In today’s world, the increased growth in consumption and production has led to the occurrence of adverse impacts on the environment and societies. Thus, the manufacturing industry has played a significant part in causing environmental and social problems. Among the manufacturing industries, the fashion industry has become one of the most controversial ones. The rise of fast fashion has substantially contributed to the amount of demand. Therefore, consumption of garments by consumers, depletion of resources for production and taking advantage of workforce in foreign countries have significantly increased. However, the customers have become more aware of the consequences of the fashion industry in the last years. Thus, the fashion brands have started adapting sustainability into their supply chains and leaving the linear system approach behind. The main purpose of this thesis was to discover the practices being implemented by sustainable fashion brands. To achieve the objective, a literature review was done as the first step. The impacts of each phase in supply chain were identified to lay a foundation for the framework. Later, 15 sustainable fashion brands were chosen for further analysis of their practices. With the collected data, a classification framework was built which consists of product, process and supply chain stages. Lastly, best practices were determined in each stage of the framework in parallel with the needs of sustainability. According to the findings of the research, there are many trends being implemented by fashion brands lately, which are mainly related to use of sustainable materials, production of products in a sustainable manner and making sure of traceability and transparency of the entire supply chain. Although the trends show a tendency for issues such as organic materials or sustainable processes, best practices prove that there are better alternatives and technologies that can be innovated and implemented by fashion supply chains. In terms of social sustainability, empowering local communities and women will provide job opportunities and better lives for societies in need. Moreover, encouraging customers to participate in circular economy activities will also enhance sustainability in the fashion industry which will also drive the companies to improve themselves and search for better ways to achieve sustainability in fashion supply chains.
Oggi giorno, la crescita del fabbisogno e della produzione ha portato al verificarsi di effetti negativi sull’ambiente e sulla società. L’industria manifatturiera ha giocato un ruolo significativo, infatti risulta essere uno dei principali responsabili dei problemi ambientali e sociali. Tra le industrie manifatturiere, quella della moda è diventata una delle più controverse. La nascita del fast fashion ha sostanzialmente contribuito all’aumento della domanda da parte dei clienti, alla diminuzione delle risorse per la produzione e all’utilizzo di manodopera proveniente dai paesi stranieri. Tuttavia, negli ultimi anni il cliente è diventato più consapevole dei retroscena legati a questo sviluppo. I principali brands della moda hanno incominciato ad introdurre il concetto di sostenibilità all’interno della loro supply chain lasciandosi dietro il classico approccio. Lo scopo principale di questa tesi era quello di evidenziare le pratiche sostenibili che vengono implementate dai diversi brands della moda. Per raggiungere quest’obiettivo innanzitutto è stata condotta un’analisi della letteratura. Gli effetti di ogni fase della filiera produttiva sono stati indentificati per porre le basi dell’elaborato. Successivamente, quindici brands sostenibili della moda sono stati scelti al fine di analizzare le loro procedure. Dopo aver raccolto informazioni, è stata eseguita una classificazione basata su prodotto, processo e fasi della supply chain al termine della quale sono state evidenziate le migliori procedure in parallelo con le esigenze di sostenibilità. Secondo i risultati della ricerca, ci sono molti trends che sono stati recentemente implementati dai brands della moda; questi sono prevalentemente collegati all’uso e alla produzione di materiali sostenibili, prestando particolare attenzione alla tracciabilità e alla trasparenza di tutta la filiera produttiva. Sebbene i trends pongono l’attenzione ai problemi legati ai materiali organici e ai processi sostenibili; alcune pratiche provano che esistono alternative e tecnologie che possono essere implementate nella filiera produttiva del fashion. La sostenibilità sociale, l’emancipazione delle comunità locali, l’opportunità di lavoro per le donne e un miglior stile di vita sono necessarie per le società. Inoltre, incoraggiare i clienti a partecipare in attività di economia circolare rafforzerà la sostenibilità nell’industria della moda la quale guiderà le aziende a migliorare se stesse e a cercare metodi migliori per raggiungere la sostenibilità nella filiera produttiva della moda.
Sustainability integration into fashion supply chains : an analysis of sustainable fashion brands
USTA, ELIF BURCU
2016/2017
Abstract
In today’s world, the increased growth in consumption and production has led to the occurrence of adverse impacts on the environment and societies. Thus, the manufacturing industry has played a significant part in causing environmental and social problems. Among the manufacturing industries, the fashion industry has become one of the most controversial ones. The rise of fast fashion has substantially contributed to the amount of demand. Therefore, consumption of garments by consumers, depletion of resources for production and taking advantage of workforce in foreign countries have significantly increased. However, the customers have become more aware of the consequences of the fashion industry in the last years. Thus, the fashion brands have started adapting sustainability into their supply chains and leaving the linear system approach behind. The main purpose of this thesis was to discover the practices being implemented by sustainable fashion brands. To achieve the objective, a literature review was done as the first step. The impacts of each phase in supply chain were identified to lay a foundation for the framework. Later, 15 sustainable fashion brands were chosen for further analysis of their practices. With the collected data, a classification framework was built which consists of product, process and supply chain stages. Lastly, best practices were determined in each stage of the framework in parallel with the needs of sustainability. According to the findings of the research, there are many trends being implemented by fashion brands lately, which are mainly related to use of sustainable materials, production of products in a sustainable manner and making sure of traceability and transparency of the entire supply chain. Although the trends show a tendency for issues such as organic materials or sustainable processes, best practices prove that there are better alternatives and technologies that can be innovated and implemented by fashion supply chains. In terms of social sustainability, empowering local communities and women will provide job opportunities and better lives for societies in need. Moreover, encouraging customers to participate in circular economy activities will also enhance sustainability in the fashion industry which will also drive the companies to improve themselves and search for better ways to achieve sustainability in fashion supply chains.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/139277