Product design scenarios for energy saving: A case study of fashion apparel Karen Ka-Leung Moon a,⁎ , Chorong Youn a , Jimmy M.T. Chang b , Alex Wai-hon Yeung c a Department of Clothing and Textiles/The Research Institute of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea b Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong c Lifestyle Industry Research & Development Laboratory, Taiwan article info Article history: Received 1 July 2012 Accepted 28 February 2013 Available online 14 March 2013 Keywords: Fashion industry Sustainable fashion Energy-saving factors Product design scenario abstract In participating in today's green movement, the development of sustainable products enables firms to drive changes to achieve business excellence and enhance corporate culture. The purpose of this paper is to develop guidelines for the design and production of sustainable energy-saving fashion products (ESFPs). A three-stage methodological approach was adopted: (1) a preliminary study using multiple sources of evidence to identify energy-saving factors for apparel products; (2) a questionnaire survey to investigate fashion consumers' behavioral attitudes toward ESFPs; and (3) an analytical study on the development of product design scenarios for sustainable fashion. Three categories of energy-saving factors were identified in the first study, four clusters of consumers were found in the second, while two scenarios were developed in the third. Practically, this study enables enterprises to obtain a deeper understanding of the green demands of their target customers and provides designers with a reference for the design and production of ESFPs to meet the specific needs of different customers. Theoretically, this study demonstrates a systematic and logistical procedure for the identification of energy factors for sustainable fashion and the development of feasible and practical scenarios for the design and production of ESFPs. & 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Sustainable development is generally regarded as the assurance of a balance among economic growth, social equity, and environ- mental protection (Levett, 1998). The harmful consequences of environmental problems in recent decades have caused many people to rethink their role in the protection of the natural environment. Indeed, the green movement is now thought to be a priority for many people and organizations (Solomon and Rabolt, 2009; Benedict and McMahon, 2002; Freeman and Audia, 2006). In the fashion world, industrialists always strive hard to establish competitiveness to meet their customers' different needs, and thus to surpass other competitors. Given the growing concern regarding environmental protection, better responsiveness and affordability were no longer sufficient once sustainability started to gather momentum (Yeung and Yeung, 2011). Supplying fashion products that meet consumers' green demands reflects a new business direction. To achieve this purpose, fashion entrepreneurs must find a way to design and develop products with a focus on sustainability. Fashion is a unique tangible consumer product with the follow- ing features: timeliness, styles, trendiness, and many knock-offs. Although fashion is no longer regarded as a necessity product, it is almost a must-buy product for every season (Solomon and Rabolt, 2009) and probably consumers' most frequently purchased non- food product. This implies the existence of a market with huge consumer demand. As a logical result, the supply of fashion products to such a big global market consumes a large proportion of the world's resources. More importantly, the textile and fashion indus- tries pose a series of threats to the natural environment, from the chemicals used in planting and producing raw materials to the energy consumed in manufacturing, distributing, and retailing the final products. Another crucial issue is that pollutants and detergents are widely used to launder and take care of an apparel product throughout its entire usage life. Irrespective of its ‘gimmicky' image on the catwalk, many people feel that the fashion industry is a ‘dirty industry’ (Fredriksson, 2011; Solomon and Rabolt, 2009). Sustainable products, also called green products, are products aimed at reducing negative effects on the environment. Specifically, they are designed to minimize energy consumption, use fewer natural resources (biotic or abiotic), and reduce toxic substances in the water, air, and soil. To address the urgent need to reduce Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe Int. J. Production Economics 0925-5273/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2013.02.024 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: þ82 2 880 6871; fax: þ82 2 880 6841. E-mail addresses: tcmoonkl@gmail.com, tcmoonkl@snu.ac.kr (K.K.-L. Moon), cand78@snu.ac.kr (C. Youn), tcchangj@inet.polyu.edu.hk (J.M.T. Chang), alexyoung_1998@yahoo.com (A.W.-h. Yeung). Int. J. Production Economics 146 (2013) 392–401