Sustainable Fashion in the Digital Era

Are you ready for the summer? For a new, fresh fashion style? But facing a closet full of cloth! The wardrobe dilemma: What to let go of? The beloved yellow summer dress, a size too small. The red shirt, a reminder of past festival times. The comfy blue jeans, not more fitting. The green hoodie, displaying the nostalgic university logo. A white dinner blouse. And in between, black stockings. The wardrobe filled with used clothes. Pilling up. Stacking up. Sloppily shoved, hanging from shelves or hangers. Once worn. Now: Forgotten. Washed-out. Worn-out. Ripped and torn. Stained, smeared, discoloured and ruined. About time to clear it out and getting rid of. But what to do with all the unwanted? The old? And the forgotten?

Applying the circular economy to the fashion industry

In my latest piece on Forbes, I highlighted environmental issues through fashion waste. More so: Overproduction, overstocks and overconsumption leading to a fashion crisis. Very worrisome! Obviously, the relentless consumption of clothing and footwear comes with side effects. Negative impacts. With clothes and footwear ending in landfill or incinerated. Adding to the global challenges; the depletion and growing demand for natural resources: Water, land and energy.

The European Union - the world's largest single market, is trying to steer away from the current take-make-waste-disposal model towards a sustainable path, that requires fashion brands and their business partners across the supply chain to rethink their business models quickly. And adjusting to sustainable and circular business models for continuing operations in the EU.

And, more and more customers do care. For sure, we - consumers need to rethinking our habits and purchase behaviour.

Rethink fashion. This begs the question: Can we - customers be part of the solution to reduce the fashion waste?

In turn, does this trigger fashion brands and their business partners to overthink their business strategy? To rethink business models. To adjust business operations. And therefore, to seize new opportunities. To bond with customers and tighten loyalty and engagement. Empower customers to become the driver of transition.

Obviously, operating in such challenging times, necessitates to rethink and find solutions to delivering sustainable fashion. Operating efficiently and effectively to the benefit of all. Whether slowing down the fashions system through extended lifecycles, such as refurbish, repair, or up-cycle is the final answer. Or whether there is a balanced, ecology-driven approach to embrace sustainability and circular economy principles within the global fashion ecosystem. It is crucial to get answers, developing ideas in a collective effort to unlocking doors to a more sustainable fashion future.

Take action for sustainable and circular fashion. Let’s together explore current state and strategic focus of circular business model operations and innovation to explain the complexity of circular fashion retailing. Whether you are working in the fashion industry or related industries, or technology industry supporting fashion retailing. Whether you are a thought leader, decision maker or influencer around the topic of sustainability. Or you just started to think about sustainability. Be part of the solution. Take part in my research. And bring in your experience through this qualitative research survey.

Want to know more? And take further part in this study. Get in touch with me via LinkedIn.