Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to expand knowledge of slow fashion brand customer by creating a persona that communicates the characteristics and aspects that influence purchase decisions of slow fashion consumers. Method: Since slow fashion consumer concept is still rather unexplored area, qualitative research strategy approach was chosen for this thesis, to get more deep data about the slow fashion consumer profile and buying insights. To address the research questions, single case study was used. The data was gathered through semi-structured interviews that were conducted with five female slow fashion consumers who had recently made a purchase from a Swedish slow fashion brand MASKA’s online store. To analyse the data, a coding approach was used. As a result of the coding process, themes that described the slow fashion consumer’s profile and buying insights emerged and were used later to create a narrative of the slow fashion buyer persona. Conclusion: In order to expand knowledge of slow fashion brand customer, a persona that communicates the characteristics and aspects that influence purchase decisions of slow fashion buyer was developed with this study. To answer the research questions and develop persona, five female slow fashion brand buyers were interviewed. Answering the research questions provided 8 different themes that emerged from the interview transcripts and made up slow fashion brandbuyer persona, which fulfilled the purpose. The emerged themes were describing who slow fashion brand buyer persona is: 1) creative mind; 2) globetrotter and explorer; 3) fond of nature, and themes that described what influences the slow fashion buyer: 4) consciousness; 5) quality over quantity; 6) shoppers of small boutiques; 7) trust; 8) esthetics. This study did not come to a firm conclusion, but rather aimed to provide more in-depth knowledge about slow fashion brand buyer and point out implications to further study the slow fashion consumer.

Background: The slow fashion industry arose as a contraposition to the unsustainable ways of fast fashion, and emphasizes attentive consumption and production. It is characterized by four characteristics - transparency, quality, localism and exclusivity – each described with valuable traits in previous studies. However, current marketing efforts of slow fashion are focused only on two transparency aspects; sustainability and ethics, although previous studies show that these have no influence on consumers consumption choices. Therefore, this study aims to explore which aspects within these four characteristics that are perceived as valuable by consumers, so that a value package model for the consumer perceived valuable aspects of slow fashion can be developed. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to develop a new value package model that presents the consumer perceived valuable aspects of slow fashion. Methodology: This exploratory qualitative study was conducted through nine semi-structured interviews with Swedish fashion consumers between the age of 18-26. The participants were selected through convenience sampling, and the interviews resulted in 91 pages of collected data. The data was then analyzed with the help of thematic coding. The findings derived from the study was then used to develop a new value package model; presenting the consumer perceived valuable aspects of slow fashion. Findings: There were six consumer perceived value aspects of slow fashion. These were, in order of highest influence to lowest; classical style, product personality, durability, limited production, security and knowledge. Conclusion: This study contributes with the theoretical implication of a new proposed value package model that displays the customer perceived value aspects of slow fashion. In addition, it provides managerial implications that may help marketers and companies to streamline their marketing efforts of slow fashion.

The aim of this project is to design and craft sustainable fabrics according to slow fashion principles. Furthermore the intention is to develop these fabrics, to make them exciting and congenial for use as trouser fabric for skateboarders.

Bakgrund: Modeindustrin är en av de branscher som växt mest under 2000 talet vilket medfört förändringar gällande trender och strukturer på marknaden. Från att massproduktion dominerat produktionsstrategin och dess värdekedja har en dynamisk marknad med dess sporadiska efterfrågan växt fram. Som en följd har värdekedjan och produktionsstrategin utvecklats till att bli allt mer agil och flexibel. Att vara mer flexibel är dock en fråga om prioritering då det kräver resurser, pengar och tid. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva och analysera hur Slow Fashion bolag arbetar med flexibilitet på en dynamisk marknad. Metod: Studien har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod och är en tvärsnittsstudie med två företag som empirisk grund. Empirin har samlats in via semistrukturerade intervjuer samt dokumentstudier. Slutsats: Studien konstaterar att flexibilitet inte är något som något av de undersökta företagen jobbar aktivt med vilket har skapat en låg lageromsättningshastighet. Flexibilitet är dock inte lika viktigt för dessa företag inom Slow Fashion då deras segment grundar sig på en betydligt stabilare efterfrågan på grund av dess långa produktlivscykler. / Flexibility on a dynamic market -  A qualitative cross-sectional study on how businesses work with flexibility on a dynamic market. This study aims to investigate how Slow Fashion companies use flexibility in their project of creating a collection to survive on a dynamic market with high volatile demand. This has been investigated by studying two Swedish fashion companies and the research questions that has been investigated is: -        How does the companies prioritize between quality, economic and time when developing a new collection? -        How does the prioritization affect the companies ability to achieve flexibility? -        How important is flexibility for a Slow Fashion company? The study is based on interviews with two persons who work at two different Slow Fashion companies. Since there is a lot of research about how Fast Fashion companies work with flexibility, the aim of the study has been to investigate how and if Slow Fashion companies does the same. The study shows that rather than focusing on time in the companies working processes, they prioritize to maintain a high-quality production while keeping the productions costs down. Based on the results obtained in this study, it can be concluded that the companies do not use flexibility with the ambition of launching their products to the market as quick as possible since the demand of Slow Fashion products have a longer durability than Fast Fashion company products. However, they still exist on a dynamic market that requires flexibility in other parts of the value chain. The main contribution from this study is a deeper understanding in how Slow Fashion companies work with flexibility.

