The objective of the study is to foresee a future in which merchandise is manufactured and consumed in accordance with the principles of sustainability and creativity, establishing a new standard for merchandising as a garment and beyond.

Before delving into the topic of merchandise in the context of an ever-changing cultural landscape, creativity, consumerism, and environmental responsibility, it may be fun to describe the adventures that this project brought to me and festival visitors in Slovakia.

If you attended Flaam, a 2-day boutique festival in Nitra, in the previous year or the year beforeou not only became a part of the community but also part of the merchandise.  

Your name would be displayed on the main festival t-shirt, with the initial letter altered to F (like Finda Ftrakova) to comply with GDPR regulations. Stick-on nails, custom riso-printed posters, and reclaimed post-consumer textile waste and deadstock garments from local suppliers could be customised at the four various workshops. You could attend panel discussions with designers, producers, printers, and Slovak festival organisers to explore the possibilities of circular products.

At the Pohoda festival, there was a circular zone with various local artists and collectives, each offering products made out of post-consumer waste, deadstock from previous years, or other repurposed materials. You might have also experienced a unique workshop where six local brands collaboratively developed a product out of deadstock that was customisable and fashionable while solving an overstock issue. There was a 365° concert by Berlin Manson and Fvlcrvm in Zrkadlovy Haj, where DIY merchandise made from post-consumer waste was available, with garments offered at fluctuating prices, allowing people to pay what they could afford. VSVU merchandise was properly produced with sustainable certification, and Next Festival's merchandise was created out of deadstock or post-consumer waste.

It appeared to be a merchandising utopia, but it was a complex process with many stakeholders that included various perspectives, raised many questions, and created some solutions.

Why do people buy merch? What is merchandise? Is it a fashion or graphic design product? What is the environmental impact of merchandise? How can merchandise be part of a circular and regenerative economy? Why does all of the merchandise, such as t-shirts with prints and tote bags, appear to be so standardised?

In the ever-changing cultural landscape, merchandise products serve as a nexus for creativity, consumerism, and environmental responsibility. As cultural institutions, events, and festivals increasingly rely on merchandise while engaging with audiences and generating revenue, it becomes crucial to reconsider conventional production methods for these items. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between circularity, innovation, and the cultural, social, and economic importance of merchandise products, with a particular focus on the supply chain and case studies. Merchandise is defined as a cultural product consisting of goods bearing the symbols of the artist's brand (Parkhomenko and Berezovska, 2021). Therefore, meaning, brand, and product will all be considered.

The terms "merchandise product" or "merch" and "cultural products" will be used in this publication to refer to a fashion design or product design. These will be evaluated using the same standards as other objects of material culture. The publication will begin by defining merchandise and exploring its role in society, delving into how merchandise acts as a form of social capital that fosters communities and shapes identities. The economic aspect of merchandise will also be discussed, along with its ties to sustainability and the circular economy.

The reader will be introduced to sustainable, circular, and regenerative practices, providing the rationale for a potential future narrative that will be explored through case studies and applied research.

The applied section will explore the practices of various agents that are part of the ecosystem and value chain and introduce the principles for calculations and stock management that might be able to prevent overstock or deadstock. Through the collection of consumer data, I will endeavour to understand the motivation behind buying merchandise and identify its added value. Therefore, it will reveal strategies applicable for merchandise production in the cultural industry that might have a positive impact.

The research will exclude licencing and merchandise products sold based on the contractual agreement that allows parties to sell copyrighted materials, for example, MoMA's licencing agreements with Conde Nast or Discovery Channel. The main focus will be on activities executed between businesses and consumers (B2C). Even though this paper can be applied to other areas such as sports, entertainment, and branding practice, I will narrow my focus to the theory and case studies applied in the context of culture, art, and music, with a focus on sustainability and circularity that will condition each step of this guide.