Fashion Industry: is a Sustainable Future possible? A deep analysis of the Fashion Industry Supply Chain

The purpose of the thesis is to offer a view of the Fashion Industry and its economic, environmental, and social impact. In particular, its Supply Chain will be investigated. The Fashion Industry went through a deep transformation that started at the end of the 20th century and changed the pace that had been one of the pillars of the sector: the fixed calendar of fashion shows has been ousted by a growing number of collections, characterized by cheap and low-quality clothes. One of the main factors that fuelled this huge change has been globalization, that led to the relocation of a big share of the Fashion Industry outside Europe, mainly to Asian countries, favoured by less stringent Labour and Environmental Laws. Customers are more and more considered “consumers”, and the pace at which the industry has been producing and products are being incinerated or landfilled is not supportable and the consequences may even get worse due to the growing population. Despite the beginning of a changing trend has been observed, it is far from being sufficient to transform the Fashion Industry and make it sustainable, achieving an absolute decoupling, breaking the dependence between economic growth and environmental degradation. Supported by recent studies and business cases, the thesis aims to propose different alternatives that can be applied all along the Supply Chain, to reduce the environmental impact of the Industry and make it sustainable, especially through the application of many solutions that have their roots in the Circular Economy. Specifically, the key role of Supply Chain Management in this switch from a linear to circular flow is outlined. In the first part of the thesis, a general view of the Fashion Industry, along with the context and the megatrend in which companies operate, are described. Moreover, the key aspects that are leading the Industry not to mitigate its impacts are discussed. Secondly, three main themes that play an important role for the understanding of the thesis and will be crucial for the future of the Fashion Industry are presented. Lastly, the technological enablers of the transformation proposed in this thesis are described, and a wider view of the key changes that will take place and may lead to a Circular Supply Chain are given.