The wellbeing framework for consumer experiences in the circular economy of the textile industry

Conspicuous consumption, driven by immediate satisfaction, novelty, and status, contradicts the Circular Economy’s (CE) goals of reducing consumption and waste. As the CE evolves into a global mission supported by legislation, it must address overconsumption by adopting a humanist, design-focused, participatory approach that fosters alternative cultures of consumption. This paper investigates the potential of leveraging human wellbeing as a strategic approach to achieving circular sustainable consumption of textiles. It proposes that strengthening the connection between human wellbeing and material resource flow, particularly through a garment’s lifecycle, can aid in reducing the textile consumption necessary for a successful CE. The ‘Wellbeing framework for consumer experiences in the circular economy of the textile industry’ positions consumer wellbeing as essential for the circular value chain of textiles. It serves as a cornerstone for designing consumer experiences that support a CE, informs alternative narratives for the industry and society, and has the potential to influence policy. The Framework is grounded in a comprehensive literature review examining how consumer wellbeing can drive the social health benefits of circularity, foster new sustainable consumption cultures, and serve as a consumer-centric tool for achieving zero waste through responsible and personalised engagement with consumption, reuse, and recycling. The iterative literature review and interdisciplinary elaboration followed five stages: review, selection, empirical testing, synthesis, and abstraction to achieve the final framework. The Framework comprises 16 wellbeing dimensions clustered into three categories: being well, feeling well and doing well. The primary contribution of this framework is its holistic approach to integrating and balancing the hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions of wellbeing within the context of the CE. It conceptualises wellbeing as a dynamic temporal process that evolves throughout the consumption journey, encompassing moments of both satisfaction and challenge, and addresses social factors such as the embodied experiences and self-perception elicited by a garment.