ESG issues are increasingly critical in the business landscape, with mounting institutional and stakeholder pressures driving firms' ESG activity. Deploying digital technologies can enhance ESG performance. This study conceptualizes and empirically tests a Technology-Enabled ESG Integration Framework, which explains how firms integrate Industry 4.0 and 5.0 technologies into global supply chain operations to enhance ESG performance. Using twelve case studies from the textiles, apparel, and luxury goods sector, we apply fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to examine multiple pathways that lead to strong ESG outcomes. The quality of ESG-focused technology integration, rather than the breadth of adoption, drives ESG performance, and technologies only generate ESG impact when strategically aligned with human-centric and dimension-specific objectives. Findings also highlight the central role of feedback mechanisms and configurational logic, revealing that different capability combinations can produce equivalent outcomes, and that integrated feedback systems are essential for sustaining ESG performance in global supply chains.

This Special Issue examines ethics in fashion to further critical understanding of the various drivers and barriers, nuances and layers of complexity in fashion production, marketing, and consumption, and aims toward a more future-oriented perspective through the lens of ethics. Research on ethical issues in fashion is growing but is fragmented across diverse domains, from supply chain and operations management, to psychology and sociology, to marketing and consumption. Furthermore, there has been only a peripheral focus on ethics and limited application of ethical theories or frameworks to fashion’s ethical dilemmas. This Special Issue brings together diverse domains and unpacks salient ethical issues using the lens of ethical theories and frameworks to advance theory development on balancing social justice with environmental responsibility, decision-making in ethical situations, and newer forms of greenwashing and consumerism. The selected papers use varied methodologies and offer novel insights across different global contexts.

Fast fashion, as a continuously growing part of the textile industry, is widely criticized for its excessive resource use and high generation of textiles. To reduce its environmental impacts, numerous efforts are focused on finding sustainable and eco-friendly approaches to textile recycling. However, waste textiles and fibers are still mainly disposed of in landfills or by incineration after their service life and thereby pollute the natural environment, as there is still no effective strategy to separate natural fibers from chemical fibers. Herein, a green chemistry strategy is developed for the separation and regeneration of waste textiles at the molecular level. Cellulose/wool keratin composite fibers and multicomponent fibers are regenerated from waste textiles via a green chemical process. The strategy attempts to reduce the large amount of waste textiles generated by the fast-developing fashion industry and provide a new source of fibers, which can also address the fossil fuel reserve shortages caused by chemical fiber industries and global food shortages caused by natural fiber production.

Purpose Fashion retailers have increasingly adopted consumer-facing in-store technology (CFIT) to enhance the customer experience/service provision. This paper aims to explore managerial experiences and sociotechnical implications of introducing these technologies into organizational working processes. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on interpretive analysis of semi-structured interviews with 74 senior fashion retail industry practitioners, technology providers and consultants to understand managerial perspectives on technological innovation issues. Findings Endogenous and exogenous factors act as drivers or barriers to CFIT adoption and are influenced by strategic and tactical motives. Key issues that retail managers encounter include challenges in aligning technology implementation with retailer brand image to manage risk and reputation, with additional complexity arising from different internal and/or external actors involved, as well as required levels of change in organizational structure. Originality/value This study contributes an empirically derived framework identifying reasons for – and the drivers/barriers influencing – fashion retailers' CFIT adoption, classifying three broad approaches to CFIT adoption: embedded, transformative and opportunistic.

The fashion industry produces over 92 million tonnes of textile waste per year

Purpose This paper synthesises peer-reviewed published journal articles on augmented reality in retail settings to ascertain the current foci of academic research in this nascent area and develop a conceptual framework to form the basis for a future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach Thematic analysis was conducted on a sample of 76 papers published between 1997 and 2020 identified through a systematic search of high quality peer-reviewed papers. Findings Three major research avenues and theoretical bases emerged: AR adoption-based factors with technology acceptance models, AR user experience design and features that influence consumer behaviour, and AR shopping experience and value theory. The resultant S-O-R-based conceptual framework highlights the functional and experiential elements needed for an effective consumer AR experience, which could be implemented by retailers seeking to engage consumers with an augmented shopping experience and make AR applications financially viable. Originality/value This is the first systematic literature review on AR in retail settings to include multiple disciplinary perspectives (HCI and marketing/management) and research methodologies.

Fashion supply chains are characterised by pressure for low cost and short lead times and face increasing requirements for social and environmental compliance. Hence, fashion retailers have recognised a greater need for collaborating with competitors in upstream supply chain activities, despite competing against each other downstream in the marketplace. This notion of ‘coopetitive’ relationships, a nascent research area, motivated this paper’s case study of six UK-headquartered fashion companies to explore how and why they engage in areas of coopetition interaction and their management of inherent tensions in these relations. Capacity sharing, communication and information sharing, and building relationships/partnerships emerged as motives. The companies exhibited a processual approach to coopetition against a challenging landscape of institutional tensions, which included retailer pressure and organisational structures. Despite risks of opportunism, coopetition was found to be a useful strategy and highly influential for competitive advantage and sustainability in this volatile and dynamic industry sector.

The textile industry is responsible for a significant amount of global CO2 emissions, exceeding those from several other sectors such as international aviation and shipping. This article outlines the reasons for the textile industry’s contribution to climate change along with an overview of current trends. Finally, it outlines several measures to reduce its carbon footprint.

