Incorporating Consumer Perspective into the Value Creation Process in the Fashion Industry: A Path to Circularity

Sustainability in the fashion industry is a contemporary megatrend that needs new studies addressing the myriad of possibilities that exist to reduce environmental impacts. Nonetheless, it is essential to take into account the opinions/wishes of the segments targeted by the business, a practice that has been neglected by textile and fashion companies. Value offers with greater circularity in textile and fashion businesses have suffered from a lack of consideration of the consumer’s perspective in their value propositions. Therefore, the objective of this research is to suggest circular strategies for the incorporation of the consumer’s perspective into value creation in the fashion industry. The methods used in this chapter encompass four steps: (i) building a theoretical background related to sustainable and circular fashion, and circular business models linked to the textile and fashion industry, which aided; (ii) building a survey to investigate issues on product design, value creation, and consumer participation in fashion companies in Brazil; (iii) identifying the main deficiencies on product design, value creation, and consumer participation in fashion businesses in Brazil; and (iv) proposing circular strategies to seek overcome the deficiencies identified. Twenty companies from three states in Brazil were surveyed. The results of the survey allowed identifying gaps in the knowledge of fashion companies in relation to consumers and also with regard to issues that involve the product’s life cycle from the conception, use, and disposal of post-use products by the consumer. Recommendations were proposed to incorporate the consumer’s perspective into creating value in the fashion industry, seeking to pave the way to more circularity-oriented business models in the textile/fashion industry.