Towards An Integrated Lean–Digital Fashion Management Framework for Sustainable Performance: A Conceptual Paper

The fashion industry faces persistent operational waste, short product life cycles, demand volatility, fragmented supply networks, and substantial environmental and social pressures. Although lean management and digital technologies have each been examined as improvement pathways, their combined application in fashion remains conceptually fragmented. This paper develops an integrated Lean–Digital Fashion Management Framework explaining how lean practices and digital fashion capabilities can jointly improve sustainable performance. An integrative review of peer-reviewed literature indexed in Scopus or comparable databases was conducted across lean management, Industry 4.0, digital fashion, circular economy, and triple-bottom-line performance. The synthesis identifies four connected layers: lean management practices, digital fashion capabilities, integration mechanisms, and economic, environmental, and social outcomes. Real-time visibility, data-driven waste elimination, closed-loop learning, and synchronized value flow are proposed as the mechanisms through which digital capabilities amplify lean routines. The framework also recognizes digital readiness, workforce capability, leadership commitment, and supply-chain collaboration as enabling conditions. Five research propositions are developed to guide future empirical testing. The paper contributes a fashion-specific explanation of Lean 4.0 and provides managers with a staged pathway for aligning operational excellence, digital transformation, and sustainability objectives.

Circular economy; Digital fashion; Lean management

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