Young, sarah de0929 final document

Pay-as-you-go fashion: Can Fashion Subscription Services Help to Reduce the Damaging Environmental Impacts of Fast Fashion, and Encourage Sustainable Clothing Consumption Within the UK?

ABSTRACT: A thought-provoking report for consumers, retailers and the retail industry, featuring a broad analysis of the environmental performance of the fashion subscription business model within the UK. This analysis highlights the pitfalls and opportunities associated with such a business model, and weighs up its likelihood to succeed in the future.

Sarah Young w15029360 Northumbria University BA (Hons) Fashion Communications Project Research: DE0929

contents 01

introduction

03

Methodology

05

CHAPTER 1: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

09

CHAPTER 2: cOLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION WITHIN THE UK’S APPAREL INDUSRTY

13

CHAPTER 3.1: lOGISTICAL BARRIERS FACING FASHION SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

17

CHAPTER 3.2: Opportunities and Pitfalls FACING FASHION SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

Appealing to millineals and generation next

21

Future trajectories

23

conclusions

25

references

29

image references

31

bibliography

33

CHAPTER 4:

01

INTRODUCTION

The world has reached a crisis point as the fast fashion supply chain model continues to generate a wealth of environmental and social hazards (Claudio, 2007). Fashion trends are turning over weekly due to the rapid rate of fast fashion, “a clothing supply chain model intended to respond quickly to the latest fashion trends by frequently updating the clothing products available in stores” (Byuan and Sternquist, 2011; Moore and Fernie, 2004). The carbon footprint of clothing in use in the UK has risen to 26.2 million tonnes in 2016, up from 24 million tonnes in 2012 (WRAP, 2017). This is caused by a combination of factors, including increased access to cheap disposable fashion and a rise in population.

With a clothing industry encouraging the act of mindless purchasing and overconsumption of disposable fashion items, the technical service life of garments is dramatically shortened. There is now an urgent need to investigate and implement strategies that will reduce the environmental impacts of clothing consumption within the UK. This paper investigates whether the subscription-based rental model has potential to encourage a circular economy, creating a culture where we use products, as opposed to owning them, helping to increase material utilization within the UK’s apparel industry.

03

methodology

Throughout this report, I will be combining qualitative and quantitative research from both primary and secondary resources. Primary research has been conducted in two formats including face-to-face and phone interviews, and an anonymous survey carried out by male and female participants aged 21-35.

Interview sources include Zoe Partridge, founder of “Wear the Walk�, a fashion subscription service based in London; Lucy Milbourn, Marketing Officer at Hugo Boss Head Office, UK and Ireland, and Myf Ryan, Chief Marketing Officer at Westfield Group UK and Europe. All participants were briefed before signing an informed consent form, and then later debriefed.

This paper analyses the environmental performances of the latest fashion subscription concept and weighs up the opportunities and pitfalls associated with such business model. From this research, a better understanding of collaborative fashion consumption and its effects has been made possible.

Chapter 1 Chapter 1

05

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Fast fashion “increases clothing turnover and consequently leads to greater end-oflife clothing waste” (DEFRA, 2008). In 2016, it is estimated that 1,130,000 tonnes of clothing were purchased in the UK, an increase of 20,000 tonnes since 2012 (WRAP, 2017). According to Roos et al., (2015), “Areas such as climate change, freshwater consumption, ecotoxicity and freshwater eutrophication appear to be the most severally affected areas of the environment”, as a by-product of this careless fashion consumption. The July 2017 WRAP report based on ‘The Cost of UK Fashion’ states that with “rising global demand for clothing, there is now an urgent need to find new markets for used clothing”. This increased quantity of clothing now being purchased in the UK means there will be higher environmental impacts from increased production rates. These figures reveal the urgent need for material reduction strategies in the fashion industry and it has been emphasized by Bartlett et al. (2013) that the reduction of disposed textiles is the “single greatest unused economic and environmental opportunity within the fashion industry”.

