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Australians consume twice the global average of textiles and are deeply engaged in a linear take/make/waste fashion model. Furthermore the Australian fashion sector has some unique supply chain complications of geographical distances, sparse population and fragmentation in processing and manufacturing. This research aims to examine how Australian fashion small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are overcoming these challenges to run fashion businesses built around core principles of product stewardship (PS) and circularity.

SMEs make up 88% of the Australian apparel manufacturing sector. This qualitative exploratory study included in-depth interviews with three Australian fashion SMEs engaged in circular design practice, and a focus group of 10 Western Australian fashion advocates of sustainability. Analytic coding and analysis of the data developed eight distinct themes.

This study examines the barriers to circular economy (CE) that exist in the Australian fashion sector, and maps the practice of Australian SMEs with circular business models in overcoming these barriers. In CE innovation, Australian SMEs may have an advantage over larger fashion companies with more unwieldy structures. Employing design-thinking strategies, Australian SMEs with a foundation of PS and circular purpose are creating new systems of viable closed-loop business models and design processes.

The themes from this research contribute to the limited literature on circular innovation examples that link CE theory with practice in the fashion sector. The model for circularity maps the practice of three SMEs built around core principles of PS and circularity in overcoming the barriers to CE in an Australian context, and may be used as a visual tool in education and understanding.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

The Australian fashion industry is currently focused on linear, cheap, short lifecycle products. SMEs are now looking to adopt circular economic models in order to change this.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

In recent years, consumers have been demanding for sustainable practices, even more so after COVID-19, so fashion companies need to intensify their commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. However, although the sector is characterized by a strong brand–customer orientation and high online activity, little attention has been paid to the role of brand image and the management of social media (SM) strategies. The purpose of this study was to develop an integrative model that includes the drivers of CSR in fashion small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their relationship with business performance. The researchers also analyzed the country and level of internationalization effects of these companies.

With a sample of 212 fashion SMEs from Spain and the UK, two of the biggest European fashion producers and consumers, a variance-based structural equation modeling (partial least squares structural equation modeling) technique was carried out to test the model proposed.

This study demonstrated that branding and SM strategies are drivers of CSR practices in fashion SMEs. It also confirmed the positive CSR–performance relationship, the moderating country effect and the mediating role of internationalization in this relationship.

The study contributes to the literature on CSR drivers in SMEs and their relationship with performance by combining different perspectives. The results can be used to encourage fashion SMEs' commitment to environmental sustainability practices and internationalization, as this can contribute to improving their performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges facing the Australian fashion industry (textile, clothing and footwear or TCF sector). Just at the point where Australian fashion has achieved international attention for its distinctive design practice, the industry is on the point of collapse. Since the 1980s, radical re-structuring aimed at reducing industry protection to encourage greater international competitiveness and innovation. Key policies have included tariff reduction, new forms of industry assistance, new manufacturing techniques, changing retail forms, and reform of employment and workplace conditions.

Overview of recent trends in the Australian fashion industry due to industry policies and the effects of globalisation.

Severe decline in industry viability.

Important multifaceted analysis of the state of the industry and tracking of effects of government policies.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a new approach for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Australia to engage in sustainable trade with China through the use of Sister City relationships. The reason for writing this paper is to address this research gap with the aim of influencing government policy at the national and the local level.

The main methods used is a historical literature review, a critical review of the effectiveness of the Sister City relationships and an examination of a special Sister City relationship between Latrobe City in Australia and the Chinese city of Taizhou.

Throughout the course of the paper it was established that Sister City relationships had been insufficiently utilized as commercial facilitators and especially SMEs in regional Australia. This was especially evident in terms of trade relations with China.

This conceptual paper will require further research at different levels. Future research should establish what Australian sister cities with China are actually doing and how a more focused relationship utilizing SMEs in their territory might be utilized. This is clearly a limitation with this conceptual paper, which it is hoped will be overcome with new research planned by the authors.

The practical implications emerging from this paper is that Sister City relationships can be refocused from their current role to becoming structurally integrated into trade facilitators for SMEs in pursuing trade with China. Most Sister City relationships do not have a trade focus in the first instance. As a result of this paper we are hoping that local government policy makers and state government trade facilitators will see Sister City relationships in a new light.

This paper brings to attention cases of Sister City relationships which have gravitated towards a trade focus (an exception like Latrobe City) in which results are already evident. A paper of this kind is directed at governments at all levels as well as SMEs who wish to work better with government.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of brands on small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) performance in the fashion industry, trying also to shed light on the different effect that corporate and product brands may produce.

