In previous research, attention is given to the travel and translation of ideas in order to capture how ideas flow and by whom. External actors, so called carriers, promote certain ideas and discard others, further playing a significant part in the institutionalization of ideas. The multitude of different carriers, their different promotion techniques and interconnectedness call for the need to study them in relation and differentiation to one another. Through a qualitative content analysis of documents, interviews and videos, we present a case study on carriers promoting the current idea of a circular fashion system. The investigated carriers are consultants, media, academia, NGO/NPOs and gurus. Alongside the previously identified sequential and parallel modes of translation, we find carriers promoting the travel of an idea jointly. Among the carriers studied, the findings reveal evidence of (1) linkages through cross-referencing, and (2) collaboration through funding, assignment and co-writing. Coupling the notion of blurred boundaries between carriers with ecologies of translation, the study finds carriers situating in different contexts and constellations, forming hybrids and hierarchies. Providing such evidence of a more complex scenery, we argue that the landscape in which carriers promote an idea is best understood as constituting webs.

Background: Different social, environmental and economical aspects indicate the current need for sustainability and build the imperative for a change in the fashion industry from the prevailing “take-make-dispose” consumption habit to more circular practices, which minimise the input of resources. According to research, the most direct way to capture value and design out waste and pollution in the textile system lays therewith in increasing the number of times a garment is worn. Therefore, the key challenge is to subvert the habit that garments are perceived as disposable and to increase their utilisation. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how sharing events influence the use phase of garments through the perspective of organisers and participants of such events. Method: The study implemented a qualitative research nature and followed thereby an exploratory research design and strategy. Through semi-structured interviews, event organisers of different organisations with a well-founded experience in sharing events - staged in a Circular Fashion environment - provided their insights on the influence sharing events obtain regarding the use phase of garments. The research strategy supplemented the theories and empirical data with the insights of participants of a sharing event through self-completion questionnaires. Conclusion: Besides their practical ability to pass on garments to various users, sharing events are indicated to prolong the garment usage by promoting a possible change in the consumer’s mindset. Doing so, different aspects connected to Event Management, -Strategy as well as additional offers and activities, besides swapping, are facilitating. As the research outcome hints, the sharing event model, as one of the simplest forms of collaborative garment consumption, is indicated to influence the usage by enabling a change from garment consumer to user.

Bakgrund: De senaste åren har cirkulär ekonomi fått uppmärksamhet och även funnits på den politiska agendan inom Sverige och Europa, tack vare en ökad klimatinsikt. Cirkulär ekonomi syftar på en sluten värdekedja som bör ersätta den linjära värdekedjan då den slutna kedjan fokuserar på hållbarhet. Den linjära värdekedjan har sedan den industriella revolutionen orsakat ett ”slit och släng samhälle”, detta ska den cirkulära ekonomin motverka. Klädbranschen är en marknad som producerar mycket avfall vilket gör den cirkulära ekonomin till ett mer hållbart alternativ. Trots fördelarna med det cirkulära så finns det problematik för företag kring förändringen. För att övervinna problematiken blir förståelsen kring de primära drivkrafterna viktiga faktorer. Detta för att se hur utvecklingen mot ett cirkulärt arbete fortskrider. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att öka förståelse kring vilka drivkrafter som är de mest primära som leder till en organisatorisk förändring mot en cirkulär ekonomi. Metod: Detta är en kvalitativ studie som utgår ifrån ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv som ska öka förståelsen utifrån de intervjuade organisationernas uppfattning. Empirin formades utifrån semistrukturerade intervjuer med tre organisationer genom en Små-N- Studie. Studien startades med en litteraturstudie som formade uppsatsens inriktning och teorikapitel, ansatsen inom uppsatsen är abduktiv. Slutsats: Inom studien sågs det att de drivkrafter som berör både interna och externa faktorer har en större inverkan. Den mest primära interna drivkraften anses vara ledningen för att deras värderingar formar företag och de förändringarna som beslutas genomföra. Den mest primära externa drivkraften anses vara att förstärka företagens konkurrenskraft. Detta relaterar till att överleva i en värld som förändras och att anpassa sig utefter de förutsättning som kommer med en cirkulär ekonomi, ifrån marknaden och andra intressenter. Interna drivkrafter tenderar även till att leda till starkare hållbarhetsarbeten på grund av att sådana drivkrafter leder mer proaktiva förändringar. De externa drivkrafterna tenderar att orsaka mer reaktiva förändringar. / Background: Circular economy have during the last years gotten attention and been on the political agenda within Sweden and Europe due to an increased climate awareness. The circular economy refers to a closed value chain, which should replace the linear value chain due to its sustainability focus. The linear chain has since the industrial revolution caused a “tear and toss society”, which the circular economy is supposed to counteract. The fashion branch is today a market that produces a lot of waste, which would make the circular economy a more sustainable option. Despite the circular economy’s advantages there is still some problems regarding the companies’ changing processes. Therefore, the increased understanding of the primary driving forces regarding the development towards circular working methods becomes an important factor. Purpose: The purpose is to increase the understandings about which drivers that are the most primary for organizations that leads a change towards a circular economy. Method: The thesis is built on a qualitative method based on a hermeneutist perspective, which aims to increase understandings regarding drivers to a circular economy. The empiric came from semi-structured interviews with three organizations through a Small-N-Study. The thesis was based on a literature study that formed the essay’s alignment and theoretical framework. The thesis has an abductive approach. Conclusion: Within the study the drivers that is affected by both internal and external factors is shown having a bigger impact. The most primary internal driver is seen being the management and the founders due to their values which forms the company and the decisions about which changes to perform. The most primary external driver is to enhance the company’s competitiveness. The competitiveness relates to survival in a changeable world and to adjust to the conditions that comes with a circular economy, the market and other stakeholders. Internal drivers tend to lead stronger sustainability focus because of that those drivers causes more proactive changes. The external drivers tend to cause more reactive changes.