Almost all efforts to foster sustainability within the fashion industry to date have been implemented within the production phase. Attempts have been made to modify practices within the industry by focusing predominantly on the materials used, the design of the garments and the technology with which the garments are made.

Fletcher (2008) outlines that “the application of organic materials, introducing ecodesigns and improving manufacturing technologies have been recognized as some of the main strategies used towards sustainable fashion in the production stage”. Despite these efforts, it has become apparent that the crux of these damaging environmental impacts lies fundamentally with the rate at which we purchase and consume fashion and the afterlife of garments once discarded.

Within the production process, a lack of regard is shown to what happens to the garment once sold to the consumer. If manufacturers were instead “recovering, recycling and reprocessing their products” (Leach, 2017) , over time we would see a dramatic reduction in waste caused by the fashion industry. This process is called ‘Circular Economy’, as opposed to the traditional ‘Linear Economy’, where we make, use and dispose of clothes. Within a circular economy, the aim is to “keep resources in use for as long as possible, and then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life” (WRAP, 2017).

^ Image (B): Reasons for disposal routes of garments within the UK

Figure 1 shows the reasons for disposal routes of garments within the UK, on average.

Clothing that is no longer wanted or needed by the owner may go down a variety of different routes when disposed of, including re-use and recycling, incineration and landfill. When one totals the clothes that owners ‘didn’t like anymore’, ‘didn’t need anymore’ and ‘didn’t fit anymore’, as much as 75% of clothing in the UK is disposed of before the end of their technical service life. While recycling and re-use offer some environmental benefits, most recycling options result in a much lower grade material being produced for example when clothing is turned into insulation or rags. As WRAP (2017) highlights, “lower grade routes do not replace the sales of new clothing and savings in terms of water waste and carbon are minimal”. These disposal methods do not tackle the issue of over-consumption within the UK. As previously stated, the crux of the environmental damages caused by fast fashion lies with the rate at which clothes are consumed and disposed of, therefore more action must be taken to introduce circularity within the apparel industry.

Implementing a circular economy would create a culture where we use products, as opposed to owning them, to increase material utilization. Product use-intensification is gained when un-used clothes are given to other users, and the number of uses during that products lifetime is increased. This notion of collaborative consumption has been on the rise in recent years, in conjunction with growing concerns about the environmental and social impacts of modern-day clothing consumption and the detrimental effects of fast fashion. There is considerable hope that “collaborative consumption will transform society and reduce these detrimental environmental impacts” (Mont, 2002; Botsman and Rodgers, 2011; Ganksy, 2010; Armstrong and Lang, 2013; Heinrichs, 2013; Agrawal et al., 2011; Pederson and Netter, 2015). This business model holds potential to help reduce material overconsumption within the fashion industry, encourages a circular economy and offers the chance to exploit the full use potential of clothes before they are disposed of, in a more environmentally sensitive way. Myf Ryan, CMO of Westfield, UK and Europe, has identified signs of consumers changing the way they shop over time, “We are starting to see this generation of consumers become a lot more aware of industry practices, and becoming a lot more proactive in asking about where their clothes have come from”, Ryan also predicts that soon, “the retail industry will respond to this demand by implementing best practice where they can” (Appendix D).

^Image (C): A Subscription to an Endless Wardrobe - “Wear the Walk”

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

09 cOLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION WITHIN THE UK’S APPAREL INDUSRTY

The UK has emerged as a hub for the sharing economy, and according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, it is set to “expand at over 30% per year over the next decade, facilitating about £140bn worth of transactions per year by 2025” (Outlook for the Sharing Economy in the UK, 2017). Collaborative consumption is one part of this flourishing sharing economy, and is defined by Belk (2014) as, “people coordinating the acquisition and distribution of a resource for a fee or other compensation”.

A plethora of similar terms have been given to this modern consumption trend, including “access-based consumption” and “product-service systems” (Belk, 2014).

