Guest editorial: Sustainable fashion: challenges and perspectives to enhance product visibility, distribution requirements, and market access

The fashion sector must reinvent itself for faster sustainability !Fashion is the fourth most destructive sector of life, affecting trees, soil, animals and humans. Its carbon footprint is equivalent to 2% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. This percentage is expected to grow to 26% by 2050 if nothing changes or if the changes are too slow [1].Despite the climate crisis and its huge environmental and social impact, the fashion sector has registered little transformation to date, and sustainable fashion consumption remains marginal (Dekhili et al., 2024). In fact, there is a lack of information on ethical fashion products, and it is often difficult for consumers to identify them in the market and in stores (ESSCA/L’ObSoCo, 2024). In the Anthropocene era, both production and consumption need to be questioned, discussed, and studied. This Special Issue illustrates transformations in fashion supply chains, offering insights into distribution strategies that could help to make sustainable fashion more visible and accessible to consumers. Sustainable solutions need to replace harmful fast fashion products more rapidly. More knowledge is needed on how to promote the efficient distribution of sustainable fashion items. This Special Issue will add to the currently limited literature on the topic by providing new insights into online and physical distribution channels and their transition to greater sustainability.This Special Issue was carefully crafted by Professor Sihem Dekhili, in line with the activities of the Ethical Fashion and Ecological Consumption Research Institute, which she leads at ESSCA School of Management. The Institute is grounded in a cross-disciplinary approach, driven by a dynamic of co-creation between academia, businesses and public and private institutions. Reflections focus on action and sectoral transformation to promote a more sustainable fashion industry.This Special Issue generated considerable interest, with 80 papers received from numerous countries worldwide. This bodes well for the future of the fashion industry. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the authors who submitted proposals for our special issue and to the reviewers who did a remarkable job of thoughtfully evaluating each article. We would also like to extend our warm thanks to the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management and specifically to Professor Neil Towers, who supported this Special Issue.Six papers were selected in total. They cover various topics, sustainability issues and methods spanning diverse global contexts. Collectively, they shed light on the structure of circular business models, social meanings that shape consumer perceptions, mechanisms underlying behavioural intentions and strategic levers available to retailers seeking to encourage more sustainable actions. Rather than focusing on a single facet of sustainable fashion, this Special Issue follows a steady evolution from the organisation of re-commerce models to the cognitive and normative foundations of consumer behaviour, ultimately leading to retail and communication strategies able to drive forward responsible consumption. In parallel, we take technological developments and their role in the expected sustainable transformations into account.Together, these articles offer a nuanced, multi-level understanding of how sustainable fashion is constructed, interpreted, modelled and influenced in contemporary retail environments, both in stores and online.In our first paper, Dissanayake (2026) offers a systematic review that consolidates existing knowledge on business models, drivers and barriers in online second-hand fashion retail. Based on a structured analysis of peer-reviewed and grey literature, the author identifies three principal re-commerce models: consumer to consumer, business to consumer and hybrid configurations. The author describes how these models operate in practice, including authentication procedures, listing and pricing mechanisms, digital interface design and the growing role of technology in facilitating resale transactions. The review highlights key drivers such as convenience, environmental concerns, economic value creation and strategic brand engagement. It also emphasises structural challenges, notably, perceived risks, supply uncertainty, logistical complexity and uneven product quality. By arguing that existing research remains fragmented and overly focused on consumer behaviour, it provides a crucial conceptual clarification of how re-commerce models function and scale. The review concludes by outlining a research agenda centred on reverse logistics, regulatory pressure, trust-building mechanisms, platform governance and the operational integration of circular practices. It thus offers an essential reference point for scholars, retailers and policymakers seeking to understand and expand the rapidly evolving re-commerce ecosystem.In our second paper, also focused on the second-hand market, Koay et al. (2026) provide a comprehensive evaluation of the factors shaping consumer intention to buy second-hand clothing. Using survey data from 558 respondents in the USA and a PLS-SEM analysis, the authors compare the explanatory and predictive power of five major theoretical frameworks: the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the extended theory of planned behaviour, the norm activation theory, the theory of consumption values and the perceived risk theory. Their results show that the extended TPB is the most effective model, outperforming all others in both in-sample and out-of-sample predictions. Its superior performance is chiefly ascribed to the strong influence of descriptive norms, alongside attitudes and perceived behavioural control. The study also identifies key drivers across different theoretical lenses, such as emotional and environmental value, perceived risks and personal norms. By testing these models side by side, the article