Sustainability as a key asset in establishing differentiation strategies for fa...

• Autor(es): Guedes, Maria da Graça ; Roncha, Ana
• Data: 2011
• Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/15296
• Origem: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Assunto(s): Sustainability; Differentiation; Fashion; Strategy
• Tipo de Documento: Documento de conferência
• Idioma: Inglês

Descrição

In referring to the fashion system or business, we can address to a wide variety of approaches. On an economical and business analysis, fashion can be defined as a cycle that allows to some mature industries, such as clothing, footwear or even cars, to be dynamic and maintain certain profitability over the time. While our attention tends to focus solely on the finished products, we must understand that these are the result of a long chain of stages, activities and technologies whose interaction is largely responsible for the product’s success on the market. Sustainability arises as a main vector of differentiation for fashion brands in today’s world context. In a fast moving industry such as fashion, sustainability is a concept for designers to explore, breaking the grounds for the environmental impact of the production supply, considerations of end uses or the lifecycle of the product. One of the challenges that we can present to fashion brands nowadays is to deliver a blend of both sustainability and elegance in fashion. In an era dominated by economic and financial crises, how can fashion brands coop with this new reality and enhance their differentiation vectors in order to succeed? This paper intends to explore the sustainable business model and strategy for fashion brands towards a more responsible branding, facing the challenges that the new world places upon them.