Greenwashing in the Fashion Industry: A Critical Systematic Review of Current Practices in South Asia

The global fashion industry’s pursuit of continuous growth is increasingly accompanied by greenwashing, contributing to a systemic crisis of trust. This research identified and analyzed environmental marketing deception in the South Asian textile industries global value chains using a systematic literature review (SLR) of peer-reviewed and investigative reports (2020–2025). This analysis innovatively extended the B2C TerraChoice Seven Sins framework into an assessment of complex B2B supply chains. A key finding shows that regional greenwashing is a staged strategy to survive intense pressure for cost compliance. Deceptive tactics depend on the supply chain location companies controlling product development utilize terms like "eco-friendly" and "sustainable" organizations at the bottom end commit outright fraud with certification programs (e.g., organic cotton) and final product producers frame legal requirements as proactive environmental management. Overall, all stages demonstrate how institutional, stakeholder, legitimacy, and signaling theories interact to drive symbolic organizational behavior. This research advocates for developing strong policy intervention mechanisms to combat this deception, including implementing a Green Claims Directive and requiring mandatory region-based digital tracking systems.