Fashion-as-a-Service: Circular Business Model Innovation in Retail

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to the literature on circular business model innovation in fashion retail. Our research question is which ‘model’ or combination of models—would be ideal as a business case crafting multiple value creation in small fashion retail. We focus on a qualitative, single in-depth case study—pop-up store KLEER—that we operated for a duration of three months in the Autumn of 2020. The shop served as a ‘testlab’ for action research to experiment with different business models around buying, swapping, and borrowing second-hand clothing. Adopting the Business Model Template (BMT) as a conceptual lens, we undertook a sensory ethnography which led to disclose three key strategies for circular business model innovation in fashion retail: Fashion-as-a-Service (F-a-a-S) instead of Product-as-a-Service (P-a-a-S) (1), Place-based value proposition (2) and Community as co-creator (3). Drawing on these findings, we reflect on ethnography in the context of a real pop-up store as methodological approach for business model experimentation. As a practical implication, we propose a tailor-made BMT for sustainable SME fashion retailers.

Circular Textiles – Methods and Results of an Application Test in the Business-to-Business Sector

“…The Ellen MacArthur Foundation [18] broached the issue of producer responsibility. Circular business models in the textile industry have been examined by Arnold et al [19], Furferi [20], Poldner et al [21]. Studies by AFBW [22], ETP Fibres Textiles Clothing [23], Köhler et al [24] are more broadly based and focus on the perspective of a circular textile economy.…”

“…This ever increasing quantity of textiles is linked to serious environmental consequences, namely the textile chain is one of the major global producers of greenhouse gases, with estimates ranging up to 2 a share of 10% 1 . Up to 35% of the microplastics released can be traced back to textiles [5] (p. 21). Clothing accounts for between 2% and 10% of the various environmental impacts of consumption in the European Union [6].…”