[pt] O objetivo deste trabalho foi o desenvolvimento de um produto a partir dos resíduos têxteis de confecção, em especial do tecido de viscose. O propósito do estudo é mostrar uma forma de reutilização de resíduos da confecção visando reduzir o tempo de descarte desse material. O trabalho buscou trazer uma alternativa que possibilitasse dar outra origem que não o descarte puro de restos de panos da confecção, produzindo papel tecido que será utilizado na própria confecção, como tags e caixas. Essa substituição pode levar à menor utilização de materiais de embalagens e diminuir a quantidade de lixo produzido em toda a cadeia de comercialização de roupas. O esforço desse estudo foi propor uma forma de reduzir a agressividade e a velocidade que os resíduos têxteis são gerados. Foi desenvolvido um produto a partir do resíduo da viscose como matéria prima, transformando lixo em papel de tecido fabricado a partir da releitura da técnica chinesa do século II d.C. a qual triturava trapos e galhos, levando a criação de produtos para uso papeleiro e com características próprias como cor de origem dos retalhos, boa maleabilidade, qualidade entre outros. Também foi realizada uma pesquisa sobre o potencial de decomposição desse papel de viscose no meio ambiente e como seria o seu processo de decomposição em diferentes tipos de superfície. Foi observado que os papéis de tecido se decompõem rapidamente, demonstrando inclusive melhor perda de material em comparação as tags comuns de papel produzidos pelas gráficas em geral. / [en] The objective of this work was the development of a product from textile waste, especially from viscose fabric. The purpose of the study is to show a way of reusing manufacturing waste in order to reduce the disposal time of this material. The work sought to bring an alternative that would make it possible to give another origin than the pure disposal of cloth leftovers from the confection, producing tissue paper that will be used in the confection itself, such as tags and boxes. This substitution can lead to less use of packaging materials and reduce the amount of waste produced throughout the clothing marketing chain. The effort of this study was to propose a way to reduce the aggressiveness and the speed at which textile waste is generated. A product was developed from viscose residue as a raw material, transforming waste into tissue paper made from the reinterpretation of the Chinese technique of the 2nd century AD. which shredded rags and twigs, leading to the creation of products for paper making and with their own characteristics such as the original colour of the patchwork, good malleability, quality, among others. Research was also carried out on the decomposition potential of this viscose paper in the environment and how its decomposition process would be on different types of surfaces. It was observed that tissue papers decompose quickly, even demonstrating better material loss compared to common paper tags produced by printers in general.

The fashion industry is today a global industry and has huge effect on our environment as well as on people. It is dominated by fast fashion and just-in-time production that has lead to increased seasons and mini-collections in season, which generate new low price items in store every week and even every day. This in turn has lead to an escalation in fashion trends that spris our desires for new experiences and leads to overconsumption where consumers buy more than they need, which in the end results in fashion waste. / Program: Magisterutbildning i Applied Textile Management

The fashion system has increasingly been imbued by ecology and sustainability. While in the recent years a lot on approaches to more sustainable consumption behaviour from the con- sumers’ side have been suggested, this study focuses on the very practice of how sustainabil- ity - in an applied matter - is realised within a fashion company. In this dissertation, two Swe- dish fashion brands, Nudie Jeans co and Filippa K, are being investigated and analysed due to their brand philosophies and concepts dealing with sustainability. If Nudie Jeans co’s first all- organic denim collection launched in Autumn 2012 or Filippa K’s emphasis to the longevity of clothing by classic shapes and plain colours; both ideas foster a slow fashion movement. One of this thesis’ implications is the fact, that the term sustainability is much more far- reaching and expansive as commonly defined. Also timelessness and tradition could be sus- tainable, if still taking care of environment and society. Finally, concepts of sustainability which are commonly not highlighted shall be identified and fill the yet existing gap.

