Collaborative consumption in the fashion industry: A systematic literature review and conceptual framework

Collaborative consumption has gained great popularity by embodying an affordable and sustainable form of consumption. It has also been considered a favorable pathway to sustainability to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry. Several online collaborative consumption platforms concerning fashion rental and second-hand resale have emerged in recent years. However, despite the relevance of the topic, the academic literature remains very fragmented, and a clear systematization of what collaborative consumption really entails in the fashion industry is still missing. By means of a systematic literature review based on 101 journal articles from 1980 to 2020, the findings provide a holistic view of collaborative consumption in the fashion sector highlighting three research themes (customer perspective, business perspective, and circular economy and sustainability perspective) and their related sub-themes addressed in the research studies to date. A new conceptual framework has been also developed to provide a clear understanding and taxonomy of the main collaborative consumption modes in the fashion industry. Finally, new directions for future research are suggested.