Educating sustainability: Challenges and opportunities of an integrated approach

"This contribution questions how the combined approach of digital and interdisciplinary teaching methods in international educational contexts can affect students' knowledge, behaviour and attitudes towards sustainability. To this end, the paper analyses data collected during the testing of two learning modules developed within the Erasmus+ project “Fashion & Food synergy for sustainability”."

Eleonora Noia, Silvia Pérez-Bou, Silvia Mazzucotelli Salice, Ludovica Carini & María Ángeles Burguera Pérez. Año 2023

"Are regulatory requirements antecedent of internal GSCM practices in the textile industry? The case of Spain"

"This study aimed to investigate whether the regulations acted as drivers for implementing internal practices in Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) in the fashion and textile industry in Spain. It was a part of a broader study in which drivers and barriers of both internal and external practices were identified. The results showed that the regulatory requirements do not influence the implementation of practices GSCM in the textile and fashion companies in Spain. Indeed, there were until now, few regulations mainly related to waste, and many recommendations focused on the circular economy, but there were not mandatory. The new regulations coming from the European Union may change the trend and act as drivers, but companies should prepare to adapt to this shift."

Silvia Pérez-Bou, Juan Carlos Real, Ignacio Cepeda. Año 2022

"Impulsores y Prácticas en la Sostenibilidad del Rendimiento de la Cadena de Suministro Verde: El Caso de la Industria Textil-Moda en España"

"Este estudio tiene como objetivo identificar los principales impulsores que influyen en las prácticas internas de gestión de la cadena de suministro verde (GSCM), llevadas a cabo por las empresas del sector textil-moda en España. Esta investigación también analiza cómo estas empresas están utilizando estas prácticas para mejorar el rendimiento económico y medioambiental de la GSCM. El análisis se realizó con 166 empresas que tenían al menos 10 o más empleados mediante una metodología basada en encuestas empleando la técnica Partial Least Square (PLS). Los resultados indican que los requisitos regulatorios impuestos no son un antecedente directo de las prácticas internas de GSCM. La conciencia medioambiental tampoco es un factor determinante para la implantación de prácticas internas de GSCM. Las motivaciones internas por los beneficios económicos y ahorro de costes (energía y desarrollo de procesos más limpios) son significativos en las prácticas internas de GSCM, siendo más influyentes en las prácticas internas GSCM de proceso (producción verde, logística verde y gestión ambiental interna). Las presiones externas son significativas en las prácticas internas GSCM e igualmente influyentes. Las prácticas internas GSCM de proceso no influyen en los resultados económicos, pero sí en los resultados ambientales, mientras que las prácticas internas de GSCM de producto (diseño y embalaje ecológico) influyen de forma igualmente positiva en los resultados económicos y ambientales."

Juan Carlos Real, Ignacio Cepeda, Silvia Pérez-Bou. Año 2022

The challenge of sustainability teaching in Fashion: a method merging practitioners and researchers

Sustainability is becoming a major issue in teaching and research in several industries and universities syllabus. The article is an outcome of a key element of the University of Navarra's strategy for 2025 that includes good practices through teaching in sustainability. Authors ideated a project to elaborate teaching material (that might serve as a basis for research) on sustainability in the fashion industry, with the special executive program called The Right

Silvia Pérez-Bou, Pedro Mir, Patricia San Miguel, Teresa Sádaba. Año 2022

Politics, sustainability and innovation in fast fashion and luxury fashion groups

The paper discusses the research carried out to analyse to what extent the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations, the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, and the Fashion Pact influenced the policies and practices of the signatory companies. Four of the ten fashion companies founding signatories of the UN Fashion Charter and the Fashion Pact were selected: Inditex, H&M, Burberry, and Kering. They represented two segments: mass-market and luxury. A thorough analysis of information publicly available from the fashion companies and organisations related to them was accomplished. The concept of National and Regional Innovation Systems was explored as a framework, for analysis and decision-making processes. The results showed that political initiative was decisive in guiding companies in their sustainability strategies, and collaborative activities with other companies, from new based-technology companies (NTBFs) to logistics.

Silvia Pérez Bou e Isabel Cantista. Año 2022

How to communicate sustainability: From the corporate Web to E-commerce. The case of the fashion industry

Sustainability strategy at companies has become a key business and management aspect for the development and success of an enterprise. The communication of strategies and actions relating to sustainability has become increasingly important for both companies and brands. This research studies the communication process that forms part of the sustainable strategy of fashion companies, ranging from the corporate website to e-commerce, and it proposes improvements for sustainability communication. Two new models are presented: the Operational Model for Evaluating Fashion Corporate Websites (OMEFCW) and the Operational Model for Evaluating Fashion E-Commerce (OMEFeC), based on the core dimensions of online sustainability communication (orientation, structure, ergonomics and content—OSEC), as established by Siano. In order to obtain an optimal view of the fashion industry, four corporate groups—two luxury fashion groups (Kering Group and Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH)) and two fast fashion groups (H&M Group and Intidex)—are compared. In addition, all of the e-commerce operations of the groups’ fashion brands are analyzed, a total of 32 brands. The results show that it is necessary to continue improving in terms of the communication of sustainability within the fashion industry, whilst demonstrating the great deficiency that exists regarding the communication of sustainability in the case of the brands’e-commerce operations, which are precisely the web pages most visited by consumers.