The principle idea that links each of these terms, is to promote the notion of ‘using’ as opposed to ‘owning’. Hamari et al., (2015) states that, “The rise of the collaborative consumption business model has been partly fuelled by growing concerns about the ecological and social impacts of consumption, because sharing resources is considered more sustainable than buying and accumulating”. One sector of the economy which collaborative consumption has been expanding into recently is the UK’s apparel industry.

“...with inevitable the rise of fast, disposable fashion, shoppers don’t want to change their wardrobe every couple of weeks, they want to change them day-by-day...”

Collaborative consumption has been operating within the UK’s apparel industry for decades, with the likes of suit hire and occasion wear rentals. The luxury rental model has performed well within the industry, as premium clothing and accessories often have high value and low usage, characteristics of other item’s that have proved popular within the sharing economy. However, despite the moderate success rate of emerging luxury rental companies in the past years, it is a business model that is slowly dissolving for various reasons. Most of these businesses require online ordering, which means waiting, and only cater for special occasions. Moreover, with the inevitable rise of fast, disposable fashion, shoppers do not want to change their wardrobe every couple of weeks, they want to change them day-by-day, in a simple, effortless and cost-effective way. This has never been a viable option for consumers, until now.

The advancement of technology has created new, innovative ways to rent fashion and normalize it. This tech-overlay, paired with the imminent arrival of the aptly named ‘Generation Rent’, is the catalyst that lights the fire in the emergence of the subscriptionbased rental model. This business model is much more immediate and everyday than the luxury fashion rental concept that launched years ago, it is as much offline as it is online and boasts attributes that are much more appealing to the fashion industry’s key target consumers. The use of technology in the emergence of fashion subscription businesses is merely a reflection of demographics of the customer base it’s attracting, which is discussed in further detail in chapter 4.

Today, technology-driven subscription services have become an integral part of the way modern consumers shop, with companies such as Netflix and Spotify leading the way. In the month of April 2017, subscription company websites had almost 37 million visitors. Since 2014, that number has grown by over 800% (Kestenbaum, 2017). Success in subscription does not depend on what’s being sold, it’s a new way of selling products regardless of the product category. Marshall Cohen, the chief industry analyst at the NPD (National Purchase Diary Panel), predicts that subscriptions will become an “additional retail channel, alongside e-commerce and bricks-and-mortar” (Cohen, M. Pike, H. 2017), making the fashion subscription business model a lot more immediate than previous outdated concepts. Lucy Milbourn, Marketing Officer for Hugo Boss, UK and Ireland agrees with this move to the offline environment, “Brands would need to incorporate an omnichannel strategy approach to ensure a 360-degree customer experience is given to customers to ensure the process is simple, repeatable and engaging” (Appendix C).

Results from an anonymous online survey carried out by fifty-five 21-35-year-olds, both male and female, demonstrated that two key features the audience find most important if they were to subscribe to a clothing brand, were affordable rental prices and on-trend items (Appendix E). As much as 40% go shopping for clothes more than once a week, each item purchased costing £50 on average, for occasions such as a night out or going out for dinner (Appendix E). According to more than half of this audience, these occasions occur weekly; therefore, it is evident that millennials are willing to spend a lot of time and money on shopping and purchasing clothes (Appendix E). Signing up to a subscription service would be much more cost-effective, not to mention a lot more environmentally sensitive, in comparison to these current consumption habits. Not only would this offer the audience more spending power with less commitment, but also a lot more choice, as they will be able to access a wider range of brands.

“As consumers we have such a constant craving for newness.

Wear the Walk and the subscription fashion concept satisfies that craving, but without being irresponsible in the way that we’re currently shopping and buying...”

