Sustainability comes in different forms. Especially in the fashion industry, sustainability is becoming increasingly essential and offers interesting business opportunities.
Yes – everyone talks about sustainability! Is it just a passing trend or does sustainability live up to its name? I am not going to tell you why sustainable products are so important. I am more interested in finding out what exciting business models exist in the sustainable fashion industry in Switzerland and abroad. But first, I would like to start with a brief definition of sustainable fashion.
Sustainability and Fashion – Contradictory Components?
I suppose that many of us perceive sustainable fashion as basic or even unstylish. But sustainable fashion, also called green fashion, eco fashion, ethical fashion, or slow fashion, comes in so many different forms. Sustainability itself means: “Meeting the needs of todays’ generation without giving harm to that of the future generation.” (Saricam & Okur, 2019, p. 2). Its goal is to combine environmental protection, social development, and economic development. Sustainability in the fashion industry, therefore, aims to ensure that clothes, shoes, and accessories are produced and distributed under ethical and environmentally friendly conditions (p. 2).
This leads us to assume that there are various possibilities and a lot of potential for sustainable business models in this fast-moving industry. And this is what I am going to focus on over the next few weeks. I want to learn more about how to buy and sell sustainable fashion and share my findings with you – stay tuned!
For those who have not seen it yet – The True Cost is a movie that shows what is really behind the fast fashion system. See the trailer below:
https://youtu.be/QPMU1VHgmEo
Photo by Highlight ID on Unsplash
Sources:
Saricam, C., & Okur, N. (2019). Analysing the Consumer Behavior Regarding Sustainable Fashion Using Theory of Planned Behavior. In S. S. Muthu (Eds.), Consumer Behaviour and Sustainable Fashion Consumption (pp. 1-37). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
I am intrigued to learn more about innovative sustainable business models, Anja! Do you know renoon.com? It’s a meta-search engine for sustainable fashion products founded by two Italiens friends of mine.
Hi Katharina, thanks for your comment and the hint! Sounds very interesting. I will definitely check it out – thank you!