The fashion industry is recognized among the most impactful industries in relation to environmental and social damage due to unsustainable models. While countless research studies focus on the supply chain and product innovation, the presented inquiry studies the fashion retail sector with the goal of systematizing existing sustainable practices based on service offerings. We present the results of an extensive case-study analysis conducted on 370 initiatives of different natures gathered among international companies and local actors in the European context that offer services oriented toward sustainability. As a result, we propose an ontology that encompasses three areas (services for environmental sustainability, culture of sustainability, and implementation of social sustainability) and comprehensively describes existing sustainability strategies for helping retailers preserve the environment, while promoting socially inclusive practices and disseminating the culture of sustainability. The innovation of retailing from a similar perspective aims at rendering businesses more resilient to survive market and social transformations, especially in consideration of the boost to sustainable and circular transformation advocated by recent European legislation.

Digitization has changed the way individuals build relationships, work, and consume. Such changes have affected the fashion industry in significant ways, revealing a whole series of new practices, not only regarding the design and manufacturing processes but also modifying how products are displayed, distributed, and consumed. In the age of connectivity and technological innovation, a dematerialized economy is being shaped based on rethought consumption patterns and solutions to reduce energy demand. New concepts come together aiming at the possibility of economic development supported by sustainable social and environmental practices. Regarding this, the fashion industry has relatively recently embraced the dematerialization of fashion products, exploring different paths and opportunities that multiply the possibilities of relationships with the consumer and on the other promotes more sustainable and valuable processes. Since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, luxury brands and large retailers invested in the incorporation of new technologies, especially regarding the digitization of clothing, where multi-million partnerships between fashion brands and the games industry in the development of skins for electronic games proved to be a promising investment. In addition, for many companies, the adoption of 3D design and computer graphics software for the creation, modelling and prototyping processes represents an optimization in the workflow, increasing productivity, efficiency and reducing the environmental impact. The boundaries between the physical and the digital seem to be progressively being blurred, offering new experiences to users. In these circumstances, the Digital Twins technology, already adopted by other industries, is now starting to find its place in the fashion system, showing a potentially disruptive impact on traditional retail and communication channels that pass from omnichannel to phygital up to a new hybrid reality. Considering the range of applications and usability opened by the digitalization of fashion, the emergence of new technologies (AI, VR, MX, Digital Twins) and the complexity of new challenges and impositions faced by the design field, the present paper aims to define innovative trajectories within the fashion retail sector, impacting both business models (in order to make it more sustainable and valuable) and consumer experiences. In addition, this paper intends to discuss how design could contribute to creating new sustainable experiences, supporting the transition between physical and digital spaces, as well as adapting operational practices to make the phygital process positive and viable.