- Zoe Partridge, Wear the Walk Founder (Appendix B)

^ Image (D): How Subscription Works - “Wear the Walk”

“Wear the Walk”, founded by Zoe Partridge, is a woman’s fashion subscription platform operating both offline, at their studio in London, and online. Wear the Walk offers emerging designers collections for subscription at an affordable price. This company prioritizes sustainable design, and only works with ethically sourced brands and designers. Partridge was inspired to set up this fashion subscription business during her time working at Mulberry and noticed how little they acknowledged tapping in and accessing the next generation of consumer. She says, “In my mind, this transformed them from being aspirational to rather lackadaisical, I wanted to tackle the issue of ‘access’, but didn’t know how to at the time.” (Partridge, Z. CaselyHayford, 2017). Over the next two years, Partridge envisions consumers becoming “a lot more socialized into renting and subscribing for the everyday” (Appendix B). Not only would this ease pressure upon the environment, but it would also help create a much more circular economy within the UK’s apparel industry. This would dramatically increase product use intensity over time and reduce the need to overconsume fast fashion.

Chapter 3.1 Chapter 3.1

13 lOGISTICAL BARRIERS FACING FASHION SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

There are various logistical barriers that hinder the subscription-based rental model from taking off. Fashion subscription services face greater logistical barriers than most other collaborative consumption business models, such as Uber and Air BnB. Both Uber and Air BnB are software programs, where they connect people who can exchange on their own, as a peer to peer platform. Fashion subscription service’s deal in products that are more difficult to transport between users, and require maintenance between each use, such as dry cleaning and repairs. This creates operational challenges and costs for businesses.

A second logistical barrier is that the notion of product use intensity is only as effective as the extent to which a garment is durable. Leismann et al., (2013) highlights that “If a garment’s durability is not concomitant to high utilization, then it will not last throughout the subscription service process”. Despite this, it is argued that “major resource efficiency gains remain in areas such as an overall reduction in demand for new products, and the delayed disposal of apparel “(Leismann et al., 2013).

Considering the future of collaborative consumption, Armstrong, Niinimäki, Kujala, Karell and Lang (2015) state that the quality of goods in the fast fashion system would have to be “addressed fundamentally, if the industry were to implement rental or subscription-based business models in the future”.

“Fashion subscription service’s deal in products that are more difficult to transport between users, and require maintenance between each use, such as dry cleaning and repairs. This creates operational challenges and costs for businesses”

A third logistical barrier is that moving from one-off transactions to a subscription model means moving from a selling relationship to a service relationship. While this may suit the millennial audience (who seemingly prefer access over ownership, and will, therefore, be more open to subscribing to frequent access of new products), it is a lot harder to convince consumers to commit to a fixed monthly cost, rather than a one-off payment. Subscription start-ups such as Wear the Walk have worked out a way around this logistical barrier by allowing customers to opt out of the subscription service and cancel at any given time, so they are not tied down to a set monthly payment.

A key logistical barrier that prevents rental from replacing ownership entirely, would be that you can’t download or stream clothing. In a culture where we are growing increasingly impatient, as we become so accustomed to accessing what we want in seconds – the time lag between selecting items of clothing online then having to wait for it to be delivered, is problematic. Despite this, Myf Ryan, CMO at Westfield Group, predicts that “the fashion subscription service will soon become as much offline as it is online” suggesting that soon, stores may have “hire-or-buy” sections purely for customers who have a subscription with them (Ryan, M., Westfield Group, 2017). The trend is moving offline because as consumers, we still do most of our shopping in physical stores. As much as “73% of Britsh consumers still wish to touch, feel and try out products in a physical store environment, while 38% have expressed interest in renting from their favourite brands” (Westfield Group, 2017). As well as benefitting the consumer, this allows retailers to maximize their reach, and allow widespread access to this business model.

73% 38%

% of British who prefer shopping instore than online

% of British interested in renting from their favourite store

The concept of renting fashion on a subscription basis is still new, and for some people, there may be a stigma associated with it. Above all, the main logistical barrier facing fashion subscription services will be convincing people to share clothes with others, which requires a much bigger behavioural shift than convincing them to share vehicles or unused accommodation – both of which have been available to rent for years.

