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This article intends to explore critical factors that affect the adoption of organic farming in emerging economies. The authors respond to the calls from policymakers, non-government organizations, business firms and scholars to improve the farmers' awareness of the negative impact of synthetic chemical pesticides, phosphorus, potassium fertilizers and mineral nitrogen used in traditional farming.

Through self-administered survey questionnaires, responses were obtained from 397 farmers (conventional) regarding organic farming adoption in Haryana (India). The survey responses were collected between October 2022 and December 2022. The authors apply the “partial least squares structural equation modeling” (PLS-SEM) to test the framed hypotheses.

The present article demonstrates six critical determinants of organic farming adoption, i.e. behavioral, cultivation, economic, governmental, marketing, and social factors. These six factors drive 71.0% (R²) variation in organic farming adoption. Governmental factors have a positive but insignificant influence on organic farming adoption. Interestingly, the impact of behavioral and cultivation factors is crucial per path coefficient values.

For the first time, the authors conducted a study on organic farming adoption in Haryana that lies in its context-specific implementation, utilization of localized knowledge and expertise, regional policy support, agricultural diversification and community participation. Future research can build upon by adding agriculture scientists to the study to respond to the cost, quality of the crop and impact of socio-economic policies as moderators/mediators on adoption decisions.

Communication about sustainability in fashion is complex. While fashion businesses have increasingly sought to manage their sustainability practices, their understanding of how to communicate about sustainability persuasively remains limited. The authors argue that a key problem with a firm’s efforts in communicating about sustainability is that it is a psychologically distant issue for both businesses and stakeholders. This paper aims to apply construal level theory to explore managers’ construal level in shaping communication about sustainability.

The paper used a two-phase qualitative methodology. Phase one involved undertaking interviews with ten managers in fashion firms to address communications about sustainability in the UK. In phase two, 16 consumers interpreted and reflected on the persuasiveness of communications about sustainability encompassing both concrete and abstract forms of messaging.

The authors identify the factors driving different approaches to communication (concrete and abstract) depending on the construal levels of managers, managers’ perceptions of the construal level of target stakeholders and the perceived authenticity of the sustainability claim. The paper highlights the conditions under which the (mis)match with the brands’ sustainable practices works in crafting communication. The authors also highlight three main communication strategies in responding to the complexity of sustainability in fashion ecosystems: amplification, quiet activist and populist coupling.

As an in-depth qualitative study, the authors seek to expose an under-researched phenomenon, yet generalisations both within the fashion industry and beyond are limited by this focus.

Fashion managers need to be flexible and evaluate how their communications about sustainability affect stakeholders’ evaluations of their brands. As sustainability in fashion brands grows, concrete and specific sustainability messaging may be necessary to improve sustainable behaviours.

The prevailing literature encourages symbiosis between sustainability practices and communications; such relationships are rare, and studies outside the consumer perspective are also rare. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this exploratory study is the first to understand how managers’ construal level influences decisions around communications about sustainability in fashion and how these messages are perceived by consumers.

Drawing on organizational learning and dynamic capabilities literature, this study aims to explore how suppliers from traditional emerging economies (STEE) can acquire, assimilate and use new knowledge essential for the development of production and marketing capabilities. These capabilities then facilitate suppliers in climbing the value chain from B-to-B to B-to-C.

The study adopted a longitudinal and multiple case study design to examine the practices of suppliers operating in a traditional emerging economy setting. This study selected Pakistan textile industry as an empirical setting, which is a predominantly supplier market for global buyers. Data sources entail semi-structured interviews with top executives and senior-level managers in four case firms and secondary data obtained from diverse sources.

The study identified transitionary phases of capabilities development that are facilitated by boundary-spanning knowledge acquisition and transformation in a dynamic manner. These capabilities are essential for a supplier’s entry into downstream international markets (i.e. launching its own products/brands in the end consumers’ market).

The findings could help managers in STEEs to understand the strategic importance of supply chain ties in their learning and capabilities development. It also provides strategic insights on what, how and why involved parties do engage over an extended period of time. Moreover, the findings of this study could help other firms to know and adopt the right type of technology(s) and systems that can help them reduce the technological gap in producing and marketing market-winning products.

This study advances the recent academic discussion that focusses on learning by supplying and the value-chain movement of suppliers (i.e. B-to-C) from their B-to-B engagements. The findings identified the vital and beneficial role of long-term relationships with global value chain partners in learning and capabilities development that led to value creation in the traditional emerging economy.