Som en reaktion mot fast fashion-rörelsen och de oansvariga konsumtionsmönster som den medför har slow fashion uppstått som ett mer hållbart alternativ i modebranschen. Slow fashion beskrivs ofta som mode av hög kvalitet med en tidlös design vars syfte är att sakta ner flödena och minska konsumtionen. Tidigare studier beskriver slow fashion som koncept och några incitament och barriärer för att arbeta med slow fashion. Dock saknas en konkret definition av slow fashion-affärsmodellen och dess ingående komponenter. Det finns också ett gap mellan teorin och den praktiska tillämpningen av slow fashion-affärsmodellen, vilket gör detta till ett intressant perspektiv att undersöka. Därför är syftet med denna studie att bidra med ökad förståelse kring möjligheterna med slow fashion-affärsmodellen för modeföretag. Slow fashion-affärsmodellen definieras baserat på tidigare litteratur om affärsmodeller och slow fashion-konceptet. Detta presenteras som en modell med fyra komponenter: värdeerbjudande, värdeskapande, värdeleverans och värdelogik. Jämförelsen mellan denna definition och affärsmodellerna för sju modeföretag visar att det finns många möjligheter kopplade till slow fashion-värdeerbjudandet. I vilken utsträckning de andra komponenterna i slow fashion tillämpas i praktiken beror på företagets målgrupp, ägarstruktur och hur hållbarhet är förankrat i organisationen. När det gäller intressentperspektivet på slow fashion-affärsmodellen visar studien att myndigheter och beslutsfattare har störst möjligheter att möjliggöra slow fashion-affärsmodellen, genom att påverka både modeindustrin och konsumenterna. På grund av aktieägarnas inflytande över modeföretagens långsiktiga strategi kan de vara en drivkraft om hållbarhet prioriteras av dem. Andra intressenter kan agera som möjliggörare för tillämpningen av slow fashion-komponenter på grund av sitt potentiella intresse för hållbarhet och minskad konsumtion.Studiens syfte besvaras med följande propositioner: Proposition 1: Det finns en marknad för slow fashion-värdeerbjudandet men det saknas incitament för att tillämpa affärsmodellen fullt ut. Proposition 2: Konkurrenskraften i slow fashion-affärsmodellen ligger i värdeerbjudandet, inte i priset. Proposition 3: En styrka i slow fashion-affärsmodellen är dess lönsamhetspotential, vilket kan gynna ägare och investerare. Sammanfattningsvis visar studien att det finns potential när det gäller efterfrågan, konkurrenskraft och lönsamhet i slow fashion-affärsmodellen. Det finns dock begränsade incitament för modeföretag att tillämpa alla komponenter i affärsmodellen i sin verksamhet. Det finns också indikationer på att efterfrågan på mer långvariga kläder kan öka i framtiden. För tillfället verkar dock behovet av variation fortsätta vara starkt. / As a reaction to the fast fashion movement and the irresponsible consumption patterns derived from it, slow fashion has emerged as a more sustainable option in the fashion industry. Slow fashion is often described as fashion of high quality with a timeless design that aims to slow down the product flows and reduce consumption. Although previous studies describe slow fashion as a concept and some of its general incentives and barriers, a concrete definition of the slow fashion business model and its components is missing. There is also a gap between the theoretical and practical application of the slow fashion business model. The practical application is greatly influenced by different stakeholders in the fashion industry, which makes it an interesting perspective to study. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide a deeper understanding of the possibilities with the slow fashion business model for fashion companies. The slow fashion business model is defined based on previous literature on business models and the slow fashion concept. This is presented in a model of four components: value proposition, value creation, value delivery, and value logic. The comparison between this definition and the business models of seven fashion companies, shows that there are many possibilities connected to the slow fashion value proposition. The extent to which the other slow fashion components are applied in practice depends on the company’s target customers, owner structure and how sustainability is embedded in the organization. Regarding the stakeholder perspective on the slow fashion business model, the study shows that public authorities and regulators have the largest possibilities to enable the slow fashion business model by influencing both the fashion industry and consumers. Due to the shareholders’ say in the long-term strategy of fashion companies, they could be a driving force if sustainability is prioritized among them. Other stakeholders could act as enablers to the application of slow fashion components, because of their potential interest in sustainability and reduced consumption. The aim of this study is answered with the following propositions: Proposition 1: There is a market for the slow fashion value proposition but incentives for full application of the business model are missing. Proposition 2: The competitiveness of the slow fashion business model lies in the value proposition, not the price. Proposition 3: A strength in the slow fashion business model is its potential for profitability, which can benefit shareholders and investors. In conclusion, the study shows that there is potential regarding demand, competitiveness and profitability in the slow fashion business model. However, there are limited incentives for fashion companies to apply all of the components in their operations. Also, there are indications that the demand for more long-lasting clothing might increase in the future. At the time, however, it seems the need for variation will continue to be strong.

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