YORK – The conversation surrounding circularity in the fashion industry often focuses on what is missing: recycling plants, consumer demand, or stricter regulations. But a recent study in Business Strategy and the Environment suggests that the real problem is the hidden trap of endogenous feedback loops, not a lack of green initiatives.
Titled Co-Creating Circular Pathways in the Fashion Industry: A Participatory System Dynamics Perspective, the research focuses on Brazil’s fashion sector to explain why circular initiatives routinely stall just as they begin to scale. Authored by Alyson da Luz Pereira Rodrigues and Marly Monteiro de Carvalho from the University of São Paulo, the study breaks away from traditional linear thinking, employing participatory causal loop diagrams and group model building to map how circular transitions actually behave under real-world pressures.
