World as known in the 21st century is influenced by modern technologies, social sites are counted as one of them. If a fashion company wants to succeed in the globalized world, in which thanks to the Internet everything is affordable, this company has to build a positive relationship with its customers. One way how to do it is using correct marketing strategies and tools. This can be done in cooperation with fashion bloggers. They are building a big influence on their social sites profiles, reaching millions of followers from all over the world. This diploma thesis conducts a survey on this topic while describing one of each tool of fashion blogs and also principles of the fashion industry. Later on these findings are deepen by studying how the best international and Czech fashion blogs work in the reality. The end also covers a different point of view - experiences of a fashion company.

Modeindustrin karaktäriseras idag av fluktuerande efterfrågan och snabbt växlande trender, vilket gör att modeföretagens effektivitet ständigt sätts på sin spets för att möta marknadens förändringar. Förmågan att ta snabba beslut och anpassa sig till marknaden är idag avgörande för att vara konkurrenskraftig. Detta har bidragit till stora förändringar, inte enbart inom produktion och logistik, utan även inom inköp vilket har fått en allt mer viktig roll. Inköp och Supply Management är idag en vedertagen term i modeindustrin, inte bara på grund av sin finansiella inverkan utan även sin ökade strategiska roll i företaget. Enligt tidigare forskning kan en integrering av strategiskt inköp leda till konkurrensfördelar. Däremot har en brist i litteraturen gällande strategiskt inköp i fast fashion-företag identifierats. Syftet med denna studie var därför att undersöka inköpsfunktionens strategiska roll i svenska fast fashion-företag idag. Studien använder en kvalitativ forskningsmetod och resultatet baseras på empirisk data insamlad genom intervjuer. Intervjuerna har genomförts hos tre svenska fast fashion-företag med respektive fem respondenter vilka har omfattande kunskap och förståelse för företagets inköpsfunktion. Baserat på en analys av den empiriska datan gentemot insamlad sekundärdata från tidigare forskning drog slutsatsen att inköpsavdelningen i svenska fast fashion-företag har en viktig roll både ekonomiskt och strategiskt. Detta eftersom inköparnas beslut påverkar och kräver en kommunikation med stora delar av företaget. Vidare tyder studiens resultat på att strategiskt inköp faktiskt förekommer hos svenska fast fashion-företag, dock inte i sin helhet. Detta beror delvis på att strategiskt inköp såsom det definieras i litteraturen inte är ett vedertaget koncept hos de tre företagen. Avslutningsvis konstateras det att den tilltagande relevansen av strategiskt inköp kombinerat med den ökande globala konkurrensen tyder på att inköpsfunktionens strategiska roll kommer fortsätta växa. / Today’s fashion apparel industry is characterized by a volatile demand and fast trends. These toughened conditions have resulted in fashion companies constantly being put on their edge in order to follow the market changes. The ability to make quick decisions and adapt to the market is there fore crucial in order to stay competitive. This has led to extensive changes not only in production and logistics but also within purchasing operations, which in turn serve a more important role than ever. Purchasing and Supply management is nowadays an established termin the industry not only due to its financial effect but also its increasingly strategic role within the company. According to previous research, integrating a strategic approach towards the purchasing function might lead to competitive advantage. However, a shortage of research about strategic purchasing specifically in fast fashion companies has been identified. The purpose of this study was to examine the purchasing function’s current strategic role in Swedish fast fashion companies. The study uses a qualitative research approach and the result is based upon empirical data collected through interviews. These interviews have been conducted with five representatives of three Swedish fast fashion companies that have an extensive knowledge and understanding about the purchasing function. By analysing the empirical results in relation to secondary data obtained from previous research, it was found that the purchasing function in Swedish fast fashion companies holds an important role, both financially and strategically. This strategic importance is derived from the company wide impact of purchasers’ decision-making along with the need for communication between the purchasing function and other significant departments. Furthermore, the results indicate that strategic purchasing does in fact appear in Swedish fast fashion companies, although not to a full extent. This is partially due the fact that the concept of strategic purchasing, as the literature defines it, is not established within these three companies. At last it is concluded that the previously increased relevance of strategic purchasing combined with the cultivating globalisation indicates that the purchasing functions’ strategic role will continue to grow. The thesis is written in Swedish.

