In recent years, the successful expansions of Swedish fashion companies have mainly relied on their ability to turn fashion into brands. However, when companies grow it seems to be difficult to maintain the original brand identity as well as to establish a unique brand image in the minds of the consumers. With regard to this matter the purpose of our thesis was to investigate the brand image of Acne Jeans. Our ambition was to examine to what extent the brand image coincided with the brand identity and if brand associations differed between different consumer segments. In order to fulfil our purpose, we have conducted a questionnaire study of a sample of 130 students at Stockholm University. The findings of our study show that the brand image of Acne Jeans did not coincide with the brand identity regarding the aspects of individuality and innovativeness. We further concluded that there were several differences between the associations of those in possession of Acne apparel and those who did not own any Acne items. Finally, the associations of early adopters were investigated. The result indicated that the brand associations in this group did not deviate from the general opinion of the total sample.

Research Question: How can the concept of Greening Goliaths and Emerging Davids be applied to better understand the sustainabile transformation of the fashion industry?  Purpose: This paper sets out to analyze two approaches to sustainability within the fashion industry; A firm adopting CSR initiatives into their business strategy versus a sustainable brand. These approaches are explored within the framework of Greening Goliaths and Emerging Davids to recognize their contribution to the sustainable transformation of the fashion industry. Method: A qualitative approach to our case study was taken in which we analyze and measure the Swedish fast fashion company, H&M and an American eco-friendly fashion label, Reformation. A semi-formal phone interview with an expert on sustainability in the fashion industry gave us further knowledge of how the two approaches can be combined for the industry to become more sustainable. A model was developed that aided the analysis as well as the discussion of the empirical findings. Conclusion: Our conclusions found that the sustainable brand, Reformation can be categorized as an Emerging David and is in the Take-off stage. In order to gain a larger market share an contribute to the sustainable transformation of the industry Reformation will need to continue process innovation to lower their price point. H&M was initially categorized as a Greening Goliath however upon further analysis we believe they are shifting to become and Environmental David leading the sustainable transformation of the industry. In order for a sustainable transformation of the fashion industry there needs to be a co-evolution of both Greening Goliaths and Emerging Davids working together for a sustainable future.

Det finns mycket forskning om hur design bygger starka varumärken, men den är inte branschspecifik.  Modebranschen är en komplex företagsmiljö med ständigt förändrade marknadsvillkor. Detta kräver att modeföretag arbetar med effektiva strategier för att kunna differentiera sig mot konkurrenterna, där varumärket ses som ett verktyg. Avsikten med denna uppsats är att studera tre modeföretags designprocess och hur man, med hjälp av design som verktyg, kan förmedla sin varumärkesidentitet till konsumenterna i form av en varumärkesupplevelse. Denna studie är av kvalitativ karaktär och består av tre individuella intervjuer med centrala personer från valda företag (Mayla, Minna Palmqvist och Whyred), samt individuella intervjuer och gruppintervjuer med konsumenter. Insamlad data har analyserats med hjälp av en modifierad modell av The Corporate Branding Model och The Brand Design Management Model. Med hjälp av modellen identifierades modeföretagens varumärkesidentitet och deras designprocess kartlades. Sedan studerades hur designarbetet formar varumärkesupplevelsen hos konsummeterna och skapar en varumärkesimage. Studien visade att den interna synen på varumärket och varumärkesimagen är likartad, därmed lyckas alla tre företag kommunicera sin varumärkesidentitet genom sin designprocess. Denna studie kompletterar den befintliga designforskningen, som är generell och inte branschspecifik, genom att kartlägga hur designkompetens kan nyttjas för varumärkesuppbyggnad specifikt inom modebranschen. / There is much research into how design as a strategy builds strong brands, but the existing research is not specific for any industry. The fashion industry is a complex business environment with constantly changing market conditions. This requires that fashion companies working with effective strategies, where the brand is seen as a tool, differentiate themselves from the competition. The purpose of this paper is to study three fashion companies’ design processes and how they can use design as a tool to convey their brand identity to consumers as a brand experience. This study is qualitative in nature and consists of three individual interviews with key persons from selected companies (Mayla, Minna Palmqvist and Whyred), as well as individual interviews and group interviews with consumers. Collected data was analyzed using a modified model of the Corporate Branding Model and the Brand Design Management Model. By using the model, the brand identity of each fashion company was identified, and their design processes were analyzed. Then the study explored in which way the design process forms the brand experience of consumers and creates a brand image. The result is that the internal perception of the brand and the brand image are assumed to be similar, thereby each company succeeds to communicate their brand identity through their design process. This study complements the existing general and non-industry specific design research by charting how design expertise of the fashion industry can be used for brand building. / <p>En bilaga (bilder som har använts i uppsatsens metod) har tagits bort ur dokumentet på grund av upphovsrättsliga skäl.</p>

