How fashion can achieve sustainable development through a circular economy and stakeholder engagement : a systematic literature review

Abstract

Despite the strong societal demand for circular fashion (CF) businesses, the literature lacks a contextualized understanding about what has been explored versus what has been underexplored in the current literature. Although the fashion supply chain involves many stakeholders, the majority of the literature discusses CF from the stance of internal stakeholders. Less is understood about the external stakeholders' perspective. To offer a holistic understanding about the CF traits (i.e., drivers, strategies, practices, barriers, and enablers) for all stakeholders, we have systematically reviewed the CF literature and integrated a stakeholder's perspective into this review process. Through content analysis, Study 1 shows the current trends in the CF literature and suggests avenues for future research. Through thematic analysis, Study 2 identifies the CF traits for all stakeholders, both internal and external. The results yielded a conceptual framework offering an integrated understanding about how fashion businesses can institute true circularity by engaging external stakeholders in their CF-related endeavors.