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Purpose Pressing societal challenges, particularly related to sustainability, characterize the current global context and increasingly forge activist initiatives. This paper originally focuses on fashion activism for sustainability and investigates the coexistence of activism and entrepreneurship through the concept of activist entrepreneurship, specifically the role of the activist entrepreneur. Design/methodology/approach The study employs a qualitative methodological approach, based on ten case studies of activist entrepreneurs in the sustainable fashion sector. For data collection, this paper primarily relies on in-depth interviews. Findings We propose that three distinct pathways – co-evolution, dialectic, and separation – allow activism and entrepreneurship to coexist, with the activist entrepreneur serving as a unifying element that binds them. Activist entrepreneurs champion sustainable fashion by leveraging both activist movements and their companies' business activities. Simultaneously traversing the three pathways enables the activist entrepreneur to maintain the dual nature; otherwise, through a metaphor, we illustrate how the degradation of any single pathway, or a potential divergence among them, can undermine the very essence of the activist entrepreneur. Originality/value Set within the context of sustainable fashion, this research adds an empirical dimension to the understudied field of activist entrepreneurship. While the literature has already identified potential intersections between activism and entrepreneurship, the paper clearly presents three pathways that enable their coexistence; when navigated simultaneously, these pathways, even if at varying altitudes and paces, allow the activist entrepreneur to maintain the dual identity. Otherwise, unforeseen trajectories might emerge that warrant further scholarly investigation.
Monteverde et al. (Wed,) studied this question.