Sustainable Rent-Based Closed-Loop Supply Chain for Fashion Products

Consumer perceptions and actions related to circular fashion items: Perspectives of young Brazilians on circular economy

The fashion industry is one of the most important industries for the world economy, but is also one of the most polluting. Some fashion companies have been adopting circular economy initiatives to combat this. Circular fashion (CF) results in cleaner production and reduces textile waste, but depends on consumer collaboration. Several studies analysing consumer CF issues worldwide have been recently published, but these studies are not common in emerging countries. This paper seeks to investigate the relationships between Brazilian consumers and CF. The methodology comprised a systematic literature review and survey. The main results show that, although young consumers are willing to change their clothing consumption habits and believe that fashion companies should be more sustainable, most of them never get involved in circular actions in the fashion chain. This paper seeks to fill a research gap on Brazilian CF, and contribute to both literature and the fashion industry in developing countries.

A systematic review and future research agenda for sustainable fashion in the apparel industry

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to synthesise the published literature on consumer awareness and acceptance of Sustainable Fashion (SF) and highlight that sustainability decisions taken across procurement, designing, manufacturing and retailing must include the consumer perspective of SF.

Design/methodology/approach

Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on sustainable fashion combined with consumer behavior was conducted. The study approach involved descriptive analysis, content analysis and theoretical analysis in the first section. The later sections focus on sustainability practices across the apparel supply chain that can foster acceptance of sustainable fashion.

Findings

In this review paper, five solutions that are typically used for leveraging consumer awareness and acceptance towards sustainable fashion are identified from the latest research papers: (1) attention to micro-sensitive factors (2) shared responsibilities (3) repositioning sustainable fashion for larger audience (4) positioning conscious fashion and (5) unified approach. These solutions are proposed as most important for achieving success in sustainable production and sustainable consumption (SPSC) for the fashion industry. Further, suggestions for how to embed sustainability related business decisions across sourcing, designing, manufacturing, distribution and recollection and retailing are also provided.

Practical implications

Through this research, a clear view emerges of the progression of publication and where future research should be directed to popularise sustainable fashion among consumers. Research findings and proposed solutions will be valuable inputs for brand managers, marketers and retailers as they conceive new plans and make decisions about addressing sustainability challenges in textile and apparel manufacturing firms.

Originality/value

This is a first of its kind of study on sustainable fashion that highlights the importance of understanding consumer behaviour in influencing sustainability decisions required across sourcing, designing, manufacturing and retailing to achieve substantial economic advantages in the fashion industry. End-to-end supply chain processes (i.e. procurement, design, manufacturing, marketing and retailing) are considered to identify several factors that influence consumer behavior in favor of sustainable fashion throughout the supply chain.

Can Fashion Be Circular? A Literature Review on Circular Economy Barriers, Drivers, and Practices in the Fashion Industry’s Productive Chain

Circular economy (CE) principles have gained prominence in the fashion industry since it is a highly polluting industry and requires sustainable changes. Even though there are several CE initiatives already in place within the fashion production chain, changes towards CE are still slow. This study seeks to identify the drivers, barriers, and practices that influence implementing circular economy concepts in the fashion industry production chain using a systematic literature review. The results show that some more barriers and criteria keep consumers away from circular fashion concepts than drivers. These barriers include fast fashion consumer culture, even though more consumers are environmentally conscious. This is because awareness has not reached large-scale populations, despite the world being more aware of social and environmental issues. Consumers still do not see ethical and ecological problems associated with the fashion industry and continue to be targeted for large fast fashion retailers that sell a misguided version of consumerism. This study contributes to both academia and new fashion business models that seek to become more sustainable since it presents opportunities for investments and the obstacles that must be overcome for reaching CE within this sector.

