INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY IN FASHION INDUSTRY

Abstract: Abstract This research is designed to see the level of innovativeness of fashion brands in terms of being sustainable. It also aims to find out if there is a relation between business models and innovativeness within sustainability of fashion brands. Following the literature review, desk research, consumer survey and expert interviews are carried out. Desk research is made through web pages of fashion brands and some organizations. The information from the web pages revealed a lot about the current sustainability actions. In this desk research, 10 companies are examined in regard to their sustainability actions, to learn about what has been done and to see what can be considered as innovative in terms of sustainability. Following the desk research, a consumer survey is designed to explore the consumer opinion on the topics of sustainability and innovation. A consumer survey of 100 people is conducted at the Swedish School of Textiles. Due to the need for conscious knowledge about sustainability and innovation, people who studies or works in the textile school is specifically chosen as a cluster. The sample is called “Informed consumers” and is believed to have savvy about innovation and sustainability. How sustainability actions of brands are perceived, how consumers evaluate fashion brands and what they understand from “innovativeness” are some questions explored in the survey. Results are given via frequency distribution charts and maps. Following the survey, 5 interviews are made with contacts from the companies to study the issue also from the perspective of the business world. These expert interviews are verbally structured and are explained within the research. The method of interviews is qualitative research method and the result provides the reader an insight. To propose an assessment method for fashion companies, “The Innovation within Sustainability Index” is constructed. Although this index is inspired by some current environmental index models, the final model is original and includes the consumer perspective as well as author’s own evaluation on the innovative sustainability actions of the fashion companies. The companies which are evaluated in the index are: H&M, Lindex, Gina Tricot, Zara, Acne, Filippa K, Patagonia and Nike. At the end, it was not possible to point out significant relation between business models and innovativeness within sustainability. However, this result may differ when the model is applied to larger samples.