An Investigation of the Lifestyles and Selling Strategies of Farmers with Small Fiber Farms on Etsy

Abstract

There is a growing number of small fiber farms in the United States that produce materials for handcrafters. Farmers with small fiber farms often use internet sites like Etsy to market and sell their products. The purpose of this research was to examine the selling strategies of farmers with small fiber farms on Etsy and explore how they characterize their farms, lifestyles, animals, and products. The findings were compared to a theoretical framework comprised of the five dimensions of Slow Fashion identified by Jung and Jin (2014) and the concept of nostalgia. To investigate, data were gathered from 45 Etsy shops operated by farmers with small fiber farms. Three major themes emerged from the data, farm history, motivations for farming, and buying farm fresh. Results from this research helped to characterize smaller fiber farmers and investigate their various selling strategies.

Keywords:

• small fiber farm
• handcraft
• Etsy
• slow fashion
• nostalgia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The names, photos of sellers if possible, and gender-specific pronouns were used as indicators of the sellers' gender. The researcher recognizes that assumptions may have been made about the gender of the sellers based upon their gender presentations and/or use of gender pronouns.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Casey R. Stannard

Casey Stannard is an assistant professor in the Department of Textiles, Apparel Design, and Merchandising at Louisiana State University. She earned her PhD at Oregon State University in apparel design. Her research interests include: craft in postmodern society, design theory, locally grown fiber, and wearable art. [email protected]