Transparens har kommit att bli ett vida diskuterat ämne i dagens modeindustri. Konsumenter anses vara den grupp som främst verkar för fenomenets framfart, det efterfrågas i större utsträckning än någonsin tidigare. Modeföretag har emellertid svårt att få full insyn i den egna försörjningskedjan. Den globala sourcingstrategi som tillämpas av de flesta aktörer i branschen bidrar till kedjans komplexa och således spretiga natur. Därigenom efterfrågas nya teknologiska lösningar som kan hjälpa företagen att spåra sina produkter från råmaterial till slutkund. Blockchainteknologi kan vara en av lösningarna till detta. Blockchain som främst använts i finanssektorn rör sig nu mot allt fler industrier där dess användningsområde utvecklas och breddas. Problemen som idag är kopplade till försörjningskedjan i modeindustrin kan således underlättas genom implementering blockchain. Tekniken, som en distribuerad digital ledare som förbinder alla delar inom kedjan, visar på lovande lösningar för utmaningar som öppenhet, spårbarhet och säkerställande av information. Syftet för denna rapport är därför att undersöka vilka metoder som används för att uppnå transparens och spårbarhet inom modeindustrin och om blockchainteknologi skulle kunna vara applicerbart. Genom en multipel fallstudie av fyra modeföretag har ett resultat som visar att blockchain är applicerbart för att möta de utmaningar som branschen står inför påvisats. Den främsta anledningen till detta är att företagen uppger att de endast har kontroll över första tier. Blockchain kan därigenom möjliggöra öppen informationsdelning med alla berörda parter i försörjningskedjan. Å andra sidan saknas i dagsläget tydliga lösningar på implementation för tekniken. Detta behöver således undersökas ytterligare innan blockchainteknologi kan bli till verklighet i branschen. / Transparency has become a widely discussed topic within the fashion industry. One of the factors pushing this trend is a greater occurrence of consumer request for it. However, one of many issues that fashion businesses are faced with is how to gain full access of information regarding their supply chain. A global sourcing strategy that next to all companies in the industry have applied contributes to the complex and sprawling nature of the supply chain. Therefore, new technological solutions to track products from fibre stage to end consumer are of necessity. Blockchain technology has the potential to aid businesses achieve a greater control over their supply chains. As industries other than the finance sector are exploring and implementing the technology, new ways of usage are discovered. Blockchain could therefore be the solution to meet the supply chain management issue which is currently permeating the fashion industry.  The technology, as a distributed digital ledger connecting all parts within the supply chain, is showing promising ease of challenges such as transparency, traceability and securing of information. The purpose of this paper is consequently to investigates the potential of blockchain technology within the fashion industry, to thereby solve the issue of transparency. Through a multiple case study based on various fashion businesses, the result indicates that the problems faced by these companies could be favoured with a blockchain implementation. One of the reasons why is because fashion companies tend to only have control of tire one. Blockchain enables transparent information sharing through all parties involved. However, practical examples need to be investigated and invented in order for fashion businesses to implement the technology onto their business models.

