Empowering sustainable design through competence and self-efficacy: a TPB perspective on zero-waste fashion education in Indonesia

This study extends the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to explain students’ intentions to engage in zero-waste fashion design (ZWFD) by incorporating sustainable design identity, material circularity mindset, digital pattern-making self-efficacy, and innovative design capability. Data from 310 fashion design students across Indonesia were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Results show that sustainable design identity and competence-based factors significantly predict attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and intentions toward ZWFD, while lecturer norms enhance these intentions. Conversely, peer norms exert a weak negative effect, and circularity mindset and course participation show no direct impact on students’ attitudes or intentions. These findings suggest that sustainable engagement in fashion design education may be strengthened through the integration of identity, skill, and guided social influence, highlighting the potential value of curricula that combine digital capability, creative innovation, and sustainability values.