Towards A Conceptual Framework of Sustainable Practices of Post-consumer Textile Waste at Garment End of Lifecycle: A Systematic Literature Review Approach

Fashion is characterised by rapidly changing trends and consumption patterns which have led to complexities and dynamism of the fashion supply chain (SC). Excessive generation of wastes highlights the need for innovative ways to address unsustainable practices by feeding the waste back into the supply chain system. This paper reviews the extant literature on sustainability within the fashion industry’s supply chain to establish available sustainability practices to manage post-consumer textile waste (PCTW) at garment end of lifecycle. Four sustainable practices emerged from the review—education and engagement, recovery and redistribution, reuse, and recycling—and are central to a framework that shows the interaction of garment end of lifecycle practices and could the achievement of strategic competitive advantage. Our findings emphasise the importance for interaction and collaboration between consumers and retailers and further involvement of the entire supply chain. In addition, sustainability paradoxes were evident across the sustainable practices. To avoid this, for retailers are urged to shift towards cradle to cradle (closed loop) lifecycle supply chains. Furthermore, retailers should evaluate the practices they adopt by questioning their aim in the achievement of sustainability. We suggest that firms should consider the entire supply chain when adopting a sustainable practice and each agent’s role in achieving the overall outcome of sustained competitive advantage.

A United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals perspective for sustainable textile and apparel supply chain management

Motivated by United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the importance of sustainability, this study examines how the textile and apparel (TA) supply chains can comply with the SDGs. By examining the literature as well as industrial practices, we show that the current sustainable operations in TA industry are far away from realizing the goals of economic growth going hand-in-hand with the social and environmental sustainability. For instance, among the SDGs, the goals of "Responsible Consumption and Production", "Clean Water and Sanitation", and "Climate Action" receive a considerable amount of attention, while goals of "No Poverty", "Reduced Inequalities", "Life below Water" and "Life on Land" have the least attention. Balanced sustainable development actions from the stakeholders' perspective are proposed. Managerial implications and future studies are discussed.

The Drivers of Sustainable Apparel and Sportswear Consumption: A Segmented Kano Perspective

The steady increase of sustainable consumer behavior leads companies to strengthen their efforts to become socially and ecologically more sustainable. Particularly in the clothing and footwear industry, more and more companies are aware of their need to fundamentally adapt the way they create value. Sustainability offerings are developed, e.g., usage of upcycled materials (e.g., ocean plastic), circular business models (e.g., decomposition of returned products into components for new ones), as well as adapted product ranges (e.g., smaller or with fewer fashion cycles). However, it is frequently unclear in advance, which offerings will increase (or decrease) satisfaction and, consequently, drive (or not drive) sustainable consumption. The application of a segmented Kano perspective in an apparel and sportswear context that helps to answer these questions is presented: 17 potential offerings were assessed by a sample of 490 consumers. Our analysis demonstrates the usefulness of this methodology and that returning used products (to recycle them), discounts for buying sustainable products, sustainability level indicators, and biobased materials are highly attractive. However, the responsiveness varies across the derived consumer segments, from being decisive or attractive to indifferent or reverse. As assumed, gender and attitude towards sustainability are good predictors for segment membership.

The Role of Human Resource Management (HRM) for the Implementation of Sustainable Product-Service Systems (PSS)—An Analysis of Fashion Retailers

Implementation of product-service systems (PSS) requires structural changes in the way that business in manufacturing industries is traditionally conducted. Literature frequently mentions the importance of human resource management (HRM), since people are involved in the entire process of PSS development and employees are the primary link to customers. However, to this day, no study has provided empirical evidence whether and in what way HRM of firms that implement PSS differs from HRM of firms that solely run a traditional manufacturing-based business model. The aim of this study is to contribute to closing this gap by investigating the particular HR components of manufacturing firms that implement PSS and compare it with the HRM of firms that do not. The context of this study is the fashion industry, which is an ideal setting since it is a mature and highly competitive industry that is well-documented for causing significant environmental impact. PSS present a promising opportunity for fashion firms to differentiate and mitigate the industry’s ecological footprint. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to analyze data of 102 international fashion firms. Findings reveal a significant higher focus on nearly the entire spectrum of HRM components of firms that implement PSS compared with firms that do not. Empirical findings and their interpretation are utilized to propose a general framework of the role of HRM for PSS implementation. This serves as a departure point for both scholars and practitioners for further research, and fosters the understanding of the role of HRM for managing PSS implementation.