New Business and Governance Approaches to Sustainable Fashion: Learning from the Experts

Abstract

This chapter summarizes and integrates the findings and ideas of managers, entrepreneurs, scientists and political experts presented in this edited volume on sustainable fashion governance and new management approaches. They share their best practice experience relating to the joint goal of a more sustainable, humanistic, and responsible fashion industry. We find, that circular thinking is at the core of many leading business approaches to sustainability. A second core topic is the supply chain and the fundamental question of how decent and human working conditions can be realized in the global economy. While audit-oriented, control-based forms of management used to be prevailing industry approaches, we can now observe a trend towards more transparency focused and impact and collaboration oriented forms of supply chain governance. Besides these market and business driven initiatives, governments have increasingly been putting their focus on international supply chains as well. While business practice as well as state governance both seem to be promising approaches to today’s challenges in international value creation processes, neither of the two is currently sufficient to solve all relating social and environmental issues alone. The transformation of the sector requires concerted action of businesses, governments, NGOs, and consumers to clearly demonstrate a coalition for change and a willingness and power to end inhumane and unsustainable business practices in the twenty-first century.