十八世紀工業革命的推進，使得大量生產(Mass Production)幾乎改變了各產業，為社會帶來大量的財富，隨著網際網路以及社群網站的普及化，大量生產已經無法應付日漸複雜的市場環境，而需要新的商業模式來達到突破。 隨著社群的概念興起，群眾外包的觀念也隨之廣泛應用於各種產業，而不再只限於開放原始碼的用途，逐漸被應用於T-shirt、科技業、雜誌業等等的範疇，舉凡美國Threadless.com、Innocentive等等都是應用群眾外包之成功案例。 群眾外包即是指提供平台供群眾使用，並在該平台上提供創意發想的點子，最終經由一定的表決機制發展成新產品，而非傳統商品化方式─由廠商開發製造完成新產品。 本研究探討群眾外包應用於台灣服飾業者之商品化流程，進而找出關鍵成功策略。為了有效釐清群眾外包商品化之複雜關記以及與群眾之互動細節，採用多重個案研究法，該質化的研究方法可由深度訪談產業專家，以了解發展歷程，並藉由個案廠商的角度，探討群眾外包之關鍵策略。 研究發現，群眾外包之策略是否可行有以下四個檢核點：群眾獎勵機制、仲介網路平台、評選機制以及生產與營運。首先要建立凝聚相同興趣的社群，並提供自由發揮的平台，藉由公正且有效率的評選機制選出欲生產之商品，透過有效率的生產才能順利將商品打入市場。 / As internet become more and more popular, customers become pickier because all of the information is so clear in it. Also, it makes the social network become stronger, and become the new method for enterprises to obtain ideas and market their goods. That’s how crowd sourcing has been used in many industries. This study investigates how Taiwan T-shirt enterprises to use crowd sourcing as a method to obtain more works from the crowds on the internet. With the longitudinal study of three companies to investigate processes and content of crowd sourcing strategies. Study found out that the crowd sourcing strategy can be cut into four key points: give awards to attract people with the same interest involving in, establish a web platform for people to share ideas and put their works on, establish a fair appraise mechanism, and manufacture in a efficient way.

