Modelling environmental value: An examination of sustainable business models within the fashion industry

Abstract

Abstract The business models of enterprises in the global fashion industry produce highly negative outcomes for the environment. High water usage, pollution from chemical treatments used in dyeing and preparation and the disposal of large amounts of unsold stock through incineration or landfill deposits combine to make clothing one of the highest impact industries on the planet. This paper uses the sustainable logics of narrowing, slowing and closing the loop of resources used during the production, design, manufacture and distribution of fashion garments to analyse emerging business models that seek to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion system. Taking the business model conceptualization of an enterprise as a system designed to create value for the customer and capture value for the firm, we add a consideration of environmental value and derive propositions that test the possibility that emerging sustainable business models in fashion will replace the dominant, unsustainable model. The paper argues that lack of scalability, incompatibility with fashion customers value propositions plus obstacles to supply chain changes militate against the prospect of the currently designed sustainable business models becoming the standard model of the fashion industry.