Partridge, the founder of Wear the Walk, highlights an interesting point regarding the success rate of vintage clothing and the trading of hyped streetwear. Both popular trends operate within a circular economy and tend to involve more than one person wearing the garments in question.

^ Image (E): The Exchange of Hyped Streetwear, 2017

Overall, the success of the fashion subscription business model depends entirely on the how well executed it is. The idea of renting clothes via subscription would rapidly lose its appeal if there was poor availability, or if shoppers could see the items had clearly been worn by other people. Customers must constantly be updated with new options, and the services must offer a frictionless experience of fashion subscription.

Chapter 3.2 Chapter 3.2

17 Opportunities and Pitfalls FACING FASHION SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

Undoubtedly, collaborative consumption represents a “potentially disruptive force to traditional consumption channels” (Barnes & Mattsson, 2016), and many worry that its effects on retailers could be profound. The apparel industry could experience severe knock-on effects, as customers switch to rental and subscription services to borrow high quality, on-trend, seasonal pieces, rather than cheaper versions on the high street.

Consumers may be lured away from the high-street by the subscription model’s free returns, cost-effectiveness, accessibility and ease. That is not to say that consumers will completely turn their backs on the high street. They will perhaps become more aware of what items they wish to own, and which to rent or subscribe.

One pitfall facing the subscription model, and which is hard to monitor, is the potential for users to show a lack of respect towards garments, often susceptible when the customer does not own the item. Reim et al., (2015), argues that “if carelessness is carefully mitigated by implementing penalties towards more severe damages, resource efficiency will prevail”. Often, subscription models “care for the garments optimally by offering free additional services such as repair and maintenance, thus helping to extend a product’s natural life” (Leismann et al., 2013; Reim et al., 2015).

Furthermore, studies on washing services show that “the utilization of innovative professional technology creates the chance to use considerably less energy, water and detergents in comparison to private washing” (Hirschl et al., 2003), and professional care may extend the products lifetime even further.

Collaborative consumption introduces a wealth of benefits to the environment, which has been covered in more detail in chapter 1. The subscription model offers a much more efficient use of resources, by creating a system where an item is worn perpetually by a variety of different people, rather than being worn for a special occasion by one person. This helps to optimize material utilization via use intensity. However, despite these resource efficiency gains, one major pitfall that the subscription model faces would be the costs associated with “exchange and transportation requirements” (Leismann et., al., 2013). Shipping embodies a significant carbon footprint. Thus, reversing the desired effects of collaborative consumption. Despite this, a key prediction for the development of the subscription model sees this service gradually moving into the offline retail space, helping to counteract this pitfall. This will alleviate rates of consumer-driven transportation of the products, and drive sales towards the high-street.

Fashion subscription services may appear extremely idealistic to those living in cities, such as London. With the shirking size of homes in cities, and the immense pressure on young professionals to look smart and well-dressed for the office and business events, renting your wardrobe, and then giving it back will have widespread appeal. In a survey carried out by the Westfield Group in 2017, it was found that as much as 40% of Londoners would be willing to spend £200 per month, respectively, on an unlimited clothing subscription (Westfield Group, 2017). With these figures in mind, it’s fair to assume that there currently exists a gap in the UK’s apparel market, for this fashion subscription concept to thrive.

40%

% of Londoners interested in unlimited clothing subscriptions

200

£’s willing to spend per month on unlimited subscription

With more spending power and choice, but less commitment, consumers can use subscription services to constantly update their wardrobes, enabling them to keep up with fashion’s fast turning trend cycles and benefit from a rotative closet. According to Myf Ryan, CMO at Westfield Group, “The key driver behind this trend is consumers valuing the flexibility of selecting multiple items for just one wear or use”, (Ryan, M. published within, Westfield Group, 2017). Hence, the central aim of fashion subscription services is to permit the ‘experience’ of quantity in fashion consumption, reducing the need to buy and accumulate disposable garments.

