Mass customized fashion in a smart, holistic wear-care business model

As the second largest consumer goods industry, the fashion industry shows high relevance in the social discourse about demand, global production routes, use and recycling of raw materials. Studies cite a shortened durability as one of the main reasons for the growing number of end-of-life garments. In order to extend the product life cycle, sustainability requires personal attachment to the fashion product, high quality of material and workmanship - In this environment, digitization can be an enabler for sustainable process design. Our research scenario uses radio frequency identification devices to digitize the service processes: With a personalized customer login the customer can get all information about the individual product development as well as possible washing and repair services. The interactive value creation results in a personal attachment. By comparing conventional life cycles with participatory service offering, we pursue the following research question: How does the life cycle of an apparel product change in a smart, holistic wear-care business model?
With mass customization users determine how their personal fashion product should be designed, which improves the fit to users' needs. In this context, digitalised participation processes (e-participation) can be used as steering instruments of sustainability dimensions. The laundry service process has already been established at the large consumer level. Textile service combines specific laundry care, repair, pick-up and delivery services. Compared to private laundry this model saves resources such as energy, water, chemicals and cares about each individual fashion item. The digital application scenario integrates these subprocesses into private use. The adaptation of established models of mass customization and laundry care in a smart, holistic wear-care business model results in eco-friendly processes of product development and use phase. Thereby material durability, awareness and emotional longevity through the strong integration of the user inside determine the new sustainable product life cycle. In this paper, we discuss a smart future scenario for the fashion industry which combines personalized product development and service-oriented laundry care through a smart, holistic process approach.