprotection is a lingerie and loungewear brand dedicated to making sustainable and vegan
approved products in certified fair-trade factories. The brand is extremely active on Instagram
boasting 504 posts, of which 332 apply to this study, and 56.9% (n= 287) are of bra products. A large
portion of the posts - uninhabited by a model - solely spotlights the bra product (43.6%). The models
employed are overwhelmingly white and thin with limited diversity or size inclusivity (6.3%) with many
of the images being consumer content (32.8%) mentioning the username (43.6%). The bra post copy
mostly promotes or describes the product (36.75%), but is also filled with exceedingly short epigrams
(20.6%) meant to convince followers of the quality of the products (21.3%) or to generate a sales
response (11.8%). Only 13.6% (n= 45) of the relevant posts are non-bra focused exhibiting lots of
images with plants (24.4%), sun (22.2%), and outdoor nature scenery (28.9%). Some epigrams
(33.3%) and conversational (26.7%) post copy aims to generate a relationship (44.4%) with followers.
Of the post copy in this section, 15.6% illustrates the brands’ sustainable practices, educates about
sustainability or sustainable living (see Appendix A). The brand uses emojis in over 13% (n= 43) of
posts applying a green heart ‘’, leaves ‘ ‘, plant ‘’, or recycle ’.
4
Underprotection applies
hashtags in 93.4% of their posts averaging one hashtag on most posts oscillating between
#ethicallingerie, #sustainablelingerie, and #sustainablefashion. Their Instagram stories feature a
sustainability channel dedicated to discussing the importance of plastic waste and recycled lace
usage in their designs.
3
Surprisingly this post did not use any of the brands nine sustainable based verbiage ‘organic’,
‘ethical’, ‘recycle’, ‘eco-friendly’, ‘ecosystem’, ‘ecotourism’, ‘regenerate’, ‘waste’, or ‘green’.
4
Underprotection applies sustainable verbiages ‘recycle’, ‘ethical’, ‘green’, and ‘sustainable’ in 16.6%
of their posts. They give an almost equal amount of importance to both emojis and sustainable
verbiage.
Figure 4.3. Underprotection Instagram Images Illustrating Bra (top row) & Non-Bra Posts (bottom row)
4.4. Lara Intimates
Lara Intimates is a sustainable underwear brand committed to ethically producing lingerie made from
responsibly sourced deadstock fabric. Their Instagram has 193 posts with 72% (n= 139) emphasising
the bra. Almost half of the images feature a diverse or inclusive model (48.2%) in a studio setting
(49.6%) glancing directly at the camera (31.7%). A smaller portion exhibits consumers (21.6%) in a
home setting (20.9%). The bra post copy informed on the brand’s sustainable practices (10.1%) and
in detail promote or describe (68.3%) the product often providing a reason why (10.1%) followers
should purchase. Overall, the copy was meant to persuade purchase (28.1%) sometimes through
highlighting sales (18.7%) or self-efficacy (18%). Through some posts, Lara Intimates fosters a
relationship (20.9%) with followers reposting consumer content (21.6%) and mentioning usernames
(23.7%). Fifty-four of their posts did not focus on the bra. These posts, frequently videos, centre on
transparency showcasing their workers or production (51.9%) with behind-the-scenes and
manufacturing materials or fabric (46.3%). Copy for these posts inform on their sustainable practices
(20.4%) and are conversational (18.5%) occasionally prompting followers to help with colour choices
for upcoming seasons. This approach attempts to engage and foster a relationship (53.7%) with
followers. Lara Intimates uses hashtags in only 9.3% of the total posts, with non-lingerie posts
receiving sustainable geared hashtags such as #ethicalfactory, #zerowaste, #ethicalfashion, and
#sustainablefashion
5
. Their Instagram stories section features a channel called ‘factory’ dedicated to
transparency with forty-five images highlighting additional behind-the-scenes production and workers.