elucidates a research field marked by dispersed findings and provides a robust theoretical foundation for future work on sustainable fashion consumption. It also offers practical guidance for retailers and policymakers by identifying the psychological mechanisms that support second-hand adoption most effectively.In our third paper, Oueslati et al. (2026) look at the case of recycled clothing in the French context by analysing the structural aspects of collective representations in this fashion category. Using social representations theory and a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative interviews with a quantitative survey, the authors identify both central and peripheral elements that shape shared beliefs about recycled clothing. The findings show that recycled clothing is predominantly associated with recycled plastic, a representation that carries positive environmental meaning, but also negative expectations linked to quality, comfort and potential health issues. Despite consumers' stated environmental concerns, the study reveals a persistent attitude-behaviour gap, with purchasing decisions still largely driven by affordability, availability and fast-fashion habits. The results also highlight widespread confusion between recycled and second-hand clothing, underscoring the fact that perceptions are shaped less by technical knowledge than by collectively shared stereotypes and meaning structures. The authors argue that transparent information, material literacy and targeted communication are essential to reshape these representations. The study advances theory by demonstrating how collective cognitive structures frame individual evaluations within circular fashion and proposes practical actions for brands seeking to reduce misconceptions and support wider adoption of recycled garments.In our fourth paper, Cho and Cho (2026) examine how sustainability-framed categories embedded within fashion retail platforms influence retail authenticity and consumer purchase intentions. Drawing on categorisation theory, they conducted qualitative interviews to identify five key attributes structuring these categories: convenience, product variety, transparency, customisation and informativeness. A subsequent survey of users of a fashion platform in South Korea shows that four of these attributes – product variety, transparency, customisation and informativeness – significantly enhance perceptions of retail authenticity, which in turn reinforce purchase intention. Convenience influences intention directly but not authenticity. The study also demonstrates that the effects of these attributes vary depending on consumers' alignment with sustainability, with more sustainability-engaged users responding more strongly to transparency and informativeness. By revealing how sustainability cues at category level guide inferences about retailer credibility, the article extends understanding of ways a digital platform design can support sustainable consumption. It also highlights strategic levers for retailers seeking to build trust and foster more responsible purchasing behaviour in online environments.In our fifth paper devoted to responsible communication, Liu and He (2026) investigate how different forms of green messaging shape sustainable consumption behaviour in fashion retail. Based on a survey of 477 Chinese consumers, the study examines five types of message that communicate sustainability: product messages, production messages, marketing messages, service messages and enterprise messages. It analyses how these messages influence behaviour through the mediating mechanisms of perceived benefit and self-efficacy. The results show that marketing messages are the only category with a direct positive effect on green consumption, while product and marketing messages exert indirect effects through self-efficacy. Perceived benefit plays a more limited role, suggesting that motivational and confidence-based mechanisms are more influential than cognitive evaluations. The findings show that multiple message types can shape behaviour indirectly through a chain of perceived benefit and self-efficacy, underscoring the need for consistent and credible communication across touchpoints. By showing how message framing interacts with psychological mechanisms and situational contexts, the article advances theoretical understanding of green communication and offers actionable recommendations for retailers aiming to enhance the visibility, credibility and effectiveness of their sustainability initiatives.Finally, our sixth paper helps advance reflections on the role of augmented reality (AR) in increasing sustainability in fashion. Luan et al. (2026) investigated the utility of AR try-on technology in phygital integration. Through three scenario-based surveys conducted among Taiwanese and USA respondents, the authors offer a deeper understanding of the effects of telepresence on purchase intention via confidence in fit. They also identified the moderating role of product sustainability information disclosure. From the perspective of moral cognition, the article highlights the enduring influence of sustainability cues in AR try-on experiences. In addition, when product sustainability information is presented in AR try-on settings, moral cues are not weakened by immersion; conversely, they enhance the positive effect of telepresence on confidence in fit for narrower-appeal fashion products. The article offers actionable insights for increasing the effectiveness of AR-based marketing strategies for sustainable fashion products. It suggests that enhancing telepresence in AR try-ons prompts an understanding of consumer fit data that can support firms in building a sustainable value chain.We hope that our readers enjoy this Special Issue and that the studies presented will clarify the sources of constraints and promote thoughtful reflection on perspectives to speed up the fashion sector's transformation. For actors in the fashion industry, we trust that some of the perspectives can be translated into practice to serve as an alternative to the fast fashion model!