Close loop value chain is a concept which maximizes utility of a product; before and after end-of-product life cycle. Its main components are reuse, repair, up-cycling and down-cycling. This paper is an attempt to investigate theory and practice related to the concept of ‘reuse’ to test a conceptual framework for fashion value chain model.

The theory includes literature review of value chain from fashion industry as well as other industries. Thorough search of articles have been done on Web of Science database with the help of relevant keywords. On the basis of this a conceptual framework has been developed for making all stages of reverse supply chain (collection, sorting and processing) more sustainable and efficient. The key drivers (i.e. System, Price, Design, Information, Legislation and consumer attitude.) have been figured out those affect the circular fashion value chain. Later the impact of these key drivers on effectiveness and performance of each stages of the chain has been analyzed. The results clearly indicate that consumer’s attitude towards product return, highly influence the collection stage. Further the results revealed that, the existing government legislation has a significant impact on the function of overall closed loop value chain.

In the second section of the paper an attempt has been made to explore the current sustainable practice. For this unstructured interviews were conducted at the founder and senior managerial level in sustainable firms from second hand clothing industry. The results have been utilized to validate the conceptual model from current practice. System and Information found to be key drivers to have direct impact on the business of close loop clothing while government legislation influences it indirectly. Various social welfare schemes run for disabled and unskilled person considered to very useful for the financial suitability. Interviewing consumer and shop manager can be considered as future scope for empirical investigation of price, design and consumer attitude effects. The study has been concluded by suggesting implications and ways to improve the proposed model along with providing scope for future research.