IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i8p2233-d222497.html

Sustainability within Fashion Business Models: A Systematic Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Thorey S. Thorisdottir

    (School of Business, University of Iceland, Gimli Saemundargata 2, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland)

  • Lara Johannsdottir

    (Environment and Natural Resources, School of business, University of Iceland, Gimli, Saemundargata 2, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland)

Abstract

Production, marketing, and consumption of fashion products result in negative environmental impacts due to the massive production volume of fashion items. However, there is limited literature on how the fashion industry integrates sustainability-related practices into business models, how sustainability is measured within the business models, or what drives the sustainability-emphasis of the fashion industry. Therefore, it is consequential to conduct a systematic review of the existing literature concerning how the fashion industry integrates sustainability into business models, if and how sustainability-related practices are measured to ensure transparency and lead to improvements, and to recognize what drives sustainability in fashion business models. The key aspects regarding sustainability integration into business models include organization values, entrepreneurship, innovation, and internationalization processes. With regards to measurement of impacts and reporting, it is evident that Corporate Social Responsibility, the Global Reporting Initiative, and the Apparel and Footwear Sector Supplement are of relevance for the industry, mainly with regards to the supply chain. The drivers influencing sustainability practices are government and regulatory pressure, market pressure, closed-loop pressure, value creation, innovation, equity, authenticity, functionality, localism, and exclusivity. The findings are of relevance both for academia and the fashion industry, as the paper provides evidence on what has already been studied by academia, but also highlights a need for further studies on the fashion industry with regards to sustainability practices. This paper; therefore, opens a path for academics to consider empirical studies on how to investigate the sustainability strategies of fashion businesses, elements of fashion business models, driving forces influencing actions, measurements, key performance indicators, transparency, and disclosure, just to name a few examples.

