The clothing industry greatly impacts the global economy by producing billions of pieces of clothing and employing millions. However, it negatively impacts the environment, as it is one of the most polluting sectors in the world. This bibliometric review aims to identify influential authors and affiliations, journals, productive and cited countries, emerging and recent themes, and future research directions focusing on the dynamics of clothing brands’ sustainability practices. A comprehensive dataset from Scopus and the Web of Science contains 612 articles, and Biblioshiny and VOSviewer were used to analyze the data. Findings reveal that sustainability is not just a concern for developed countries but is also gaining attention in emerging economies like India. This bibliometric analysis presents its relationship with sustainable development goals (SDGs), combines performance analysis and science mapping of clothing brands’ sustainability practices, and evaluates thematic clusters to highlight future research scopes to fill the literature gap for further concentration on behavioral aspects, advanced supply chains, effective communication, and promoting the usage of sustainable technologies, which can help to align with business models for sustainability and resilience. Therefore, clothing brands’ sustainability practices should focus on smart and functional clothing through eco-friendly manufacturing and designing long-lasting clothes to enrich clothing performance. They should adopt innovative technologies for resource utilization, recycling, waste management, supply chain, and also emphasize communication with the consumers to encourage them to purchase eco-friendly and long-lasting clothes.

This study seeks to establish the variables that identify and categorize factors influencing purchase intent and willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable clothing, and connect credibility factors of sustainable clothing with consumption behaviour for sustainable fashion. A systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA protocol. Relevant peer-reviewed articles were retrieved from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. After applying inclusion and screening criteria, 76 empirical studies were selected and analysed to identify research trends, methodological approaches and determinants of credibility attributes affecting purchase intent and WTP for sustainable clothing. Findings reveal that consumers’ purchase intent and WTP for sustainable clothing are influenced by several factors, including product credibility and consumer commitment, fashion style and trends, knowledge and experience with sustainability, brand authenticity, social influence and clothing attributes. Credibility plays a central role in linking sustainability attributes with consumer behaviour. Furthermore, apparel labels and certifications, transparent brand communication, and social media endorsements enhance the perceived trustworthiness of sustainable clothing and positively influence consumer decision-making. This study consolidates existing literature and emphasizes credibility as a key mechanism connecting sustainability attributes with consumers’ purchase intent and WTP, offering a research framework for future studies in sustainable fashion marketing. Future research should evaluate the role of sustainability labels, certification systems and emerging technologies in strengthening credibility and reducing information asymmetry.