The approach uses cross-sectional time series regression to investigate the relationship between trademarks and sales, controlling for firm size. A purposive sampling technique is adopted, focusing on a sample of Italian SMEs in the fashion industry.

Results indicate that trademarks do have a positive impact on SMEs' performance in the fashion industry, and in particular corporate trademarks seem to be effective in producing a sales increase, while product trademarks do not.

The main limit of this research is that no variable mediating the relationship between trademarks and performance was considered. Furthermore, the number of trademarks may not capture all the dimensions of brand.

The most important aspect is that SME managers in the fashion industry could benefit from a trademarking strategy; in particular, investments in building a strong corporate brand, thus concentrating SMEs' effort, instead of having many different product brands, seems to create greater effect in the minds of consumers, and thus result in sales increases.

This paper is one of first attempts to shed light on the issue regarding the association between SMEs' branding strategy and performance. Moreover, the distinction between corporate and product brands represents an innovative element in this type of study.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the status of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility in fashion enterprises in Vietnam.

This paper is qualitative in nature and utilized a multiple case study approach (questionnaires and face-to-face interviews) to achieve the objectives of the research. NVivo was used to analyze the data.

Findings showed that by collaborating with the local artisans to create the unique clothing lines, the fashion brands try to blend and upscale the traditional indigenous clothing styles with modern design concepts to promote the diversity of Vietnamese ethnic culture. The findings also suggest that both the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises (LEs) should maintain their corporate social responsibility (CSR) concepts to comply with the legal obligations such as salary and welfare benefits for employees, work safety, gender equality and promotions. Further, the CSR activities should address the social issues with their target stakeholders, particularly with the local communities.

This study sought to provide a snapshot on the current sustainable practices followed in Vietnamese fashion enterprises.

Despite several contributions to greenhouse gas emission and carbon footprint reduction, the literature lacks empirical insights into the business impact of climate risks, when they materialize, and techniques to manage them. This study aims to devise a model delving into critical climate risks and the role of consortia and social capital to mitigate these risks.

A mixed-methods approach was used, including qualitative and quantitative data from small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an Australian agrifood supply chain (AFSC).

The qualitative analysis uncovers four critical climate risks and a repertoire of relational, structural, and cognitive social capital accrued by SMEs of AFSC through consortia. The quantitative analysis corroborates that the SMEs that accumulate higher social capital through active engagement within consortia are able to respond more effectively to climate risks than to others. The authors, therefore, find that climate risk mitigation in SMEs is the function of both association (consortia) membership and the accrual of higher social capital through active involvement and collaboration within networks.

This is the first study in using a moderated-moderation model that simultaneously investigates the business impact of climate risks and how the moderating impact of consortia (a primary moderator) is further moderated by social capital (a secondary moderator) in explaining SMEs performance. The paper addresses the lack of adequate empirical research, particularly mixed-methods, in supply chain risk management literature.

This paper aimed to evaluate the differences in the use and knowledge of export promotion programs (EPPs) between Brazilian SMEs that internationalized early and SMEs that internationalized in a gradual, traditional fashion. Additionally, it tested hypotheses that distinguish these two types of SME internationalization processes in an emerging market context.

The authors tested four hypotheses in a sample of 540 SME Brazilian exporters. The sample was divided into two groups according to the born global (BG) criteria: 379 SMEs with gradual or traditional internationalization (TI) and 161 SMEs with early internationalization (EI).

The results indicate that Brazilian EI SMEs operate in more countries and continents than TI SMEs. In emerging countries such as Brazil, the domestic market continues to play an important role both for SMEs that internationalize early and those whose process is slower. Even though logistic regression could not classify the sample of TI and EI SMEs according to their knowledge about EPPs, the results led to the idea that EI SMEs currently use more specific EPPs than do TI SMEs.

Managers of successful SMEs from emerging markets need to incorporate EPPs into their internationalization strategy. In emerging markets with large domestic markets, SME managers can meet their growth needs by exploiting opportunities in both domestic and international markets.

Research on the early internationalization of SMEs has long focused on SMEs from developed markets and on internal factors. Moreover, the effects of EPPs on the firm' performance of large and SME firms has also been the subject of study. The value of this paper relies on the intersection of EPPs and the early internationalization of SMEs, even for firms in developed markets.