Sustainable Fashion and Technology: Emerging Opportunities in Research and Practice

Dear Colleagues,

It has been more than two decades since scholars began to explore the topic of sustainability in the fashion industry. One of the key research findings upon which both academia and industry now agree widely is that sustainability can be implemented meaningfully only when it is embedded in the core of a fashion business model. Central to this effort is technological innovation. Without the innovation and system change that make sustainable fashion production and consumption possible, it is challenging to make fashion meaningfully more sustainable.

Technology and innovation as determinants as well as enablers of sustainability have been observed in many industry practices. As a recent example, online clothing resale and renting platforms have been disrupting the fashion retail industry and helping consumers share otherwise underutilized fashion goods. The use of online marketplaces and social networking technologies is at the center of this “sharing” business model. Technology can also play a critical role in determining the fashion supply chain’s transparency and traceability by enabling companies to map suppliers across the different stages of production. Many companies now plan to adopt such technologies as RFID and blockchain to be able to trace fibers’ and materials’ origin to achieve visibility of and accessibility to product information. In addition, when digital technologies such as 3D pattern making and AR/VR are used in the fashion product development process, they can support sustainable business models, as they may reduce physical production’s environmental footprint. Innovations in products and business models also allow circular fashion. An increasing number of apparel companies are now exploring new circular business models, such as customization, repair, renewal, rental, and resale to close the loop in product lifecycles and contribute to a circular economy. 

The purpose of this Special Issue is to invite novel research that explores technology’s and innovation’s roles in achieving sustainability in the fashion industry. In the end, sustainability may be an innovation challenge that requires different technologies, materials, and business systems. We welcome research papers that provide a fresh perspective on sustainable fashion by highlighting responsible innovation and technology that facilitate sustainable fashion business and consumption.

Possible research topics include but are not limited to:

• Sustainable technologies in the fashion industry;
• Circular fashion business strategies, including customization, repair, renewal, rental, and resale;
• Collaborative consumption;
• AR/VR and 3D digital technologies in the product development process;
• Fashion businesses’ transparency and traceability;
• Garment recycling technology;
• On-demand manufacturing;
• Pre-order or pre-sale model for fashion products.

Prof. Hyejune Park
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• sustainable fashion business model
• circular economy
• circular fashion business model
• sustainable technologies