De Gruyter Handbook of Fashion Supply Chains and Operations

The topic of fashion supply chains and operations is dynamic and contemporary. It is a rapidly growing field of research that inspires new debates, opinions and approaches. In consequence, a handbook that synthesizes, challenges and moves forward current discourses is essential in advancing knowledge and understanding of this crucial area of research and practice. Unlike other collections, the handbook goes beyond existing works that are situated solely in the operations and supply chain domain by drawing on an international inter-disciplinary authorship. In doing so, it curates a state-of-the-art collection of important contributions that provides direction to scholars and graduate students in both teaching and research. Fashion supply chains and operations is an area of research and practice that has long inspired debate, being a critical business function responsible for getting products to consumers but often related to the challenges of sustainability, globalization, configuration and ethics. This handbook offers leading research findings that contribute to these debates and furthers the research agenda. Contemporary topics are debated, including the use of technology, blockchain and big data in fashion supply chains, reshoring, innovation and supply chain transparency. Other topics discussed include: entrepreneurship and management, including co-opetition, offering important insights in terms of how fashion supply chains are, and could be, operationalized. It also includes important debates around sustainability, and crucial topics including social and environmental sustainability, modern slavery, sustainability policy and ethics form a cornerstone of the inter-disciplinary dialogue that constitutes the handbook. This handbook offers an ambitious and stimulating range of chapters that include the works of leading international scholars, drawing on expertise and perspectives from the Global North and Global South.

Claire Hannibal (née Moxham) is Professor of Operations Management and Associate Dean Research and Knowledge Exchange at Robert Gordon University.

Claire’s overarching research focus is on process improvement in organisations and supply chains. Current research projects are focused on triple bottom line sustainability, textile supply chains and the role of labelling in assuring the social sustainability of multi-tier supply chains. Recent projects have examined humanitarian logics and strategies for implementing information sharing to manage supply chain risk.

Claire has published widely on the topic of operations and supply chain process improvement and her research features in the International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal and Journal of Business Research. In 2022 she won the Professor Ian Beardwell Prize awarded by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development for the best applied research paper, and the David Lepak Award from the International Journal of Human Resource Management

Prior to joining Robert Gordon University she has held Faculty positions at Liverpool John Moores University, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Wolverhampton, University of Liverpool, University of Bradford and University of Manchester. Prior to joining academia in 2003, Claire worked for 3 years in Ethiopia with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and has held managerial positions in manufacturing, textile processing and retail.

Dr Patsy Perry is a Reader in Fashion Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. She holds a PhD in Corporate Social Responsibility in fashion supply chains from Heriot-Watt University, UK. She has published highly cited papers on fashion supply chains, sustainability, and luxury marketing in leading academic journals and contributed to textbooks. She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. Her expertise on fashion sustainability and supply chains has been featured widely in the national print and broadcast media as well as internationally, including BBC TV and radio, Sky News, The Independent, The Guardian, The Observer, The Telegraph, Financial Times, Thomson Reuters, South China Morning Post, PBS, CNN, CTGN, Vogue Business, Drapers, Harpers Bazaar, National Geographic. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has been invited to teach internationally in China, Italy, Sweden, Croatia, The Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. She has also been invited as panel speaker at industry events and keynote speaker at academic conferences.

Dr Amy V. Benstead is a Senior Lecturer in Fashion Management at The University of Manchester. She holds a PhD in Management Science from Lancaster University Management School and is a board member of the European Operations Management Association (EurOMA). She has considerable knowledge and international experience gained in the fashion industry, most recently as Senior Merchandise Manager based in Istanbul, Turkey at global sourcing company Li & Fung. Amy has a high level of technical and commercial competence in the textiles and fashion industry with skills in sourcing, garment costing, sales, critical path management, CSR, compliance, and quality systems. Amy graduated with an MRes in Management Science (2014) and BSc (Hons) in Operations Management (Industry) (2007) from Lancaster University where she was awarded an ESRC studentship and completed a PhD in Management Science. Her PhD research has been chosen as a Highly Commended Award winner of the 2018 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards in the Operations and Production Management category. Amy’s research interests include socially sustainable supply chain management and global sourcing within the textiles and fashion industry, with a particular focus on modern slavery and reshoring - the movement of activities associated with manufacturing back to the country from which they were previously offshored.