By its very nature, fashion consumption assumes a diverse and updated relevance in light of social, cultural, and economic transformations. The global fashion industry is undergoing a paradigm shift driven by rapid technological advances (Bertola & Teunissen, 2018; Lee, 2022), increased awareness of environmental sustainability (Heim & Hopper, 2022; Mishra et al., 2020), and the changing values of individuals (Bürklin, 2018; Camacho-Otero et al., 2020; Domingos et al., 2022). These transformations are forcing creative, production, distribution and communication systems and, not least, the “end consumer” to critically reflect on the role and impacts of the fashion system (Luchs et al., 2015). Digital technologies, for example, have revolutionized how fashion is produced, distributed, and consumed. Digital platforms enable unprecedented levels of interaction between brands and consumers, fostering new forms of engagement and co-creation (Gielens & Steenkamp, 2019). These are widespread, ubiquitous platforms that expand and fragment the fashion narrative (Sadler, 2021), creating a more interconnected, immediate ecosystem within which to experiment with new systems of relationship and mediation. In addition, the growing recognition of the fashion industry’s environmental and social impact has catalyzed a movement toward more sustainable practice. On the one hand, the fast fashion model, characterized by rapid production cycles and disposable garments, is being challenged by consumers and activists calling for greater accountability and transparency (Mazzarella et al., 2019). Conversely, sustainable fashion emphasizes ethical production, resource efficiency and circularity, seeking to minimize negative impacts and promote long-term well-being (Centobelli et al., 2022). Finally, European legislation has been proactive in promoting sustainability within the textile and fashion industries through several key legislative initiatives and strategies aimed at reducing the environmental and social impacts of textile production and consumption (European Commission, 2022; Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 Establishing a Framework for the Setting of Ecodesign Requirements for Sustainable Products, Amending Directive (EU) 2020/1828 and Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 and Repealing Directive 2009/125/ECText with EEA Relevance., 2024). The term “consumption” is inherently multivalent and nuanced. Its very etymology encompasses several facets: consumption means “transformation” of natural resources into fungible goods, but also of signs and symbols into systems of meaning and value. This dual nature of consumption underscores its complexity. On the one hand, it involves converting resources into products that satisfy human needs and desires (Boivin, 2008). On the other hand, it involves the symbolic process of attributing meanings to these products that resonate within cultural and social contexts (Davis, 1992). This duality is particularly evident in fashion, where clothing has both functional and self-expression purposes. Consumption also means “destruction”, that is, the reduction to nothingness of tangible or intangible elements, in turn rendering them unusable through the very act of use. This aspect of consumption highlights the inherent tension between use and waste. Every act of consumption carries with it a potential for depletion and degradation, whether physical goods or intangible experiences. In fashion, this is manifested in the life cycle of clothing, from creation and use to eventual disposal (Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2020). The environmental cost of producing and discarding garments is significant and prompts a critical examination of consumption practices and their sustainability. Obviously, in its most common meaning, consumption stands for “use” or “utilization”, which consists of the activity of making use of a tangible or intangible item but also, in a broader sense, in the act of enjoying services, experiences or activities that do not involve transformation or destruction. This broader interpretation of consumption emphasizes the experiential dimension, where value derives from enjoyment and engagement with fashion as a social and cultural phenomenon (Woodward, 2007). Fashion consumption thus encompasses a wide range of activities, from the purchase and use of clothing to its enjoyment in cultural terms to the experience provided by virtual worlds. The fashion system has always intertwined its practices and processes with this multivalent universe that constitutes the landscape of the consumption system of both the creative, material and human resources along the entire fashion supply chain and the fashion object itself, its images and projections. The interaction between creation and consumption is a distinctive feature of the fashion industry. Designers and brands create products that are functional and charged with symbolic meanings, anticipating how consumers will interpret and interact with them. This relationship extends throughout the supply chain, influencing decisions about material sourcing, production processes, communication strategies, and retail experiences. In the current digital and sustainable transformation context, this intertwining opens up broad areas for thinking about consumption practices, processes and impacts with a more critical and responsible approach (Colombi & D’Itria, 2023). Digital technologies have expanded the possibilities for creating, sharing and experiencing fashion. Virtual and augmented reality, for example, offer consumers new ways to interact with fashion products and brands, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds (Zarantonello & Schmitt, 2022). These innovations enable more personalized and immersive experiences, fostering deeper connections between consumers and fashion. On...

The retail industry is a fast-changing sector characterized by innovations’ openness to adoption dictated both by technological advancement, supply chain management transformation and consumer behaviour evolution. As an increasingly knowledge-intensive industry, updated retail skills and competencies need to be investigated and improved, promoting new educational and learning approaches.The paper presents the results of an experience-based learning held within the “Fashion Retail Experience Studio” course at the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano and rooted in a project-based approach. Several learning tools were developed and applied in order to investigate how design can properly manage multi-level and multidisciplinary retail challenges fueling and generating meaningful innovation. A transdisciplinary perspective was also adopted in designing new design learning tools or adapting management, marketing and IT retail tools to enhance design competencies and skills with a holistic approach.

The second-hand market has been in the spotlight when it comes to circular and collaborative fashion studies. Resale service dynamics and designs have been reinvented over time, currently influenced by consumer demands and their new ways of thinking about the fashion industry. Within this context, this paper aims to draw an up-to-date mapping of current second-hand practices in the fashion sector in the Brazilian context. Through a proposed model - an interpretative framework for PSSs in fashion second-hand market - three different clusters (thrift shops, digital marketplaces, and virtual social communities) were identified, mapped and analysed, representing three different approaches to the servitisation of the sector by establishing variable relations and connections between the ecosystem actors: territories, communities and companies.