Este trabalho procura localizar as práticas de inovação no interior das redes sociais que constituem sistemas produtivos e mercados de moda. Encontramos a coordenação complexa de uma ampla rede produtiva da indústria têxtil e do vestuário, que rompia com a lógica do produto rotineiro das décadas anteriores, num contexto de estagnação da atividade econômica nacional e da pressão competitiva crescente do mercado externo. Localizamos nas redes sociais que articulam os diversos segmentos da indústria do vestuário e da moda as fontes do dinamismo e da inovação: a) os processos de inovação se realizam no interior das empresas, mas são gerados a partir das relações que estas mantêm com múltiplos atores; b) a mobilização em torno das semanas de moda (São Paulo Fashion Week) propicia o contato entre estes atores e estabelece novos meios de coordenação de todo sistema produtivo do vestuário e do têxtil; c) redes desta natureza só se constituem e se reproduzem na diversidade sócio-econômica típica do ambiente metropolitano; d) segmentos produtivos inovadores se desenvolvem com base em laços fracos, que geram pontes entre mundos produtivos e culturais portadores de conhecimentos e informações heterogêneos; e) os laços fortes foram, entretanto decisivos na reestruturação da indústria em São Paulo, ao longo da década de 90 e deram sobrevida aos fabricantes de moda. / This research situates the innovation process of the fashion industry and the fashion market embedded in social networks. We have found a complex coordination process of a wide network of textile and garment producers, amid a difficult transition from mass production to other forms of organization, during the economic stagnation of the 80s and early 90s. Social networks were the main source of the innovation turn and the ability to produce fashionable goods. Our conclusions are: a) Innovation are produced within firms, but are too generated in the multiple relationships they maintain with external actors. b) The Fashion Weeks develop and intensify the contact between these actors and estabilish new modes of coordination. c) Networks of this kind develop within metropolitan environments. d) These innovative production systems are embedded in weak social ties that bridge different economic and cultural worlds. e) Strong ties were nevertheless important in the adjustment process of the industry in São Paulo during the 90s.

Influencer marketing is an important tool to change and reinforce consumers brand associations. Influencers post content that is trying to create intended brand associations. The consumers’ reactions then decide what the realized brand associations are. The purpose of this study is to explore through semiotic and netnographic Instagram analysis how influencer marketing affects brand associations in the sports fashion industry. This research has a qualitative methodology and has used semiotic and netnographic analysis to explore the case of Gymshark. The research consists of 100 analyzed posts from Instagram influencers related to Gymshark. It was found that influencers’ personal brands affect the realized brand associations. Also, gender has an affecting role on both, intended and realized brand associations.

Titel: En detaljhandel i förändring - En studie om klädbranschens förändring, utveckling och framtid. Författare: Johanna Bengtsson, Robyn Nagy och Emelie Nilsson Handledare: Leif Rytting Examinator: Kaisa Lund Kurs: Kandidatuppsats 15hp. Företagsekonomi III - Marknadsföring. Turismprogrammet, Linnéuniversitetet, HT 2017. Syfte och forskningsfrågor Studiens syfte är att undersöka utvecklingen av olika distributionskanaler samt framtida förändring inom klädbranschen. Studien tar utgångspunkt i ett företagsperspektiv.   Med syftet som bakgrund har vi formulerat följande forskningsfrågor med fokus på klädbranschen. 1. Vad är karakteristiskt för distributionskanalerna inom dagens klädhandel? 2. Hur anser representanter för handeln och konsulter inom området att fysiska butiker och e-handeln kan komma att utvecklas i framtiden?   Metod Studien baseras på en kvalitativ fallstudie på den svenska klädbranschen. Ansatsen grundar sig i en deduktion med inslag av induktion. Den empiriska datan består av åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med företrädare och konsulter inom detaljhandeln samt klädbranschen.   Slutsatser Resultatet av studien pekar på att kunden är det centrala inom klädbranschen, att allt som utvecklas och förändras är för kundens köpprocess. Att integrera sina distributionskanaler har lyfts fram som ett måste för klädföretag och även att fysiska butiker måste erbjuda en köpupplevelse som är mer än shopping. Men studien har också visat på en problematik mellan kundens krav på låga priser och samtidigt på hållbarhet. / Title: A retail in change - A study on the fashion industry's change, development and future. Authors: Johanna Bengtsson, Robyn Nagy och Emelie Nilsson Tutor: Leif Rytting Examiner: Kaisa Lund Subject: Bachelor thesis 15 credits. Business administration III - Marketing. Tourism studies, Linnaeus University, Fall 2017. Purpose and research question The purpose of this study is to investigate the development of different distribution channels, as well as the changing future of the fashion industry. The study´s starting point is from an enterprise perspective.   With the purpose as a background, we have formulated the following research questions focusing on the fashion industry. 1. What is characteristic of the distribution channels in today's clothing trade? 2. How do representatives of trade and consultants in the area expect physical stores and e-commerce to develop in the future?   Method This study is based on a qualitative case study in the fashion industry. It utilises deductive approach whilst also incorporating some inductive aspects. The empirical data consists of eight semi structured interviews with representatives and consultants in the retail and fashion industry.   Conclusion The result of the study suggest that the customer is the centre of the fashion industry, which means that everything that develops and changes is for the customer's buying process. Integrating their distribution channels has been highlighted as an importance for clothing companies and also that physical stores need to offer a shopping experience that is more than just shopping. However, the study also demonstrates the problem of meeting both the customer’s demands of low prices and at the same time on sustainability.