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Printed and organic electronics have been intensely researched in the past few years, and their potential low-cost and sustainability benefits combined with their unique form properties makes them interesting from a product design perspective. However, there has been a lack of product design with printed and organic electronics, which has created a gap between research and market. The aim of this thesis is to find an application of printed and organic electronics in a previously unexplored application area. The thesis includes interviews and workshops with relevant actors, a SWOT analysis, and idea generation through brainstorming. It is found that printed and organic traceability tags (RFID/NFC) have the potential to facilitate circular business models in the fashion industry if they are developed to fulfil the identified requirements.  Three concepts of how traceability tags can facilitate rental fashion are developed. The main identified potential benefits for the rental companies are reduced logistics costs and the possibility of data collection. The potentially low cost of printed and organic traceability tags would also enable rental companies with smaller profit margins to implement a digital traceability solution which would help the survival of these companies and accelerate the shift towards circular fashion. These findings contribute with a new possible application of printed and organic electronics. In order to reach the identified benefits, more research on printed and organic traceability tags is needed, as well as a full product development process of the three concepts. To really know whether this and other identified applications of POE could be viable on the market there is a need for economic and performance analysis to determine whether their applications can be successful. Further the authors also see a need for life cycle analyses on all types of POE applications to determine their environmental impact.

Circular fashion has become a favoured option for the fashion industry to transition toward as the fast fashion industry becomes unsustainable. Current research within academia, business and policy focuses on the lifecycle stages of the garments, with the designer and design phase in focus. Research on circular economy predominantly looks at material flows and the lifecycle. This however fails to acknowledge potential innovation and the capacity for this change to occur. This study uncovers the perspectives of the designer, who are largely absent from the current research agenda, in order to identify leverage points in the current system which would allow accelerated transition toward a circular fashion system. Using workshops as a method to involve designers, paired together with critical systems theory; the study first highlights a large gap between academia and reality, and reveals that there is a large misconception between designers from fast fashion and designers from luxury fashion and the power influences they allow, while, underlying internal organizational structures pose as an obstacle minimizing capacities for change. Finally, using a three horizons framework as a technique, six leverage points are identified: cultural norm, strong teams, digitalization, leadership for sustainability, education & knowledge and reducing intergenerational conflicts. Overall, the study provides a holistic view of the current environment and the transition toward circular fashion, how lifecycle phases connect to circular economy frameworks and highlights innovation and the ways in which the designer can be re-empowered. The study bridges fashion business with sustainability science in a straightforward way and sets and refines the future research on solutions and challenges.