Despite this, the subscription scheme has potential to fuel overall higher levels of consumption. Leismann et al., (2013) hypothesized that “the impact of more frequent transactions of goods (e.g. related to transportation, free returns and packaging) may be higher than the impact of reducing the production rates of disposable fashion”. When a subscription service constantly updates its offerings with new designs and garments - as a necessary method of retaining consumer interest and competing with the high street - this permits the experience of quantity in fashion consumption, which counters sustainable consumption aims, meaning any resource efficiency gains are rendered benign. To counter this, many subscription models are introducing a limit to the number of garments customers can have at a time. For example, many brands will impose a limit of perhaps 5 pieces of clothing in possession. Another suggestion would be to allow the user more time with each item. This would control the number of customers per garment life cycle, which would be environmentally preferable.

There is the underlying fear that as this business model develops, retailers may end up putting their company through market cannibalization. For example, by offering everything in their product range as a subscription, this may consequently reduce the overall level of their full-priced sales. One solution that retailers could implement to combat this issue would be to create a clear demarcation between items that are full price, and perhaps more premium subscription pieces, within stores. Myf Ryan, CMO at Westfield Group, states that in the future, “high street stores may dedicate part of their floor space to “rental” sections, specifically, for the use of subscription-paying shoppers” (Ryan, M., Green, 2017). This move into the offline environment is a key factor in the development of the fashion subscription business model. The main benefits of this being that consumers can enjoy the full brand experience, try before they buy and won’t have to wait for orders to be delivered, creating a more instant and everyday experience, and further appeal to engage with subscription fashion.

Chapter 4 Chapter 4

21 Appealing to millineals and generation next

Millennials can be defined as anyone born between 1980 and 2000, today they are 21 – 35-year-olds. They are an extremely large and important demographic, and they appear to be the consumer category that fashion subscription services are attracting. Millennials are approaching their peak spending years, and “within the next five years their spending is expected to increase by 15%”, according to Lindsay Drucker Mann, from Goldman Sachs (Drucker Mann, 2017). These demographic cohorts are also expected to account for 45% of the global market for personal luxury goods by 2025 (Sherman and Young, 2017) and in two years’ time, millennials will represent “the highest spending generation worldwide – but only one third is willing to purchase something full price” (Neto, 2017). This creates endless challenges for retailers, of accessing the disposable income of this generation. Retailers must continually adjust their business models to appeal to the modern consumption habits of the next generation of consumers, enabling them to change their wardrobe day-by-day in an effortless and effective manner.

Millennials are highly driven by price, as they came of age during the recession, shaping them into economically minded individuals who value access over ownership. A large majority say they follow brands on social media purely to get discounts or money off the full price of products (Kestenbaum, 2017) and “as much as two-thirds of millennials say they would switch to new brands if they were offered a discount of 30% or more” (Kestenbaum, 2017). What this research tells us is that millennials are not immune to the allure of discounted merchandise.

This makes them more open-minded to the notion of fashion subscription services.

Sustainability in fashion is “not only determined by the material, design and conditions but also consumers and their intentions, behaviours and habits” (Niinimäki, 2010). 1 in 5 UK millennials is willing to spend £200 or more per month on unlimited clothing rental subscriptions, and 46% of British millennials are interested in renting from their favourite stores (Westfield Group, 2017). These figures are crucial as they prove that this critical retail audience is willing to spend on fashion subscription. Millennials will be more likely to embrace the idea of collaborative consumption and fashion subscription as they are already accustomed to the sharing economy through the success of companies such as Uber and Air BnB. As a generation, they have grown up in a digital age where they can access almost anything immediately, hence why the fashion subscription business model is an apt response to this generation’s consumption needs, substituting the mindless purchasing of disposable fast fashion products on the high street.