The textile industry is currently operating in an unsustainable manner that is based on overproduction and wasteful, resource-draining practices. Therefore, recently, the concept of circular economy has been presented as a possible solution and a way forward. Changing linear economy business practices and basing them on the circular economy concept is anticipated to solve social and environmental problems while maintaining economic growth. However, fashion retail value chains essentially depend on the logic of mass production, fast fashion, and linear take-make-dispose models. Presently, circular initiatives in this context are rather limited. This thesis posits that circular business model (CBM) scalability is an important factor in the transition to a circular economy in the fashion retail value chain, and thus, a more sustainable fashion industry. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to further the understanding of CBM scalability in the context of fashion retail value chains. This includes expanding the notion of scalability to cover a more holistic perspective that goes beyond increasing production output solely for economic gains. Additionally, this involves enhancing the understanding of the required specific resources and capabilities that CBMs must have or develop to overcome challenges and increase their potential for scalability. Accordingly, this thesis covers three papers that utilise qualitative methods wherein archival material, such as peer reviewed journal articles and industry reports, as well as interviews with practitioners are used. Moreover, the extension of the notion of business model scalability goes beyond the boundary of the organisation and encompasses three different perspectives, namely, efficiency, adaptability, and altruism. In addition to this, three areas that challenge CBM scalability are identified. These challenges stem from different business model design themes and can be described as (i) inefficiency, (ii) lack of know-how and out-of-the-box solutions, and (iii) unfamiliarity resulting in scepticism and dissonance with current practices and policy. Finally, the thesis contributes to the CBM literature by utilising the theoretical lenses of resource-based theory and dynamic capabilities theory to identify resources and dynamic capabilities that are strategically important for scaling CBMs. This thesis expands the notion of scalability by going beyond the boundary of the single organisation as well as including a triple bottom line perspective, thus providing an important addition to the understanding of the scalability of CBMs. / Textilindustrin verkar för närvarande på ett ohållbart sätt som bygger på överproduktion och resurskrävande metoder. Cirkulär ekonomi som koncept, har därför nyligen presenterats som en möjlig lösning på de problem som industrin står inför. Genom att frångå linjära praxis och istället bygga affärsmetoder på cirkulär ekonomi förväntas sociala och miljömässiga problem kunna lösas samtidigt som den ekonomiska tillväxten bibehålls. Modeindustrins värdekedjor bygger dock fortfarande huvudsakligen på massproduktion, fast fashion och linjära take-make-dispose-modeller. Cirkulära initiativ är i detta sammanhang ganska begränsade. Denna avhandling framhäver därför, att skalbarhet av cirkulära affärsmodeller är en viktig faktor i övergången till en cirkulär ekonomi, och därmed en mer hållbar modeindustri. Syftet med denna avhandling är följaktligen att öka förståelsen för skalbarhet av cirkulära affärsmodeller inom modebranschens värdekedjor, med fokus på detaljhandeln. Innefattat i detta är ett utvidgat begrepp av skalbarhet, som inkluderar mer än enbart ökad produktion för ekonomisk vinst. Till detta hör även en ökad förståelse av de specifika resurser och förmågor som cirkulära affärsmodeller måste ha eller utveckla för att övervinna utmaningar och bli mer skalbara. Avhandlingen omfattar tre artiklar som använder kvalitativa metoder där arkivmaterial, såsom refereegranskade journalartiklar och branschrapporter, samt intervjuer med personer verksamma i branschen, används. Resultatet påvisar att cirkulära affärsmodellers skalbarhet går bortom organisationens gränser och omfattar tre olika perspektiv: effektivitet, anpassningsförmåga och altruism. Utöver detta identifieras tre områden som speciellt utmanande för skalbarheten. Dessa utmaningar härrör från två olika designteman av affärsmodeller och kan beskrivas som (i) ineffektivitet, (ii) bristande kunskap och brist på färdiga lösningar, och (iii) obekantskap som resulterar i skepsis och dissonans med nuvarande praxis och policy. Slutligen bidrar avhandlingen till litteraturen om cirkulära affärsmodeller genom att använda resursbaserad teori och dynamiska förmågor-teori för att identifiera resurser och dynamiska förmågor som är strategiskt viktiga för skalbarhet av cirkulära affärsmodeller. Avhandlingen bidrar således till kunskapen om cirkulära affärsmodellers skalbarhet genom att utvidga begreppet till att även innefatta aktiviteter som sträcker sig utanför den enskilda organisationen, samt inkludera ett triple bottom line-perspektiv. / <p>Delvis finansierat av Handelsbankens forskningsstiftelser (Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation, Tore Browalds Foundation)</p>

