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The purpose of this paper is to examine what the term sustainable fashion means from the perspective of micro-organisations, experts, and consumers.

This research is qualitative in nature, utilising a multi-methods case study approach (semi-structured interviews, semiotics, questionnaires). Grounded analysis was applied to analyse the data.

Findings indicate that interpretation of sustainable fashion is context and person dependent. A matrix of key criteria provides the opportunity to find common elements.

Due to the nature of this research the sample size is limited and may not be generalised. Data were collected in the UK and are limited to a geographical region.

An important implication is that defining sustainable fashion is vital in order to avoid challenges, such as greenwashing, which were faced in other industries that have a longer history in sustainable practices. Micro-organisations should take advantage of identifying key sustainable fashion criteria, which will enable them to promote their fashion collections more effectively.

The criteria identified provide assurance for consumers that sustainable fashion is produced with social aspects in mind (fair wages, good working conditions).

The paper proposes a matrix that allows micro-organisations to clearly identify their collections as sustainable.

Seeking ways towards a sustainable future is the most dominant socio-political challenge of our time. Marketing should have a crucial role to play in leading research and impact in sustainability, yet it is limited by relying on cognitive behavioural theories rooted in the 1970s, which have proved to have little bearing on actual behaviour. This paper aims to interrogate why marketing is failing to address the challenge of sustainability and identify alternative approaches.

The constraint in theoretical development contextualises the problem, followed by a focus on four key themes to promote theory development: developing sustainable people; models of alternative consumption; building towards sustainable marketplaces; and theoretical domains for the future. These themes were developed and refined during the 2018 Academy of Marketing workshop on seeking sustainable futures. MacInnis’s (2011) framework for conceptual contributions in marketing provides the narrative thread and structure.

The current state of play is explicated, combining the four themes and MacInnis’s framework to identify the failures and gaps in extant approaches to the field.

This paper sets a new research agenda for the marketing discipline in quest for sustainable futures in marketing and consumer research.

Approaches are proposed which will allow the transformation of the dominant socio-economic systems towards a model capable of promoting a sustainable future.

The paper provides thought leadership in marketing and sustainability as befits the special issue, by moving beyond the description of the problem to making a conceptual contribution and setting a research agenda for the future.

Currently, fashion rental is suggested as being a way to bring about sustainability in the fashion industry. Although there has been some success for brands in this space, as of yet fashion rental remains a niche form of consumption. This study aims to uncover consumer perspectives of fashion rental to identify opportunities for developing a fashion rental business that meets the needs of current consumers.

This is a qualitative study utilising semi-structured interviews combined with brainstorming and drawing exercises. Interviews were conducted with 17 women and three men.

Findings indicate that considerations around fashion rentals are utilitarian in nature focussing on functional benefits rather than more hedonistic ones. A spectrum of products that people would be most interested in renting is given.

Although the study invited male and female participants, the sample is more female-heavy, which may reflect the fact that women tend to be more open to alternative modes of consumption.

An important implication is that asking consumers to rent clothing requires a significant change in mindset. Brands need to ensure that their services “make sense” for the consumer to consider it as a viable alternative to purchasing new clothing.

This paper proposes a spectrum of fashion items that consumers may be interested in renting; this aims to help brands develop services that meet consumer needs.

The purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese consumers’ motivations to purchase luxury fashion products in the UK and how far sustainability plays a role in the decision-making process, by extending the consumer typology of translators, exceptors, selectors. The authors further add an additional dimension to defining “luxury”.

An exploratory design utilising multiple qualitative research tools (semi-structured interviews, focus groups) provides the basis for this research. A grounded analysis was applied.

Findings map motivational drivers to purchasing luxury products and establish a fourth consumer type “indulgers”. Well-being further emerged as a key characteristic that defines “luxury”.

The sample size is limited to Chinese consumers purchasing luxury fashion in the UK, and thus may not be generalised.

This research helps managers to understand the consumer types and underlying motivations of Chinese consumers purchasing luxury fashion in the UK. As one of the largest target groups, this research informs managers on how to further capitalise on this market.

This paper creates a new consumer typology that not only categorises consumers according to their consumption aspects, but further identifies their underlying motivations to do so.

The purpose of this paper is to explore swap-shops, which emerged as part of the collaborative consumption phenomenon, by investigating what the implications are of consumers acting as suppliers and how this affects supply chain management within the context of the fashion industry.

This study explores the collaborative consumption phenomenon through swap-shops in three countries: the UK, Finland and Germany. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with swappers, non-swappers and organisers. To further enhance the data set six observations of swap-shop events were conducted. Data were transcribed and analysed using multiple coding cycles and using a grounded research approach.