23

future trajectories

The future of pay-as-you-go fashion is undeniable. Rachel Botsman, a lecturer at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University and an expert in the sharing economy, predicts that in a few years, consumers will have fashion subscription accounts that are used three or four times a month to supplement what they already own. She says, “If the brand got the service and product right, I can imagine giving it access to my calendar and it sending me fashion suggestions for upcoming events” (Botsman, R. Jackson Gee, T., 2017). This could lead on to brands using algorithms to determine the tastes and style preferences of their customers, allowing them to make further style suggestions like a personal shopper. What’s more, these rental patterns could be used to inform the brand’s next season’s range.

Zoe Partridge, the founder of Wear the Walk, outlines her future trajectories for the performance of fashion subscription services within the UK, “I would like consumers to be much more socialised into renting for the everyday. I think there is very little access point right now within the UK, so my goal is to increase that” (Appendix B). Not only would moving the concept of fashion subscription to the offline environment help to increase access for consumers, it will also enable brands to increase their reach. Partridge envisions the subscription concept also becoming a significant benefit to emerging designers, “It’s not about just offering subscription to well-established brands, but giving emerging brands that are less corporate an opportunity and a platform to reach new audiences” (Appendix B) There is a clear quality discrepancy between items found within the subscription-based rental model compared to items within the outdated occasion-wear rental model. In the future, this could lead the way to the idea of ‘tier-based membership’ services, where different consumers will pay varying prices per month, depending on the level of quality each individual desired. Clothing brands could start up their own subscription-based membership services, where customers can sign up to their favourite brands and receive carefully selected items of clothing from that brand each month, to their doorstep or available to collect in-store.

The concept of pay-as-you-go-fashion may seem like blue-sky thinking, for now, however it is evident that many industry professionals see it as a firm feature within the UK’s apparel industry in the coming years. Furthermore, taking into consideration the increasing rates of fast fashion consumption within the UK, and the levels of waste produced by this growing industry, in the future it may become less of an option, and more of a criterion.

25

conclusions

The fast fashion supply chain model continues to encourage consumers to dispose of garments before the end of their technical lifespan. The concept of fashion subscription within the UK’s apparel industry has huge potential to reduce the environmental impacts of fast fashion consumption, by prolonging the practical service life of clothes and reducing the overall demand for new products. This is a much more socially responsible alternative to the present careless consumption habits of consumers, as it is no longer finically, environmentally or socially viable to continue consuming fashion in such a way.

“...the industry cannot afford to continue manufacturing ‘throw away clothing’ to be consumed at such an unethical rate...”

One setback, as Leismann et al. (2013) hypothesized, is “the possibility of a negative environmental rebound effect due to the increased transportation needs”, with the likes of free deliveries and returns. This acts as a hindrance to the success of this business model and can offset the benefits that the environment would gain from reduced production rates over time. This emphasises the importance in “accounting for the logistics when implementing the collaborative consumption business model” (Reim et al., 2015), and with the gradual move towards the offline environment, could be carefully mitigated.

Sharing economy giants such as Uber and Air BnB have demonstrated that “businesses built around ‘using’ as opposed to ‘owning’ can be revolutionary” (Leach, 2017), and while the apparel industry faces significantly more logistical barriers when it comes to renting and subscribing, the industry cannot afford to continue manufacturing ‘throw away clothing’ to be consumed at such an unethical rate just to keep up with what’s on trend at that given moment.

The subscription-based rental model still has a very long way to go, with the main hurdle for this business model being a behavioural shift amongst consumers. In the coming years, it is essential that strategies on how to change consumer’s awareness, mindset and behaviour towards sustainable consumption are introduced. Brands and manufacturers are already recognising the need for circularity within the industry – so the future of fashion subscription may become commonplace within mainstream retail sooner than you think.

(Word count exluding secondary quotes, in-text refrences and appended material : 4134)

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