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The Emergence of New Business Models to Foster Sustainability: Applying Technology to Revise the Fashion Industry

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Abstract

New service offerings, moving away from individual ownership towards access-based consumption, are rapidly evolving, addressing changing customer needs of sustainability concerns. Thereby, advancements of digital technologies enable new business models to evolve allowing for innovative forms of resource allocation. This chapter investigates the role of innovative businesses on sustainable development including two case studies.

A thorough literature review on current trends in digital technology and consumption modes is presented. Specifically, different concepts of access-based services and collaborative consumption are discussed. Furthermore, this research is complemented by two case studies from the fashion industry, namely the companies “MUD Jeans” and “Filippa K”, to illustrate theoretical considerations of short-term rental and long-term leasing in a practical context.

Overall, it becomes clear that pioneering businesses in the fashion industry allow for new forms of value creation, including a variety of stakeholders. The two exemplary cases show that future-oriented companies can not only enhance customer value but also profit economically while reducing their negative environmental impact. Thus, our research corresponds to the shift from classical goods-dominant logic towards service-dominant logic, considering the change in assumptions made about value creation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    All information is based on Filippa K (2018), unless otherwise indicated.

  2. 2.

    All case information is based on Mud Jeans (2018), unless otherwise indicated.

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Correspondence to Nina Bürklin .

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Bürklin, N., Risom, K. (2020). The Emergence of New Business Models to Foster Sustainability: Applying Technology to Revise the Fashion Industry. In: Vignali, G., Reid, L.F., Ryding, D., Henninger, C.E. (eds) Technology-Driven Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15483-7_4

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