Figure 4.4. Lara Intimates Instagram Images Illustrating Bra (top row) & Non-Bra Posts (bottom row)
5
Lara Intimates use similar sustainable verbiage in their post copy 15% of the time with words such
as ‘waste’, ‘deadstock’, ‘sustainable’, ‘ethical’, and ‘zero waste’.
4.5. Uye Surana
Figure 4.5. Uye Surana Instagram Images Illustrating Bra (top row) & Non-Bra Posts (bottom row)
Uye Surana is a lingerie brand dedicated to ethically producing ‘thoughtfully handmade lingerie’. The
brands’ Instagram has 342 posts within the one-year frame, with 81.9% (n= 280) of posts centring on
the bra product. These posts include a highly diverse and inclusive (48.9%) array of models and
influencers often mentioning their usernames (37.1%). Photos display various locations (41.1%)
showcasing homes and lifestyles (26.1%) or in a studio (30%). The post copy tends to provide pithy
statements (16.1%), promote or describe products (22.1%), and suggest products (15.7%) through
self-efficacy (15.7%) or persuasion (26.8%). On the other hand, this brand attempts to build a
relationship (25%) through copy that is also conversational (10%) or topical (5.7%) highlighting Trans-
rights, racial rights like ‘Black Lives Matter’, and body positivity. There were only four non-bra posts,
with three dedicated to the aforementioned topical issues and the remaining focusing on Earth Day.
Uye Surana employs hashtags in 26.9% of their posts with frequent usage of the brand name
#UyeSurana and #WeLoveUye. Only two posts include sustainable tags such as #sustainablelingerie
and #ethicalclothing with the image for both posts centring on the bra product and the post copy
highlighting the usage of deadstock materials.
6
The brand’s Instagram story called ’sustainability’
elucidates their partnership with an ethical Columbian factory, sustainable printing method, and
design of longer-lasting quality products.
5. Discussion
This study adds to the field of sustainable fashion marketing. Findings indicate sustainable
lingerie brands are touching upon three of the five dimensions of sustainable marketing: social,
ethical, and environmental (Lim, 2016) using Instagram in multiple ways to connect, educate, and
visually stimulate their followers. Due to space, the discussion will focus on only one of the
conclusions.
The sustainable lingerie brands selected utilise complementary communication and engagement
strategies to deliver their sustainability message through images, post content, emojis, hashtags and
stories. Three of the brands exploit green signalling in photos to connect their products to the
environment. By showcasing the outdoors or plants in their imagery, they subconsciously link their
products to being eco-friendly in consumers' minds. Additionally, as a small visual, emojis can swiftly
convey the brand is eco-friendly, as indicated by Underprotection's pithy epigram posts. This
approach is beneficial when the brand produces numerous images avoiding potentially lower post
copy engagement due to Instagram's visual-centric nature that facilitates constant scrolling (Teo et al.,
2019). All the brand's post copy infrequently employed sustainable-based keywords, like 'sustainable',
'ethical', 'green', 'recycle', or 'organic' [see Appendix B]. This strategic method decreases the risk of
green fatigue often faced by followers from overuse of sustainable terminology (Ottman, 2011).
However, when applied, in posts and stories, the brands deliberately associate it with direct
sustainable communications that educate or inform and visually define their chosen terminology
delivering a clear brand message (Evans and Peirson-Smith, 2018). All brands exploit the stories
format with a dedicated digital space using videos and photos to inform and provide transparency on
their sustainable or ethical measures. Stories act as intermediates that pass the viewer from the
introductory post copy to the brand's website to access more information. Three brands regularly
employ hashtags for organic discovery; however, the two brands with infrequent usage selectively
apply it to encourage user engagement (Bergström and Bäckman, 2013). Engagement is prompted
by conversational posts that invite the followers to use a specific tag when posting images of
themselves in the product.
Ultimately, these brands apply an effective strategy mixing education, engagement and
transparency (Joergens, 2006; Strähle and Gräff, 2017) to affect followers positively. Lingerie industry
professionals can use this information to assist in the development of their marketing strategy.
6
Uye Surana applies sustainable verbiages such as ‘deadstock’, ‘ethical’, and ‘sustainable’ in 3.8% of their total
posts.