Increasing industrial agriculture and economic crisis has generated creative responses in pursuit of responsible solutions to the human and environmental cost of globalization by applying these models to promote social responsibility, help sustain livelihoods and foster biodiversity. A key issue concerns how responsible and circular businesses might provide appropriate responses to large-scale “wicked” problems. This paper aims to ask what such creativity looks like in the context of a circular economy that attempts to build closed value loops, by examining a case from the organic cotton textile industry: Appachi Eco-Logic.

This study uses an ethnographic extended-case approach to identify two phases of creative growth at Appachi Eco-Logic, examining how closing the value loop and creating circularity involved broadening the circle to include more and more actors.

This study identifies two major challenges to achieving and maintaining full circularity before concluding with a broad provocation for the study of circular economies.

The case offers insight into fundamental features of circularity, regeneration and redistribution, which can be used by managers to build responsible and sustainable closed value loops.

In the denim industry, enzyme washing and its combination with stone washing are generally used to get the desired worn-out look. However, these conventional methods include high water, energy and time consumption. Nowadays, laser fading, which is a computer-controlled, dry, ecological finishing method, is preferred in the denim fading process. The purpose of this study is to observe the effects of chemical pretreatment applications on laser-faded denim fabric in terms of color and mechanical properties. To eliminate the enzyme washing process in denim fading and to minimize the disadvantages of laser fading, such as decreased mechanical properties and increased fabric yellowness, various chemical pretreatment applications were applied to the denim fabric before laser fading, followed by simple rinsing instead of enzyme washing.

Two different indigo-dyed, organic cotton denim fabrics with different unit weights were exposed to pretreatment processes and then laser treatment, followed by simple rinsing. Polysilicic acid, boric acid, borax and bicarbonate were used for pretreatment processes, and laser treatment was carried out under optimized laser parameters (40 dpi resolution and 300 µs pixel time). Tensile strength was tested, and color values (CIE L*, a*, b*, ΔE*, C* and h), color yield (K/S), yellowness and whiteness indexes were measured to identify the color differences.

Before laser fading, 30 g/L and 40 g/L polysilicic acid pretreatments for sulfur-indigo-dyed fabric and a mixture of 10 g/L boric acid and 10 g/L borax pretreatments for the fabric only indigo-dyed were recommended for the laser fading with sufficient mechanical properties and good color values.

With the chemical pretreatments defined in this study, it was possible to reduce yellowness and maintain the mechanical properties after laser fading, thus minimizing the disadvantages of laser treatment and also eliminating enzyme washing.

Sports fashion is marketed showing happiness, physical performance and self-care. Thus, sports fashion brands should see a good fit with sustainability: future orientation, self-care, care for others and going out for a physical experience, oftentimes in nature. On the other hand, sports fashion is regularly made of non-sustainable materials and produced under difficult work conditions. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned issues.

The paper at hand seeks to investigate sports brands' approach to sustainability by examining their product portfolio and their annual report data, analyzing their status quo and sustainability strategy. A content analysis is conducted employing the brands' annual reports and their online shops as data sources to assess their status quo in terms of sustainability as well as future plans.

Results show that on the ecological side, brands unanimously focus on carbon reduction, organic cotton, recycled polyester, circularity-ready business model innovation and water and toxic waste management. The social aspect may be divided into the focal brand and the supply chain, including similar measures: equality and diversity, the promotion of ethnic and cultural minorities and increased safety and health for workers.

The paper derives development opportunities and pitfalls for sports fashion brands.

Fabrics, which are one of the raw materials of the clothing industry, constitute approximately 40–45% of the total cost of an apparel product. Due to the labor-intensive nature of this industry and failure to apply scientific methods along with the manufacturing processes, the wastes in the raw materials, including fabrics, become higher. Besides, quality deficiencies are encountered due to the same reasons. This study aims to determine the optimum total fabric layer height based on the fabric type during the cutting process with a straight knife cutting machine, which provided a decrease in the cutting errors.

Frequently used fabric types in an enterprise operating in organic cotton knitwear were listed. During the cutting tests, the straight knife cutting machine was used as the cutting device. The weight and thickness values of the fabrics were obtained to provide a comparison basis. Two different algorithms were created to evaluate the defective pieces according to fabric type, cutting height and error placement. Cutting resistances of these fabrics were also determined to evaluate the defect reasons. In the end, optimum total fabric layer count and total cutting height suggestions were proposed for each fabric type for a minimum cutting error.