En designer menar att kommunicera sina idéer genom illustrerande plaggskisser till andra involverade i företaget. Idéerna är vaga, detaljrika, provisoriska eller abstrakta. Att tolka någonting som saknar precision är en osäkerhet, dessutom kan feltolkningar av skisser skapa stora kommunikationsproblem inom ett designteam. Genom att utföra semistrukturerade intervjuer och deltagande observationer hos modeföretag i Sverige har kvalitativt material jämförts med den litteratur och de studier som finns om ämnet idag. Från de studier och artiklar som refereras till i detta arbetet har olika riktningar uppenbarats, som kan vara goda att undersöka i ämnet. Däribland behovet av att skapa meta-notationer, nämligen ett skriftligt system som diskuterar kommunikationen i designprocessen. Ett antal flödeskartor har även ritats upp, utifrån observationer av gruppdynamik, företagsstruktur, beteendemönster, samt intervjufrågor med olika roller i designteamen. / A designer believes that communicating their ideas through illustrative garment sketches to others involved in the company. The ideas are vague, detailed, provisional or abstract. Interpreting something that lacks precision is an uncertainty; furthermore, misinterpretation of sketches can create great communication problems with design teams. By conducting semi-structured interviews and having participatory observations at fashion companies in Sweden, qualitative material has been compared to the literature and studies available on the subject today. From the studies and articles referred to in this work, different directions have been revealed, which may be good to investigate on the subject. This includes the need to create meta-notations, namely a written system that discusses the communication in the design process. A number of flow charts have thus been drawn up, based on observations on tone, gestures and mimics, as well as interview questions with different roles in the design teams.

Background: The increased attention to the subject of sustainable development within the fashion industry is frequently explained by how the fashion industry has become global, connecting brands, producers, manufacturers, businesses, and consumers across the entire globe. This has further led to the need for new constellations of global multi stakeholder collaborations. In 2009, a rather remarkable collaboration was announced; Patagonia and Walmart are pairing up to fight for a sustainable apparel, footwear, and textile industry. The collaboration is called The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and is today representing nearly half of the entire volume of global production for apparel and footwear. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify key decision points and actions in the development of SAC and the Higg Index. The aim is to understand how to create a foundation for sustainable development within the fashion, apparel and textile industry on a global scale. Methodology: The research has been conducted through an exploratory case study of qualitative character, focusing on the development process of SAC and the Higg Index. The data has been collected through in-depth interviews with participants having prior knowledge, insight, participation, and experience of the development process of SAC and the Higg Index. Further the data has been analyzed through an inductive thematic analysis. Result &amp; Analysis: Several interesting themes arrived in the result. However, these were narrowed down to four key factors for the development process of SAC and the Higg Index; Industry collaboration through democratic organizational culture, Getting the right people on the bus, then teaching them how to drive it, Trustworthy standards, communication and transparency throughout the supply chain, and Striving for global sustainable development = good for business. Research Limitations &amp; Suggestions for Future Research: Due to the exploratory character of the study, conclusions have been drawn with caution and has rather aimed to focus on the contribution of new insights, a deeper understanding and increased knowledge of the development of SAC and the Higg Index. The main suggestion for future research is to conduct a study which includes the perspective of the manufacturers and workers within the supply chain. This type of study could assist with gaining further insights of obstacles and potential solutions for how to globally adopt the Higg Index within all levels of the supply chain in the most successful way.

