The Issues of Fashion Brand Equity in a Circular Economy

Theoretical background: The worldwide fashion business has confronted the demand to transit from a linear to a circular business model that involves a series of fundamental alterations to the hitherto highly efficient strategies. As a consequence, a conceptual issue concerning fashion brand value creation has emerged. This applies notably to luxury, premium and fast fashion brands. Satisfying the expectations of customers and stakeholders should cease to be simply a matter of manufacturing a varied and impressive product line, since it has to be both sustainable and sensitive to the emergent requirements of the natural and social environment. Along with the aforementioned challenges, the key messages conveyed by brands through the marketing communication are also undergoing a transformation. Purpose of the article: To present the perspectives on building fashion brand equity in a circular economy, including risks and opportunities. Research methods: A review of scientific and specialised studies, selected using specific keywords, was undertaken. Data sources included academic resources: books, articles, market data (e.g. McKinsey & Company) and statistics published on the Statista platform, as well as specialised resources: expert articles, reports from organisations approaching the issue under research (e.g. EU, UN, Fashion Revolution, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, etc.). The search area was composed of electronic resources: licensed, open access websites and topic-related websites. The aim of the data analysis was to systematise background knowledge through an inductive method. Main findings: 1. The fashion business needs a change of mission, vision and strategy along with cooperation and coopetition among brands of the luxury goods, mass goods and organic MSMEs markets within its ecosystems in order to achieve the expected brand value. 2. The implementation of circular economy model in the fashion business implies the necessity to restrict overproduction and overconsumption of clothes and accessories at the same time as utilising sustainable raw materials and production technologies. Furthermore, it requires the dissemination of the slow fashion model, which incorporates the reuse of clothes by other users (rental of clothes, second hand, upcycling). 3. Change of consumer behaviour, popularisation of research findings and expertise from independent organizations is a factor stimulating fashion brands to act towards a circular economy in order to maintain high brand value.