Collaborative Fashion Consumption: A Sustainable Pathway for the Fashion Industry? How to Set Up a Sustainable B2C Business Model within Collaborative Fashion Consumption?

Abstract

During the last decade, the market for collaborative consumption has shown up a growing trend. In response to this, a variety of businesses and types of collaborative business models have entered the fashion industry, known as the collaborative fashion consumption. Past research has indicated that collaborative fashion consumption is a real asset for consumers willing to address fashion differently. However, little is known about the sustainability of such practices. This master thesis intends to assess the long term sustainability of the collaborative fashion consumption as well as to provide direction on how to integrate sustainability into the business model of organizations involved in this path. For this purpose, this research first focuses on the extent to which sustainability has been integrated into the business models of such organizations. Then, it analyzes the industry’s challenges and opportunities with respect to the long-term sustainability of collaborative fashion consumption. An exploratory qualitative research combining semi-structured interviews was conducted, examining fifteen Belgian organizations within collaborative fashion consumption. Results include a detailed assessment of the long term sustainability of CFC as well as relevant recommendations on how to set up a B2C sustainable business model within CFC. Overall, the results of this master thesis are presented in such a way that they can be used by organizations willing to further address sustainability in their business model.