Suggested Citation

  • Thorey S. Thorisdottir & Lara Johannsdottir, 2019. "Sustainability within Fashion Business Models: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-26, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:8:p:2233-:d:222497
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2233/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2233/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vasileios Rizos & Arno Behrens & Wytze Van der Gaast & Erwin Hofman & Anastasia Ioannou & Terri Kafyeke & Alexandros Flamos & Roberto Rinaldi & Sotiris Papadelis & Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers & Corrado , 2016. "Implementation of Circular Economy Business Models by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): Barriers and Enablers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Shuai Yang & Yiping Song & Siliang Tong, 2017. "Sustainable Retailing in the Fashion Industry: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-19, July.
    3. Bertrand Moingeon & Muhammad Yunus & Laurence Lehmann-Ortega, 2010. "Building Social Business Models: Lessons from the Grameen Experience," Post-Print hal-00528385, HAL.
    4. Sojin Jung & Byoungho Jin, 2016. "Sustainable Development of Slow Fashion Businesses: Customer Value Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-15, June.
    5. Steve Evans & Doroteya Vladimirova & Maria Holgado & Kirsten Van Fossen & Miying Yang & Elisabete A. Silva & Claire Y. Barlow, 2017. "Business Model Innovation for Sustainability: Towards a Unified Perspective for Creation of Sustainable Business Models," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 597-608, July.
    6. Henry Chesbrough & Richard S. Rosenbloom, 2002. "The role of the business model in capturing value from innovation: evidence from Xerox Corporation's technology spin-off companies," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(3), pages 529-555, June.
    7. Sorescu, Alina & Frambach, Ruud T. & Singh, Jagdip & Rangaswamy, Arvind & Bridges, Cheryl, 2011. "Innovations in Retail Business Models," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 87(S1), pages 3-16.
    8. Esben Pedersen & Wencke Gwozdz, 2014. "From Resistance to Opportunity-Seeking: Strategic Responses to Institutional Pressures for Corporate Social Responsibility in the Nordic Fashion Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 245-264, January.
    9. Jane Workman & Seung-Hee Lee & Kwangho Jung, 2017. "Fashion Trendsetting, Creative Traits and Behaviors, and Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Comparing Korean and U.S. College Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-16, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maria Rosa De Giacomo & Raimund Bleischwitz, 2020. "Business models for environmental sustainability: Contemporary shortcomings and some perspectives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3352-3369, December.
    2. Abbate, Stefano & Centobelli, Piera & Cerchione, Roberto, 2023. "From Fast to Slow: An Exploratory Analysis of Circular Business Models in the Italian Apparel Industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    3. Sebastian Schroedel, 2023. "The Sustainable Business Model Database: 92 Patterns That Enable Sustainability in Business Model Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-27, May.
    4. Ancillai, Chiara & Sabatini, Andrea & Gatti, Marco & Perna, Andrea, 2023. "Digital technology and business model innovation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. Manotti, Jacopo & Sanasi, Silvia & Ghezzi, Antonio, 2025. "Sustainable business model innovation: A technology affordance perspective in the New Space Economy," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    6. Payam Hanafizadeh & Parastou Hatami & Morteza Analoui & Amir Albadvi, 2021. "Business model innovation driven by the internet of things technology, in internet service providers’ business context," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1175-1243, December.
    7. Vinicius Minatogawa & Matheus Franco & Izabela Simon Rampasso & Maria Holgado & Diego Garrido & Hernan Pinto & Ruy Quadros, 2022. "Towards Systematic Sustainable Business Model Innovation: What Can We Learn from Business Model Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-35, March.
    8. Marlena Ciechan-Kujawa & Michal Buszko, 2020. "The Susceptibility of the Business Model to Changes - Empirical Analysis of Internal Determinants of Variability," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 739-757.
    9. Thorey S Thorisdottir & Lara Johannsdottir, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility Influencing Sustainability within the Fashion Industry. A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-64, November.
    10. Jérémy Tantely Ranjatoelina & Adam Dewitte & Bilal Bourkha, 2016. "Le business model des entreprises sociales inclusives : le cas des SIAE, des EA et des ESAT," Post-Print hal-01987158, HAL.
    11. Su Jin Yang & Seyoon Jang, 2020. "How Does Corporate Sustainability Increase Financial Performance for Small- and Medium-Sized Fashion Companies: Roles of Organizational Values and Business Model Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    12. Jeremy Tantely Ranjatoelina & Adam Dewitte & Bilal Bourkha, 2015. "The business model of integration social enterprises. A case study of the French WISEs [Le business model des entreprises sociales inclusives Cas des « secteurs » protégé, adapté et de l'insertion par l'activité économique en France]," Working Papers hal-01202635, HAL.
    13. Olson, Erik L., 2022. "‘Sustainable’ marketing mixes and the paradoxical consequences of good intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 389-398.
    14. Florian Lüdeke‐Freund, 2020. "Sustainable entrepreneurship, innovation, and business models: Integrative framework and propositions for future research," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 665-681, February.
    15. Jérémy Ranjatoelina Tantely & Adam Dewitte & Bilal Bourkha, 2016. "Le business model des entreprises sociales inclusives : le cas des SIAE, des EA et des ESAT en France," Post-Print hal-01896939, HAL.
    16. Ilyas, Imran M. & Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy, 2022. "Exploring the impact of sustainable value proposition on firm performance," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 729-740.
    17. Hellström, Daniel & Olsson, John, 2024. "Let's go thrift shopping: Exploring circular business model innovation in fashion retail," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    18. Vittori, Davide & Natalicchio, Angelo & Panniello, Umberto & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Cupertino, Francesco, 2022. "Business Model Innovation between the embryonic and growth stages of industry lifecycle," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    19. Liu, Zhiyang & Liu, Jianyi & Zhao, Chenfang & Qiu, Zhenyu, 2025. "Business model innovation in the age of metaverse," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    20. Antonella Zucchella & Pietro Previtali & Roger Strange, 2022. "Proactive and reactive views in the transition towards circular business models. A grounded study in the plastic packaging industry," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 1073-1102, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:8:p:2233-:d:222497. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.