SUSTAINABILITY:
Without responsibility, design becomes pollution.
Sustainability is not a department, a label, or a communication layer.
It is a way of thinking.
In fashion, luxury, and retail, non-essential industries with enormous cultural power, responsibility starts with understanding consequences across the entire system: supply chain, retail space, use phase, and end-of-life.
Stop making displays.
Start creating connections.
“This page does not propose solutions. It proposes a way of thinking.“
Peter Hamer
WHY THIS PAGE EXISTS
Why talk about sustainability here?
Because visual merchandising, retail design, and branding are not neutral acts.
Everything we transform into something the earth cannot assimilate will outlive us.
Materials, chemicals, displays, narratives, habits.
When sustainability is treated as an add-on, a label, a campaign, a material choice, the result is not responsibility. It is displacement: of impact, of waste, of accountability.
In that context, sustainability is not optional.
It is a condition for legitimacy.
Visual merchandising without responsibility is not sustainable.
It is pollution.
WHAT SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT
Cutting through the noise
Most sustainability narratives fail not because of bad intentions, but because of linear thinking.
In fashion, luxury, and retail, sustainability is often reduced to isolated actions that look responsible in communication, but collapse when examined as a system.
Common misconceptions I actively challenge:
- That recycled materials are inherently better: without a lifecycle assessment, they are not
- That there is a “green” way to consume more
- That consumption has no long-term consequences
- That sustainability lives in products rather than systems
- That fashion can be sustainable without addressing volume and speed
- That timelessness is an aesthetic choice instead of a structural decision
Sustainability is not about appearing better.
It is about understanding consequences.
FROM SILOS TO SYSTEMS
A system is not a thing.
A system is a set of relationships.
A cotton T-shirt is not cotton.
It is a network:
soil → fiber → yarn → dye → factory → logistics → retail → consumer → waste → soil → water → climate.
Visual merchandising exists inside this network.
Earlier approaches to “sustainable VM” focused on improving displays within existing systems: better materials, smarter reuse, fewer rotations. That was a necessary step.
Today, the question is sharper:
Can the system itself hold together?
Sustainability begins when design decisions are made with awareness of:
- upstream consequences (materials, labor, energy),
- downstream consequences (waste, end-of-life, pollution),
- cultural consequences (how consumption is encouraged, accelerated, or slowed).
Responsibility is not modular.
It cannot be solved in silos.
It is systemic thinking applied to non-essential industries with essential consequences.
EDUCATION ANCHOR
Sustainability in Fashion — how I teach it
I teach sustainability at university level through the course Sustainability in Fashion.
The course does not treat sustainability as a trend, a marketing angle, or a checklist. It treats it as a mindset shift — from silos to systems, from claims to consequences.
Students and professionals are challenged to:
- move beyond trends and into long-term scenarios,
- distinguish facts from narratives, PR, and “green screen” communication,
- understand responsibility as a consequence of cultural power,
- apply systems thinking to fashion, luxury, and retail,
- recognize greenwashing, wokewashing, and narrative inflation.
Sustainability is not something you add to a business.
It is a structural condition of legitimacy.
CTA: View the course
SUSTAINABILITY INSIDE MY FRAMEWORKS
Embedded, not added
Sustainability is embedded in my Retail Canvas.
Not as a layer.
Not as a checklist.
But as a different way of designing.
Within the Canvas, sustainability operates as:
- a design requirement, not an optional feature,
- a decision filter across concept, materials, cadence, and duration,
- an auditing lens that exposes hidden trade-offs,
- a way to design for emotions and behavior, not only aesthetics.
Circularity, in this context, is not about reusing what is left.
It is about asking better questions before something is designed:
- Why does this display exist?
- How long should it exist?
- What happens when it disappears?
The guiding question is never “is this green?”
The guiding question is:
Can this system create value without creating waste it cannot account for?
MEASUREMENT & ACCOUNTABILITY
What gets measured matters
Responsible design must be measurable.
Otherwise, it remains narrative.
In retail and visual merchandising, sustainability cannot be assessed through intentions or materials alone. It must be evaluated through decisions, cadence, and consequences.
In my work, responsibility is examined through indicators such as:
- the number of window rotations (not product rotations),
- the duration and rationale of concepts,
- lifecycle assessments of materials used,
- end-of-life scenarios for displays and props,
- store stock levels and sell-through dynamics,
- coherence between store environment, product flow, and brand promise.
Measurement does not limit creativity.
It disciplines it.
It forces clarity, exposes shortcuts, and makes visible the difference between symbolic action and structural change.
ETHICS, POWER, AND LEGITIMACY
Non-essential goods, essential consequences
Fashion does not sell utility.
It sells identity, aspiration, and meaning.
That cultural power carries responsibility.
When non-essential industries shape desire, speed, and consumption patterns, sustainability cannot be treated as a technical problem. It becomes an ethical one — tied to trust, credibility, and long-term relevance.
Today, sustainability is no longer optional.
It is a condition for legitimacy.
Responsible businesses are expected to:
- understand the full consequences of their decisions,
- create value beyond short-term extraction,
- align influence with accountability.
Responsibility is not guilt.
It is awareness — and the ability to act on it.
WHAT I DO / WHAT I DON’T
Clear boundaries
I do not:
- sell sustainability labels or certifications,
- design “green” campaigns,
- reduce responsibility to materials or slogans.
I do:
- teach sustainability academically,
- translate responsibility into design and retail decisions,
- audit visual merchandising and retail systems,
- expose hidden trade-offs and short-term shortcuts,
- help leaders move from silos to systems.
Stop making displays.
Start creating connections.
Connections between people, products, systems, and consequences.
CALL TO ACTION
Start a responsible dialogue
If you are a CEO, CMO, or retail leader asking:
- Where are we truly creating value — and where are we creating waste?
- Which decisions will outlive us?
- How can design support long-term legitimacy instead of short-term noise?
This is where the conversation starts.
Credits
Concept: Peter Hamer | Artwork & Character Design: Adriano Donato La Vitola | Printed in Milan, 2025 | Limited circulation
IT: Tutte le immagini, i testi e i disegni presenti su questo sito sono di proprietà di i see windows, sapi de cv / Peter Hamer. È vietata qualsiasi riproduzione senza autorizzazione. Il fumetto “Mr. Eye e la Scienza del Visual Merchandising” è un concept di Peter Hamer e Adriano Donato La Vitola. Illustrazioni & Character Design di Adriano Donato La Vitola.
EN: All images, texts, and drawings on this website are owned by i see windows, sapi de cv / Peter Hamer. All rights reserved. The comic “Mr. Eye e la Scienza del Visual Merchandising” is a concept by Peter Hamer and Adriano Donato La Vitola. Artwork and Character Design by Adriano Donato La Vitola.
If you made it this far, you probably think like Mr. Eye.