Title: How an external collection actor enables Lindex’s closed loop supply chain. Context: Customers demand of sustainable products has motivated companies to develop more sustainable business models. The implementation of closed loop supply chain is an effort to keep the value of resources for as long as possible, by reusing and recycling consumer waste. This study identifies what a reverse logistics flow of textile material looks like in a closed loop supply chain, and how companies can gain economies of scale in their reverse logistics. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate how a collection actor handles collected textiles and thereby contributes to the enabling of Lindex’s closed loop supply chain. The identification of the process provides an example of how other organizations can approach the circular economy. The study will also explore various alternatives to achieve economies of scale in the reverse logistics. Questions at issue: 1. “How does an external collection actor, Myrorna, manage Lindex´s reverse logistics of textiles in a closed loop supply chain?” 2. “With what strategies can the external collection actor, Myrorna, achieve economies of scale?” Method: The study practices a qualitative hermeneutic orientation, with an inductive reasoning. It is a one case study where the empirical information was collected by qualitative semi-structured interviews. The sampling technique used to provide the data was purposive sampling. Process mapping through process flow chart was used to analyze the empirical information. The study reaches a certain amount of validity through the use of triangulation of facts. Other ways used to ensure the quality of the study was for example that the respondent reviewed the results to authenticate it. An aspect of criticism is that the study is a one case study and therefor has a lower grade of transferability. The authors have also taken research ethics into consideration. Results: The external collection actor, Myrorna, enables Lindex closed loop supply chain through the physical handling of the collected textiles. According to the head of collection at Myrorna (2020-05-12) the reverse logistics is currently well managed. The study finds supporting evidence for the case, however alternative means of achieving economies of scale are proposed. One proposition is to outsource the domestic transportation through a third party logistics company. Another is to include pickup of goods at Lindex stores to Myrornas iv current pickup routes or to use a third party logistics company. Myrorna already handles a lot of textiles in their sorting operation, and the authors therefore suggests that they will keep insourcing this part of the reverse logistics. As a final suggestion Myrorna should continue outsourcing the export of leftover textiles in order to achieve economies of scale. Keywords: Supply chain management, Sustainable fashion industry, Closed loop supply chain, Process flowchart, Reverse logistics, Textile collection, Economies of scale.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate consumers’ willingness to act socially responsible in their online fashion purchasing behaviour. Three frameworks; Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Socially Responsible Consumer Behaviour (SRCB) and Consumer Social Responsibility (CNSR), constitute a foundation and have been combined in a conceptual framework. The research approach used is a qualitative research approach, and the empirical data was gathered in two semi-structured focus-groups with five and six participants. The participants were recruited by a convivence sampling method, with purposive sampling characteristics. The findings indicate that factors that influenced consumers’ willingness to act socially responsible was price, convenience, and time. Moreover, the findings show that SRCB is seen as a process, and that consumers’ stage in the process influence their willingness to act socially responsible. Lastly, it is shown that the TPB and SRCB must be considered before consumers can act socially responsible. This since consumers who have positive attitudes towards responsible actions, are susceptible to information of social and environmental issues related to their behaviour. These consumers can create enough awareness to take social- and environmental responsibility for their actions. Responsible consumers also aim to influence other consumers to take a greater responsibility. The findings of this study have contributed to further understanding within the research area of responsible consumers. Since the conceptual framework consider consumer behaviour in combination with their areas of awareness and responsibilities, this study contributes to deeper understanding of why consumers act socially responsible or not.