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Appendix A. Classification Samples from Sustainable Lingerie Brand’s Posts
Brand Name
Comment
Code
Pact
Loving how this tie-dye came out. Who else has tried the tie-dye trend this
summer? // @chicandsweaty
Conversational
Pact
We're mentioning the unmentionables...does your underwear drawer need
an update?
Conversational
Pact
When you're trying to blend in, but really stand out.
Epigram
Pact
No Monday blues here. Start this week off
Epigram
Organic cotton uses 91% less water than non-organic cotton. You can see
how much water each garment saves on the Pact product pages, make
sure to check it out!
Informing Sustainable
Practices
Organic Basics
Made with a soft, eco-friendly material called TENCEL™. This is created in
a closed loop, non-toxic process using responsibly sourced wood pulp from
Central European forests. ⠀
@jenna.really @theconsciousearthlings
Informing Sustainable
Practices
Organic Basics
Re-stocked — our stretchy, soft, comfortable activewear made with
recycled materials. We thought you'd wanna know.
Promotion/Descriptive
Organic Basics
Working on this
Epigram
Organic Basics
New things are coming — made from the old things.
Epigram
Organic Basics
Ida in our activewear — made with recycled materials that breathe, stretch
and move with you. ⠀
@idasogaard
Promotion/Descriptive
Underprotection
Black lingerie always works, and it’s even better when it’s made from
recycled lace regram @laurarylands
Promotion/Descriptive
Underprotection
Our classic Victoria styles regram @ile_par
Promotion/Descriptive
Underprotection
Go green
Epigram
Underprotection
Ready for spring?
Conversational
Underprotection
Coffee & lingerie
Epigram
Lara Intimates
We've been busy restocking the black Ava in every size so it's super easy
for you to shop. Whilst we do so, we're taking a closer look at the style and
what makes it your favourite - head to our story or our highlights later on to
check it out! Danielle wears a 34E.
Reason Why
Lara Intimates
The Ava Bra 2.0 in a 34F this style is now a three piece cup in sizes
DD+ with a power mesh sling and new stronger, softer elastics in the under
and straps, all for extra support and comfort - join the waitlist now and
purchase on the 12th at laraintimates.com
Promotion/Descriptive
Lara Intimates
@lipsticklori ordered the Ava Bra, size 32F, and shared her review on
Twitter. She used our bra size calculator online, and this bra looks amazing!
Swipe to read all her comments.
Consumer Review
Lara Intimates
How does the Lara Factory create zero fabric waste? Join our CEO Cindy
Liberman for an IG Live conversation with @first_mile CEO Bruce Bratley
TODAY at 2pm. If you’re interested in zero waste, green recycling and
sustainable fashion, this is a great opportunity to learn more and ask your
questions. See you there!
Informing Sustainable
Practices
Uye Surana
“I just got my second order and I am now, more than ever, convinced that
y’all are the only lingerie company out there that anyone needs to know
about. Thank you!! I wear a 32H US or a 32G UK and this is a M/L.” —
@indigo_indigoing_indigone
Consumer Review
Uye Surana
Serene in serpents The fierce & feminine print of our Snake Charmer
set is sure to make a statement
Suggestive
Uye Surana
"So many have used their voices and spoke up towards injustice and took
time to educate themselves on black life and history. As we resume back to
our fashion/ body positive content; let’s not forget to keep learning and
fighting for what’s right. Yes still be a creative and post your unique and fun
content but also use the platform you have for good. We still have so much
more work to do." — @mynamesireanna
Topical
Uye Surana
A little peek of new styles our designer's been dreaming up while working
from home. Let us know what colors (or really anything) you'd like to see
in new Sheerly & printed styles below!
Conversational
Uye Surana
Do not touch the artwork Our carefully crafted lace & hand-printed
butterflies will make you feel like a work of art. @mirandaharrison by
@peggyshootsfilm & set design by @zanah_marie
Promotion/Descriptive
Appendix B. Sustainable Verbiage Applied by the Lingerie Brands