• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.34-49
• /
• 2018

Sustainability in fashion pertains to all stages within the product lifecycle, starting with the procurement of raw materials and ending with the disposal of the product. To clarify, the Lifecycle Management (LCM) views the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) from the perspective of a product's lifecycle. Sustainable products are identified based on their lifecycle, causing public attention to turn towards Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). As of now, PLM is largely known to have a strong impact on New Product Development (NPD). As such, the objective of this research is to study how PLM-based sustainable NPD models, when applied to the fashion industry, can produce a wide understanding of sustainable fashion products from a variety of angles. In order to achieve the research objective, this study did a selective case study on 20 sustainable fashion brands; conducted 1:1 in-depth interviews with 24 fashion experts, including both sustainable and non-sustainable experts; and took part in participant observation of 5 sustainable fashion brands. The results of the study indicate that there are specific conditions that must be met at each stage of production for the development of sustainable products by fashion brands. However, due to the lack of technological skills and the dearth of sustainability experts within the organization, management, monitoring and systematic collection of data is not properly implemented - leading to problems with the quantification of crucial data. This study aims to further forward the debate regarding the development of sustainable fashion products and its future implications.