The Entrepreneurial Fashion Designer as an Agent of Sustainable Innovation: A Namibian Case Study

This chapter considers the alarming social and environmental impacts of fast fashion and suggests that the positive impact of entrepreneurial fashion designers is essential to limiting the damage the apparel industry is responsible for, via innovative practices and sustainable fashion principles. Indeed, fashion entrepreneurs are the driving force behind most of the innovation in sustainable textiles, supply chain transparency, and business models (such as rental, repairs, and take-back schemes), and not the mainstream sector. The chapter discusses the environmental cost of the fashion industry and provides a critical overview and examples of sustainable fashion. It sets out to discuss the influential role of entrepreneurial and sustainable fashion. The contributions of fashion entrepreneurs are not acknowledged sufficiently, and yet they initiate and push for the sustainable changes that are so much needed in the industry. To fill this gap, this chapter presents the exemplary work of a Namibian fashion designer and entrepreneur who uses local and recycled resources and innovative processes (oxidation and rust methods) to produce beautifully crafted fashion garments.