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This chapter conceptualises luxury fashion as a cultural phenomenon by exploring the perspectives and lived experiences of contemporary consumers who determine China's luxury market dynamics. It questions the predominant assumption that Chinese consumers are passive adopters of imported Western luxury consumption values and illustrates the complexity inherent in the Chinese consumer experience, highlighting their potential as proactive value creators. Chinese consumers characterise luxury fashion in financial, conspicuous, functional and hedonic terms (Shukla and Purani in Journal of Business Research 65:1417–1424, 2012; Shukla et al. in Marketing Letters 26:265–278, 2015), but also imbue it with a unique contextual value that reflects the socio-cultural realm of their worlds. They see luxury fashion as a 'symbol of the West' and the 'art of life' they should aspire to, but its growing accessibility has caused some disorientation and alienation.

PurposeThis paper reviews the literature on environmentally sustainable practices in textile, apparel and fashion (TAF) industries to allow the mapping of practices across various manufacturing processes and the development of a conceptual framework to guide investigation of the extent of sustainable practices in TAF industries from an environmental perspective.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review was undertaken, consisting of bibliometric and content analysis of 91 articles published in peer-reviewed journals over a 10-year period.FindingsThe inclusion of sustainable practices from all manufacturing stages in this review illustrates the diversity and complexities of environmental practices in TAF contexts. However, there is less research in developing country contexts, where most TAF production takes place and a paucity of research in upstream stages of garment washing and dyeing, and the manufacture of trims, accessories and packaging.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus is on environmental sustainability and upstream manufacturing processes. The review includes literature in the form of academic journal articles from selected databases during the period January 2010–June 2020.Practical implicationsThis review provides academics with a unified depiction of environmentally sustainable practices to stimulate further scholarly research and provides guidance for managers to develop firm sustainability competency by summarising best practices at different manufacturing stagesOriginality/valueThis review comprehensively maps the academic literature on environmentally sustainable practices in TAF industries from an upstream manufacturing operations context. It highlights the contribution of scholarly study to the knowledge base on environmentally sustainable practices in TAF industries.

This paper critically examines the ethical issues of current and predicted adoption of AI within fashion. AI is a branch of computer science that combines machine learning, logic and natural language processing to emulate human intelligence. By processing vast amounts of data and recognising patterns in the data, AI produces insights and analytics at or above human capability (IEEE 2017). It has been applied to fashion in trend forecasting, personalisation, customer interaction and the use of CGI models. For example, Amazon developed "Echo Look" which combines computer vision with predictive AI and human analysis to assess a consumer's current wardrobe choices and provide recommendations of what to wear. Users can ask the machine to rate two different possible outfits in terms of current trends and actual appearance (Gibbs 2017). Online styling subscription Stitch Fix uses machine learning algorithms to determine its customers' preferred styles and offer personalised recommendations. AI has also been developed to mimic the role of social media influencers and models. CGI character "Miquela" has 1.6 million Instagram followers, collaborates with luxury brands and launched her own clothing brand, but is not a real person. There is a dedicated digital modelling agency (Davis 2018). Such innovations are likely to further inflame the ongoing ethical debate about using digital technologies and virtual reality at the risk of opportunities for real people, for example diminishing already scarce opportunities for black models (Graham 2018), or introducing norms of artificial appearance and personal aesthetics impossible for 'real' people to achieve. AI has the potential to revolutionise fashion through greater precision, accuracy and effectiveness in decision-making, but at what cost? To what extent can and should AI replicate and replace human creativity and presence in an industry sector founded on human input in creating new trends? Yet, AI that predicts garment suitability and offers greater customisation for consumers may reduce waste and over-consumption (Snow 2017). Producing items which have greater relevance could reduce returns, markdowns and warehouse space, plus increase customer satisfaction and experience. Automating repetitive tasks could save money and time for greater value-added activities, for example through the use of chatbots for online customer service. This paper applies the lens of CSR to inform the debate on whether core fashion retailing functions can and should be replaced by AI. A CSR approach argues for businesses assuming social responsibilities beyond any economic, technical and legal obligations which constitute its existence, with the objective of reconciling economic, social and environmental objectives (Davis 1973).

For luxury fashion brands, building brand awareness and image is paramount (Atwal and Williams 2017; Heine 2012). The increased use of social media marketing (SMM) among luxury fashion brands has led to the interest in analysing the effectiveness of SMM activities (Godey et al. 2016; Kim and Ko 2012). Saudi Arabia symbolises a robust potential market for international luxury fashion brands as a lucrative market (Chalhoub-Group 2017). Saudi females in particular are renowned for their high disposable incomes, use of social media to find about latest trends, and are eager to purchase luxury fashion brands (Redvers 2016). Due to limit of literature in understanding how Saudi female consumers perceive and respond to luxury fashion brands’ SMM activities in conservative society, the present study serves as groundwork to explore the subject matter in Saudi Arabia. Based on semi-structured interviews with Saudi female luxury fashion consumers, who follow luxury fashion brands on social media, the study helps to address gaps in prior social media branding literature. Specifically, the study indicates perceived luxury fashion brands’ SMM activities are composed of four factors, and they are labelled as trendiness, social role and image, irritation and value corruption. Consumers behaviourally expressed a negative response to the content when it is not appropriate to Saudi society by skipping the content, avoid purchasing from the brand, stop following the brand on social media, or sharing negative WOM. This exploratory study contributes a fundamental knowledge that makes explicit how SMM activities impact upon important branding goals of generating favourable consumers’ behavioural response. From managerial standpoint, SMM strategies ought to consider content that is trendy and stimulating social role and image to generate positive consumers’ responses. The findings also mean that luxury fashion brands should ensure that social media content is appropriate to Saudi society and consumers’ values to avoid negative consumers’ response.