Findings indicate that consumers were most concerned with availability/sizing and quality of garments, whilst organisers felt uncertainty was the biggest issue. Data allowed creating a framework that blueprints the swapping supply chain, in which consumers emerge as suppliers. It highlights possible activities in different cycles, whilst furthermore indicates that consumption cycles can move from monetary (e.g. selling) to non-monetary transactions (e.g. swapping) and vice versa.

Swapping as a relatively new fashion supply mode implies a fluidity of market roles. Disruptive business models can blur boundaries between the supply- and demand-side. This indicates that consumers can change “roles” multiple times as they go through the consumption cycle.

The authors extended the knowledge on swapping by describing how this phenomenon can activate consumers, and extend and intensify the use of garments and therefore swapping can slow the material throughput in the system. It is the first paper to focus solely on swapping within a three country context.

This research investigates sustainable knowledge from a consumer perspective, thereby focussing on the issue of microfibre pollution (MFP) within the context of the athleisure wear industry.

This research is exploratory in nature and supports its findings with 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with consumers who have an invested interest in athleisure wear and have either a fashion or a textile science background.

The results provide an insight into how different types of knowledge influence one another and which ones can act as barriers to acting more sustainably and more specifically in reducing MFP.

Although the sample size is relatively small, participants were selected carefully to have different backgrounds and lifestyles, thus, providing valuable insights that can be explored further in the future.

Communication is a key issue that has been identified and which needs to be carefully addressed by providing both quantity and quality.

This research identifies interlinks between different knowledge types and potential barriers that need to be overcome in order to act more sustainably.

This paper aims to analyse the practical applicability of integrated marketing communications (IMC) to micro-organisations operating in the UK’s fashion industry, focusing specifically on the use of online platforms.

Qualitative methodological tools including semi-structured interviews, semiotics, Twitterfeed and Facebook analysis are used to examine to what extent micro-organisations apply IMC.

The findings suggest that these micro-organisations have a limited understanding of IMC. Although they utilise various channels, including social media, there is a disconnect between reaching the audience, understanding their needs and linking these aspects. External factors influence the use of various communication channels, leading to further fragmentation of sent messages.

This research focuses on five micro-organisations within the fashion industry and thus may be seen as limited in nature. Whilst implications of the findings are discussed in terms of their impact to the wider industry and other sectors, this needs to be further researched.

Micro-organisations are underdeveloped in terms of both IMC and social media and require practical advice.

This study investigates two under-researched areas, IMC in micro-organisations and the use of social media within IMC, thereby moving forward our understanding of IMC in practice.

Given that slow fashion is a movement that develops a comprehensive understanding of sustainable fashion and it is little explored in the Brazilian academic field, this study aims to analyze the influence of empowerment and materialism on slow fashion consumption.

Data were collected via an online survey, and quantitative methods were applied to analyze the sample of 306 clothing consumers from Fortaleza, the 5th largest Brazilian city and capital of the State of Ceará, which ranks fifth in the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Chain Billing Ranking.

In general, empowerment had a positive influence on slow fashion consumption. On the other hand, materialism positively influenced only one orientation toward slow fashion (exclusivity).

As a limitation of the study, the lack of a specific scale to measure consumer empowerment stands out. In addition, the sample was restricted to consumers from Fortaleza, thus results might differ for different locations.

The study provides managerial implications related to how strategies of empowerment can be incorporated by slow fashion companies into their marketing programs, such as more active consumer involvement in product co-creation processes.

This study contributes to the construction of theoretical and empirical knowledge on slow fashion, from its association with constructs such as empowerment and materialism. Furthermore, a conceptual model involving all relations found between the factors of the three constructs has been proposed.

To develop compelling augmented reality (AR) experiences, this paper aims to examine AR value to physical fashion retail, defines the most effective form (e.g. app vs magic mirror) and assesses AR’s impact on consumer behaviour.

This study comprises two phases. Phase one conducted three co-design workshops with 15 participants (aged 18–34) to evaluate current shopping modes and discover design opportunities. Phase two designed two AR prototypes (AR Branded App and Magic Mirror) and evaluated the prototypes through experience prototype experiments with 42 participants.

Participants have a positive attitude towards AR shopping adoption, improving consumer satisfaction and boosting purchase intention. AR technology can be the value in enjoyment to make the shopping experience more fun. However, no participants thought entertainment would trigger their intention to use AR. Therefore, designing useful AR apps that provide substantial functional benefits with enjoyment-oriented elements will encourage consumers to engage in high-street physical retail. In this way, consumers can interact with products and receive more information. AR can help luxury brands tell a story from a hedonic perspective, enabling consumers to engage with the story while maintaining human interaction to ensure an elevated level of service quality.

This study devises six design requirements to guide innovators and retailers in creating AR retail environments that satisfy their customer’s desires.