O estudo aborda a utilização das redes sociais como plataforma de comunicação das micro e pequenas empresas de confecção. A pesquisa se torna relevante por discutir temas importantes na atualidade: comunicação de marketing por meio de redes sociais e micro e pequenas empresas de confecção, justificando-se ainda, pela dificuldade que as micro e pequenas empresas apresentam de realizar ações de comunicação de marketing devido ao elevado investimento que as mídias tradicionais exigem. A proposta do estudo é identificar como as micro e pequenas empresas de moda estão utilizando as redes sociais para a comunicação com seu público consumidor. Para atender a esse objetivo foram definidos os seguintes passos: (a) Identificar um panorama geral da utilização das redes sociais pelas micro e pequenas empresas de moda; (b) Mapear as ações desenvolvidas no Facebook por essas empresas; (c) Verificar a resposta dos usuários em relação às publicações das empresas;(d) Levantar as postagens dos usuários nas fan pages das empresas; (e) Identificar o potencial de propagação das mensagens. A pesquisa realizada foi de caráter exploratório, qualitativo e descritivo. Os dados foram coletados em dois momentos, uma observação não participante das páginas das empresas selecionadas e a aplicação de questionário nos gestores destas. A análise dos dados permitiu observar que embora a literatura apresente como vantagem da utilização das redes sociais o contato mais próximo com o consumidor facilitando assim o diálogo com baixo investimento, na realidade o que se observa são publicações com linguagem informal concentradas na divulgação dos produtos, tornando a fan page uma plataforma que se assemelha a um catálogo virtual, possibilitando inclusive a comercialização. A interação do usuário com a página concentra-se nas curtidas. Quando estes comentam ou publicam espontaneamente costumam abordar assuntos como: interesse em compra, elogio a marca e reclamações. / The research discusses the use of social networks as a communication platform for micro and small enterprises of the textile industry. The search is relevant to discuss todays important subjects: marketing communication through social networks in micro and small enterprises of the textile industry, justifying for the difficulty of micro and small enterprises to do actions of marketing because of the high investments that traditional medias require. The researchs proposal is identify how fashion micro and small enterprises are using social networks to communication with its customers. To achieve this target were defined the following steps: a) Identify an overview of the use of social networks by fashion micro and small enterprises; b) Map the developed actions taken by these companies on Facebook; c) Check the response from users regarding companies publication; d) Collect the posting by users on companies wall on Facebook; e) Identify the potential for programing the messages. This research had an exploratory, qualitative and descriptive character. The data base was collect in two moments, a non-participant observation of the social networks on companies pages and the application of a questionnaire with the companies managers. The data analyses allowed observing that although the literature presents as an advantage using social networks as close contact with the consumer, facilitating dialogue with low investment, actually what its observed is informal publications with informal language concentrated in disclosure of the products, making the fan page similar to a virtual catalog, sometimes even enabling the commercialization. The user interaction focuses on likes. When the user freely writes a comment ou something on the companies wall often approaches issues of interest, such as: buying, praise the brand and complaints.

