Innovative Sustainable Products and “Made in Italy” Effect: The Reuse of Fish Leather in the Fashion Industry

Despite the textile, fashion and apparel sector is  one of the most polluting industries, a new innovative practice, the reuse of fish leather, can be considered a highly eco-sustainable process. Its production not only avoids animal hunting, as it is based exclusively on recycled material, but also involves a much lower cost and also guarantees greater versatility and resistance compared to other type of leather of animal origin. The present study aims to investigate the consumers’ propensity to purchase such fashion products still considered unusual. Through a structural equations model, the influence of consumers’ attitudes, subjective norms, environmental concern, their perceived effectiveness on environmental health, and fashion innovativeness on the intention to buy them is studied, also considering when they are proposed as Made in Italy or haute couture clothes.