Looking Good and Feeling Green : Exploring drivers and barriers to sustainability initiatives in Swedish fashion SMEs

Abstract: With growing concern around the fashion industry’s socio-environmental impact, the industry has come under intense scrutiny by researchers as well as stakeholders. Research on the industry’s negative impact has focused largely on large, international enterprises, failing to recognize the role of small and medium enterprises. This thesis explores drivers and barriers to the commitment to sustainability initiatives among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Swedish fashion industry. To achieve the aim of the study, semi-structured interviews with SME owner-managers from 11 Swedish small fashion brands were conducted. The data was analyzed using an extended theory of planned behaviour framework.  The study findings identified the influence of customer expectations and market opportunities as drivers while highlighting the role of pro-sustainability ethical values as the most prevalent driver to commitment to sustainability initiatives. Important barriers included lack of resources, supply chain challenges and the challenges of overcoming the dominance of fast fashion consumer behaviours. Despite these barriers, the importance of pro-sustainability ethics was underscored in its potential to overcome many of these barriers.