Modebranschen präglas av ett ständigt sökande efter billigast möjliga arbetskraft. Som en konsekvens väljer företag som opererar inom denna sektor vanligen att outsourca sin produktionsfunktion till en tredje part bortom hemmamarknaden. Ett sådant beslut kan vidare ge upphov till en komplex försörjningskedja. I förlängningen har detta medfört att granskningen från samhällets alla aktörer blivit allt mer omfattande. Detta då missöden och skandaler gällande den outsourcade produktionen uppdagats. Kritik kring bristande kontroll och insyn i leverantörsledet har därför inneburit att företagen funnit sätt att argumentera för sin verksamhet och de sourcing beslut som tagits. Studiens syfte är att synliggöra de argumentationstekniker som används kring rättfärdigandet av en outsourcad produktion. Detta besvarades genom att i en diskursiv analysmetod undersöka och kategorisera svenskamodeföretags språkanvändning samt de argumentativa kategorier som återfanns i deras hållbarhetsredovisningar. Detta gjordes med hjälp av ett ramverk som modifierades och utvecklades under studiens gång. Resultatet visar att samtliga studieobjekt använder sig av argumentationstekniker som vidare kan härledas till analysmodellens olika huvudkategorier. Dessa verkar i legitimerande syfte och gör att företagen framstår som ansvarstagande kring den outsourcade produktionen. Studien bidrar till att ge läsare av företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar möjligheten att ta till sig informationen utifrån ett mer kritiskt förhållningssätt. / The fashion industry is characterized by a constant search for the cheapest possible labor. As a consequence, companies operating in this sector usually choose to outsource their production function to a third party outside the home market. Furthermore, such decision can give rise to a complex supply chain. As a result, the scrutiny from all actors in society has become more extensive as mishaps and scandals regarding the outsourced production have been discovered. Criticism about lack of control and transparency in the supply chain has therefore meant that companies have found ways to argue for their operations and the sourcing decisions that have been made. The purpose of the study is to highlight the argumentative techniques used to justify outsourced production. This was answered by investigating and categorizing the use of argumentative categories in Swedish fashion companies sustainability reports. The methodology used was a discourse analysis. The analysis was based on a previously designed framework that was modified during the study. The result shows that all study objects use argumentation techniques that can further be linked to different main categories of the analysis model. These arguments are used in order to legitimize the companies CSR-activities connected to the outsourced production. The study helps to give readers of the companies sustainability reports the opportunity to access the information based on a more critical approach. The thesis is written in Swedish.

Only a few industries face challenges regarding sustainability to the same extent as the fashion industry being one of the largest consumer industries and the second most polluting industry in the world. These challenges are encouraged by the fast fashion business model, which is dominant in the sector and relies on the quick responsiveness to latest fashion trends while maintaining low prices, encouraging more consumption and shorter product life cycles. On the other side, a consumer shift towards more environmental consciousness can be observed leading to most fast fashion brands integrating sustainability in various forms into their products and services. A path that many fast fashion brands take in order to become more sustainable is the strategy of green branding through green brand extensions. Green brand extensions (GBEs) involve the application of an established brand name to new and greener products due to environmental considerations of the brand and can be divided into green line extensions (GLEs) and green category extensions (GCEs). Due to identified research gaps concerning how green brand extensions change consumer attitudes as well as the relationship between brand loyalty and the green image of brands, the following research question got developed to gain in-depth in consumer behavior in the fast fashion industry related to green brand extensions: RQ: How do green brand extensions of fast fashion brands affect the consumers’ parent brand attitude and brand loyalty? This primary study that aims to answer the research question was conducted following a deductive research approach and adopting a quantitative research design through collecting data by means of a web questionnaire. Thereby, the brand attitude of fashion consumers on green line and green category extensions as well as the relationship to brand loyalty got investigated focusing on Generation Y and Z as largest consumer groups of fast fashion. The main results of the study are that the introduction of a GLE by a fast fashion brand generally leads to a more positive brand attitude and a slightly improved brand loyalty of consumers towards the parent brand. However, when introducing a GCE, the launch has rarely a positive effect on the brand attitude and brand loyalty of consumers towards the parent brand. The relationship of GLEs and brand attitude is thereby moderated by the environmental concern of consumers as well as their friends and by the initial brand attitude towards the fast fashion brand. The relationship of GLEs and brand loyalty on the other hand is only moderated by environmental concern of consumers and the initial brand attitude. Looking at GCEs and their relationship with brand attitude as well as brand loyalty, it is influenced and moderated by the age of consumers, the environmental concern of their friends as well as consumers’ initial brand loyalty towards the parent brand.