“It’s Hard to Manage Everything”: Labour Precarity and the Gap Between Sustainable Ideals and Everyday Realities in Two Portuguese Sustainable Fashion Brands

Sažetak

This article, based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the studios of two Portuguese sustainable fashion brands, analyses the working conditions of the entrepreneurs and designers of these companies, from the establishment of their businesses to the end of the fieldwork, as well as those of their interns and workers. The aim is to show that, although they claim to provide dignified working conditions – a core value of sustainable fashion – the lack of economic capital, combined with a self-exploitative habitus, results in a highly precarious labour context for these entrepreneurs and, in some cases, for their workers. This situation not only highlights the constraints preventing them from realizing the ideals they advocate, it also shows that, if the Portuguese state fails to implement policies that support these small sustainable fashion brands economically, they will continue to operate under precarious conditions. This may jeopardize their reputation with consumers and consequently their survival, as, despite their efforts, these brands still rely on self-exploitation to ensure the continuity of their businesses.

Ključne riječi: sustainable fashion, labour precarity, Portuguese fashion industry, ethnography