Consumer perspectives on cultural appropriation in fashion: the headdress ban at the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines the discourse of consumers as they attempt to define and create consensus on the meaning and significance of cultural appropriation within a fashion context.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected via consumer comments posted to an article from The Guardian about the banning of headdresses from a large-scale music festival in Canada. Data were analyzed according to protocols for grounded theory.

Findings

Four themes emerged from the data: values consensus, ideological control, social and symbolic boundaries and social impact and change. These themes captured consumers' perspectives on the debate of cultural appropriation in fashion.

Social Implications

Cultural appropriation has become an increasingly important topic of interest as consumers share their voices online and demand companies increase their cultural competence.

Originality/value

Few researchers have examined cultural appropriation in fashion and captured the various perspectives of consumers on this phenomenon.

Citation

Peters, C. and Lawson Brooks, S. (2023), "Consumer perspectives on cultural appropriation in fashion: the headdress ban at the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 436-451. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-10-2021-0279