Virtual versus sustainable fashion: a systematic literature review

Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the extent of convergence between the concepts of virtual and sustainable fashion. Virtual reality is gaining popularity due to its immersive nature, which enables “involvement of the senses”. Owing to dynamic technological development, it is expanding into numerous fields of application and provides the potential to offer innovative products. Among those is virtual fashion, i.e., clothes and accessories that have no physical equivalent, being available to “wear” only in virtual reality. Virtual clothing is part of the premium and exclusive product segment, to which, in particular, the value added by the consumer is attributed. These products are therefore communicated as an environmentally friendly alternative to physical clothing, as they do not require the consumption of materials, thus generating no waste, using less energy and water, etc. Design/methodology/approach: The research consisted of two phases. The main phase was conducted with a method of systematic literature review according to PRISMA standards, by means of data extracted from the databases: Scopus and Ebsco (n = 13). In a supplementary phase, there was used a method of co-occurrence keywords analysis via VOSviewer to compare the description of strictly virtual fashion (n = 218) and sustainable fashion (n = 402). Documents were searched in the Scopus database. The conclusion was reached using the induction method. Findings: The findings from the researched documents indicate that virtual fashion is predominantly presented accordingly to the new technological possibilities it offers. Indeed, its ecological qualities and its potential for fulfilling pro-environmental goals in the fashion industry are briefly stated in broad terms, without reference to the specific measures or data, mentioned, by comparison, in papers devoted solely to sustainable fashion. Originality/value: The findings from the researched documents indicate that virtual fashion is predominantly presented accordingly to the new technological possibilities it offers. Indeed, its ecological qualities and its potential for fulfilling pro-environmental goals in the fashion industry are briefly stated in broad terms, without reference to the specific measures or data, mentioned, by comparison, in papers devoted solely to sustainable fashion. Keywords: virtual reality, sustainable fashion, sustainability, fashion industry. Category of the paper: literature review.