6. Conclusions, Limitation, and Future Research

In order to satisfy consumer needs and social development, eco-design is quite popular at present. In this paper, we collected product line data from the famous outdoor sportswear brand Patagonia. We analyzed Patagonia's product line in terms of eco-design and found that Patagonia mainly uses organic, recycled, and traceable materials in product line design. Moreover, we identified that the number of eco-materials used significantly affects the number of color choices and product weight as well as gender difference, pattern design, and product fit. We find that menswear products use more eco-materials than womenswear at Patagonia. This result can be potentially explained by gender differences in sustainable consumer behavior. Furthermore, we identified the relationship between product weight, fit, and patterns for eco-design at Patagonia. These statistical results provide many important managerial insights on eco-design in product line and eco-product supply chain management.

Our study is subject to two main limitations. First, we cannot say whether our findings at Patagonia can be completely generalized to other fashion firms. However, our findings can provide some partial managerial insights to other firms and the entire supply chain. In future research, it would be interesting to compare eco-design practices among different fashion brands. Second, fashion design and product development processes are dependent on other supply chain factors, such as supplier selection process. In future research, it would be significant to evaluate Patagonia's sustainable supply chain. Third, various eco-design approaches may influence consumer intentions when purchasing products. It would be valuable to examine efficient eco-design elements in sustainable fashion for consumers.