At the end of this study, the error-free layers were identified per fabric type. At the same time, the optimum cutting height was suggested for each fabric basis. For 40/1 single jersey fabrics, the cutting height should be between 2.10 cm and 10.40 cm; for 30/1 single jersey fabrics, between 1.65 cm and 5.70 cm; for 20/1 single jersey fabrics, between 1.83 cm and 6.70 cm; for two-thread fleece fabrics, between 2.13 cm and 4.70 cm; and for three-thread fleece fabrics, between 0 cm and 4.90 cm.

Within the scope of the study, since the products made of knitted fabric were produced more frequently and in large quantities, the study was carried out with 15 different types of knitted fabrics at 10 different layers. The same methods should be applied for woven, denim and nonwoven fabric types, which would shed light on the following studies.

Due to scarce research carried out on the cutting procedure of the clothing industry in regards to sustainability, this study aims to contribute to this area. The main difference between this study and the studies that mostly make mathematical predictions about the cutting procedure is that it is practice-oriented.

This study aims to investigate the landscape of family-based organic farm businesses in the Kashmir Valley, India, analyzing the factors that either facilitate or hinder their adoption. The research also intends to uncover sources of information seeking. The primary purpose is to provide qualitative evidence to address existing knowledge gaps and offer insights for promoting sustainable farm practices in the region.

The research employs a qualitative approach, drawing on focus group interviews. The study thoroughly explores the background and relevant literature, utilizing a comprehensive research framework. Data is collected from family based farmers engaged in organic farming practices in the Kashmir Valley. The data is analyzed using content analysis ensuring a robust and thorough exploration of the subject matter.

This study reveals a notable transition in the agricultural landscape of the Kashmir Valley, showcasing a widespread adoption of organic farming on considerable land. The study reveals that key facilitators for organic farming among family-based farms are farm productivity, entrepreneurial intention, governance, environmental consciousness, and health concerns. The exchange of information, both through formal and informal channels, is found to be a crucial factor influencing the adoption of organic farming. The study also unveiled significant inhibitors that hinder the adoption of organic farming on commercial scales, including on-farm challenges such as difficulties in acquiring inputs and facing reduced yields, market-related concerns, and a lack of support and assistance from government agencies.

This research contributes significantly to the existing literature by advancing the understanding of organic farm business and agri-entrepreneurship. It unveils key factors that either support or hinder family-based organic farms, identifying crucial information sources and presenting valuable insights for policymakers. Furthermore, this study provides practical guidance for overcoming obstacles, enhancing infrastructure, and translating identified facilitators into successful agri-ventures in the Kashmir region.

The present research had the objectives of proposing, testing and validating a theoretical model that includes ecological awareness, healthy consumption, consumer attitude and price awareness as determinants of the purchase intention of organic foods and analyzing the moderating effect of gender, educational level and income of families in the relationship between price awareness and purchase intention.

A survey research was implemented with 382 Brazilians who consume organic foods from a non-probabilistic sample for convenience. For data analysis, structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed theoretical model and its respective relationships.

The results showed that ecological awareness, healthy consumption, consumer attitude and price awareness are determinants of the purchase intention of organic foods 79.1% of the variance of purchase intention of organic foods could be explained by such determinants. Another relevant result is that gender and family income has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between price awareness and the intention to purchase organic food.

Environmental problems and their adverse impacts on humans have become an important issue to be analyzed by academics (researchers), governments and organizations, and their managers, especially when organic foods are considered.

Synthetic materials have many drawbacks in high-performance garments because they absorb less moisture and cause allergies to sensitive individuals. Cotton materials cannot satisfy all the requirements and cannot provide the required high performance. This study aims to use eco-friendly materials with a common structure to analyse their suitability for high-performance garment application.

This study used two eco-friendly yarns (bamboo, modal and bamboo: modal 50:50) and yarns per needle (two- and four-ply yarns). with a single jersey knit construction and gauge of 7. The physical, mechanical, appearance, comfort, thermal and ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) protection characteristics were evaluated using 15 tests.

The produced knitted fabrics showed high performance for use as garments with physical, mechanical, appearance, comfort, thermal and UPF protection characteristics that were achieved, tested and analysed. The highest-achieved samples with a good UPF (<15) were made from bamboo material, which has other high-performance characteristics such as antibacterial characteristics, a soft surface, thermal insulation and others.

The single jersey structure was used for producing fabrics as it is the common structure in the garment. Also, only gauge 7 was used for its economics and ease of production.