In this qualitative study the buying activity for three smaller intermediaries in the Swedish fashion industry have been identified to compare similarities and differences. Further on we studied how CSR is integrated in the activity and which type of value these efforts create for the intermediary. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with CSR- and buying managers as well as a CSR- consultant who assists intermediaries in issues and strategies regarding CSR, to deepen our knowledge and gain further perspective of the area. The gathered empirical evidence has later been analyzed in connection with existing theories concerning CSR integration and value creation in order to reach a conclusion that also answers our research questions. The study has shown tendencies that CSR can be successfully integrated in an intermediary by letting it become a part of the company’s core activities and thereby permeate the entire organization. If the intermediary is successful with this part, value can be created in terms of brand strengthening and a good reputation as well as functioning as insurance for the future. We hope that this study can convey the importance of CSR for an intermediary and how it best can be integrated in the company’s buying activity.The following essay is written in Swedish. / I denna kvalitativa studie har arbetsprocessen vid inköp kartlagts för tre mindre mellanhänder i modebranschen för att jämföra likheter och skillnader. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer med CSR- eller inköpsansvariga på respektive företag. Vidare har vi studerat hur CSR integreras i arbetsprocessen vid inköp och vilken typ av värde dessa ansträngningar skapar för mellanhänderna. För att fördjupa kunskapen och få ytterligare ett perspektiv på området intervjuades även en konsult som hjälper mellanhänder med frågor och strategier rörande CSR. Empirin har sedan analyserats med utgångspunkt i teorier om CSR, dess integration i arbetsprocesser och värdeskapande för att komma till en slutsats som svarar på våra forskningsfrågor. Studien har visat tendenser på att ett väl integrerat CSR uppnås genom att låta det bli till en del av kärnverksamheten och få engagemanget att genomsyra hela organisationen. Om mellanhanden lyckas med det kan det skapa värden i form av marknadsföring, bra rykte och fungera som en framtidsförsäkring. Vi hoppas att studien kan förmedla betydelsen av CSR för en mellanhand samt hur det på bästa sätt integreras i arbetsprocessen.

Background:   This research paper studies the potential of the Flourishing Business Canvas developed from the new research field of Business Models for Sustainability. Throughout the literature review arguments for the new concept of Business Models for Sustainability are made. Showing also the need for a tool that can help companies to transform towards a BMfS. The Flourishing Business Canvas is the first tool being developed at the moment and is based on the Business Model Canvas of Osterwalder and Pigneur. In this research data from reports from three different fashion companies is used to complete the Flourishing Business Canvasses and to evaluatethe applicability and usefulness of the canvas. Aim:   The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential of the newly developed Flourishing Business Canvas through case studies of secondary data research in the fashion industry. The research will evaluate the applicability and usefulness of the building blocks of the alpha-version of the Flourishing Business Canvas on the basis of information gathered from annual reports, sustainability reports, home pages and academic research. To contribute to the ongoing research of this tool, the research will try to suggest improvements where needed to make the tool suitable for the sustainable development of the fashion industry. Methodology:   The research is performed trough a qualitative research based on three small casestudies. The canvas is completed for three fashion companies, of three different market segments, based on published reports, media articles and research articles. The gaps in the canvas and the usefulness of the answers will be defined. Results:   The results of the research showed that the three companies follow the four mainarguments for a Business Model for Sustainability, but that what they express in their reports is notcompletely what they do in practise. The Flourishing Business Canvas for the three fashioncompanies was easy to complete as an outsider, this was mostly because they were transparentcompanies that published a lot of information. The questions in the Flourishing Business Canvasalso could show well the efforts on economic, social and environmental sustainability. Conclusion:   The Flourishing Business Canvas is a good tool for the fashion companies to show their economic, social and environmental sustainability in a schematic way and on strategic level. Although in general the canvas expresses that it shows true sustainability, two important elements of a sustainable fashion company; circularity and transparency, were not specifically defined.