Transitioning away from fast fashion : exploring the implementation of sufficiency-oriented strategies in the textile industry
Creators: name: Rüegg, Karin
Publisher: name: ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften
Year: 2024
Subjects: 338: Produktion

description: The accelerating demand for natural resources poses challenges to the textile industry’s sustainable development and contributes to the surpassing of the planetary boundaries. Despite efforts to promote sustainability and technological advancements, the average lifespan of clothing items has dropped, while clothing production has increased significantly over the last 15 years. Hence, business-as-usual is no longer viable. The primary focus of prevailing sustainability practices lies in reducing negative impacts through efficiency gains as well as implementing the consistency approach. Although both methods are successful in mitigating negative environmental and social impacts, their effectiveness decreases amid the accelerating production and consumption of textiles. Hence, sufficiency-oriented strategies are needed, which combine efficiency and consistency approaches while embracing slower production and consumption cycles. To enhance understanding of sufficiency-oriented strategies, this paper examines the implementation and drivers of these strategies in the textile industry. 

The paper is grounded in a literature review, which serves as the foundation for exploring sufficiency-oriented strategies in the textile industry. Based on the literature review, ten qualitative interviews with sustainability experts and business founders in the textile industry have been conducted. The interviews have been assessed by applying a combination of an inductive and deductive approach. 

The green alternative strategy emerges as the most implemented sufficiency-oriented strategy and reflects the advantage of gradual changes. However, relying solely on one sufficiency-oriented strategy is insufficient in achieving sustainability objectives. The design adaptation strategy is widely recognized and implemented, albeit not as often as the green alternative strategy. While flexibility drives its adoption, other factors such as its high environmental impact influenced the implementation frequency. Moreover, incremental change supports internal alignment, mitigates risks and allows customers to adjust over time. Next, prioritizing strategies with low barriers yields immediate impact and enhances stakeholder trust. However, it is crucial to complement these strategies with more radical approaches that underpin organizational transformation towards sustainability. Additionally, economic factors significantly influence strategy decisions as income-generating strategies are more commonly implemented. While financial benefits may be modest initially, the non-financial rewards are substantial, including risk reduction and reputation enhancement. However, for a systemic change, more regulatory frameworks are needed. Although these findings enrich the existing literature, further research is essential to thoroughly validate them. This entails not only expanding the sample size but also diversifying the data to encompass a broader range of perspectives.