Patricia SanMiguel, Silvia Pérez-Bou, Teresa Sádaba, Pedro Mir-Bernal. Año 2021

Fashion Stores as potential educators of conscious consumers. 2 case studies: H&M Group and Inditex

The retail store, the space where fashion and architecture meet, could be a good showroom of the sustainable and circular practices of the brands, both in terms of products and buildings, but this potential seems to be ignored by now. In a moment of rethinking the physical stores because of the Covid 19 pandemic and the growth of online markets, we wonder if the fashion stores could play an important role in educating consumers towards a more sustainable behaviour. This study addresses the issue through the analysis of the two biggest mass-market European fashion players: Inditex and H&M.

Silvia Pérez-Bou, María Valerio, Patricia Eugu. Año 2021

Filling the gap between Sustainable Fashion and Circular Architecture: the Retail Store

This study focuses on the space where both disciplines meet: the retail store. Do the physical stores reflect the strong sustainable commitment of their brands? How to build circular shops in which the sustainable values of fashion brands are fully displayed is a topic not yet exhaustively addressed. This study fills this gap, through the development of a Circular Design Guide for Retail Stores. It is aimed to form a basis for brands in the design of their physical retail spaces, and to help achieve the final transmission to the customer of their strong commitment to sustainability and circularity.

Silvia Pérez-Bou, María Valerio. Año 2021

Fashion brands websites as a potential channel to educate sustainable consumers

Silvia Pérez-Bou, Patricia San-Miguel. Año 2021

"Crisis communication in the fashion sector: the Rana Plaza events, worst accident in the history of fashion manufacturing" - Conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research - Leicester, UK from 27-31 July 2016.

"On 24 April 2013 at 9 o’clock in the morning local time, the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka collapsed. This factory produced clothing for 29 different fashion brands. The final casualty figures came to 1,129 dead and 2,515 injured. The Rana Plaza case is the worst accident in the history of fashion manufacturing. The management of the crisis on the part of the individual brands was extremely diverse and led them towards different communications scenarios. However, another crisis emerged at that moment: the industry itself and its manufacturing methods were effectively called into question. In fact, this issue has continued to be controversial and has led to an interesting public debate. Through the case analyzed here, this paper seeks to meet three objectives: a) stress the importance of communication with regard to the management of the crisis; b) highlight the link between crisis communication and corporate social responsibility; c) focus attention on the fashion industry, where intangible values acquire considerable importance and, therefore, are especially affected by crises. The events at Rana Plaza raise different questions that pose a challenge regarding crisis communication, given that we are dealing with an industry-wide crisis featuring multiple voices and multiple reactions."

Teresa Sádaba, Patricia SanMiguel. Año 2016

Fashion on fire: responses on Bangladesh crisis

En los últimos años, las cuestiones relacionadas con sostenibilidad y conductas éticas en el ámbito de lamoda han comenzado a estudiarse desde una mirada crítica (Emberley, 1998; Moisander y Personen, 2002).Con la irrupción del modelo de “Fast Fashion”, la producción y distribución de la moda ha cambiado suritmo y necesita unas herramientas de fabricación a bajo coste que encuentra, principalmente, en países endesarrollo. En estos países, las cuestiones ligadas a las condiciones laborales y el entorno de los trabajadoresde una industria de grandes cifras arrojan cuestiones éticas relevantes (Aspers y Skov, 2006).En este contexto, las crisis y su comunicación resultan decisivas para la reputación de las marcas.Aunque se ha profundizado bastante en el conocimiento de la gestión de las crisis (Pearson y Clair, 1998),a la luz de las actuaciones que se analizan, se podrán observar las consecuencias que dicha gestión puedetener sobre las marcas. Este trabajo centrará su análisis en la crisis vivida en Bangladesh en abril de 2013y cómo tienen lugar las respuestas de las distintas empresas de moda. De este modo, se plantean temas derelevancia para la reflexión, y sobre todo, para acciones futuras.

Teresa Sádaba and Patricia San Miguel. Año 2014

Hoss Intropia: a Spanish brand that is born with sustainability as its main value proposition

Resumen: Hoss Intropia is one of the Spain‟s largest fashion brands and th e first one that since its birth aims to generate the lowest possible impact in society and environment. Sustainability in the fashion industry has become a widely discussed issue. The fast fashion brands contribute to this matter. It is widely accepted th at the fashion industry needs new attitudes towards ethical and environmental practices. In this paper we will try to investigate the case study of susta inability in the brand strategy. Hoss Intropia was created in 1994, has presence in 48 countries with 1 600 points of sale. We consider that nowadays this Spa nish brand is a good example not only for new trends in branding but also in the way they are influenced by this matter within all the business activities. This case study takes us to be able to offer s ome conclusions extendable to o ther brands and highlights the role of sustainability as a strategy goal.

Verónica Arribas, Teresa Díaz, María Eugenia Josa, Patricia Sanmiguel, Teresa Sádaba. Año 2013