While sustainability is a common trend in business, the practical challenges companies face when striving towards becoming more sustainable are not thoroughly researched. By applying Porter and Kramer's (2011) theory on Creating Shared Value (CSV) to Swedish SMEs in the fashion industry, the challenges of adopting sustainable practices were identified in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight case companies with an ambition to be sustainable. This paper argues that even sustainably-aware companies face complex challenges with activities meant to benefit both society and the company itself. Despite many positive characteristics of SMEs, including more flexibility to adapt to new circumstances and innovative approaches to CSR development (Jenkins, 2009), our research display difficulties with leveraging these characteristics. The study shows that the seven challenges of shared value creation are: investment costs, functionality issues, supplier complexities, supplier control, supplier abilities, managing certifications and cluster control. Moreover, the study has also confirmed Crane et al., (2014) regarding the positioning of CSV as an umbrella construct for loosely related concepts within conscious capitalism.

This diploma thesis deals with the Italian terminology of the fashion industry. The work is divided into two parts. In the opening of the first, theoretical, part the author delimite the semantic field of the fashion industry that she will work with. The author focuses on the description of the language of fashion, contemporary Italian language and the Languages for Special Purposes. Finally she divides the Italian lexicon and decribes its each group in detail. The second, analytical, part handles with the chosen sample of keywords compiled by the created corpora and segments it according to the above mentioned division. The aim of the thesis is to discover the structure of the contemporary terminology of the fashion industry and to determine general tendencies of lexical enrichment in the language of fashion. The supplement comprises the Italian-Czech and Czech-Italian vocabulary and the semantic classification of the keywords.

Problemformulering: E-handeln har vuxit sig allt starkare på den svenska marknaden, vilket lägger ett större fokus på den fysiska detaljhandeln inom modebranschen. Vi undersöker ur ett företagsperspektiv hur den fysiska modebranschen hanterar denna förändring. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka verktyg fysiska handeln inom modebranschen kan nyttja för att skapa konkurrensfördelar mot e-handeln. Forskningsfrågor: 1. Hur skapar fysiska butiker inom modebranschen kundrelationer?2. Hur kan fysiska butiker inom modebranschen skapa lojala kunder av befintliga kundrelationer?3. Hur använder fysiska butiker omnikanaler för att skapa kundrelationer inom modebranschen?4. Hur kan fysiska butiker inom modebranschen arbeta med varumärke och image för att skapa kundrelationer? Metod: Studien är baserad på en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en induktiv ansats. Vidare vid insamling av det empiriska materialet har semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med elva respondenter som har en ledande befattning, av den orsak att individerna anses besitta relevant information för den här undersökningen. Slutsats: Studien resulterade i att det inte finns en tydlig mall för hur kundrelationer skapas i den fysiska handeln inom modebranschen. Vidare visade resultatet att företagen tillämpar olika tillvägagångssätt inom ramen för nyckelbegreppen för att slutligen skapa kundrelationer. Avslutningsvis framför undersökningen att kundrelationer är en viktig beståndsdel som detaljhandeln inom modebranschen anser utgöra konkurrensfördelar mot e-handeln. Nyckelord: Kundrelationer, lojala kunder, omnikanaler, varumärke och image, modebranschen, konkurrensfördelar. / Problem definition: The presence of E-commerce on the Swedish market has evolved, which sheds a larger focus on the physical retail trade within the fashion industry. We study how the fashion industry handles this shift from a business perspective. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine which tools physical commerce within the fashion industry can utilize in order to create competitive advantage against e-commerce. Research questions: 1. How can physical stores within the fashion industry create customer relationships?2. How can physical stores within the fashion industry create loyal customers out of existing customer relationships?3. How does physical stores utilize omnichannels as a means to create customer relationships within the fashion industry?4. How can physical stores within the fashion industry labor branding and image as a means to create customer relationships? Method: The study is based on a qualitative method with an inductive research approach. Furthermore, the gathering of empirical data consisted of eleven semi-structured interviews with respondents within a leading business position. Conclusion: The result of this study indicated that there is no clear template on how customer relationships are created in physical commerce within the fashion industry. Furthermore, the results revealed that the interviewees practice different approaches within the frame of the mentioned keywords to create customer relationships. Lastly, the study argues that customer relationships are an essential element as a means for the retail trade within the fashion industry to establish competitive advantages against e-commerce. Keywords: Customer relationship, customer loyalty, omnichannel, branding and image, fashion industry, competitive advantage.

A presente dissertação tem por escopo indicar o cenário legislativo, econômico e fático atual acerca do trabalho análogo ao de escravo e o dumping social na indústria da moda, no estado de São Paulo, discorrendo, ainda, sobre temas conexos, a exemplo do tráfico de pessoas. Visa, ainda, discutir acerca da constitucionalidade de leis e portarias interministeriais que regulamentam o tema e analisar casos práticos em que se identificou e buscou cessar o trabalho análogo ao de escravo na indústria da moda. A pesquisa foi realizada através de fontes bibliográficas, documentais, entrevistas e pesquisa de campo. / This dissertations scope is to indicate the legislative, economic and factual current scenario regarding the analog to slave labor and social dumping in the fashion industry, in the state of São Paulo, also discoursing on related issues, such as peoples trafficking. It also aims to discuss the constitutionality of laws and joint ministerial ordinances regulating the issue and examine case studies that identified and sought to terminate the analog to slave labor in the fashion industry. The survey was conducted through literature sources, documentary, interviews and field research.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:20:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana C Siqueira Martins.pdf: 4300241 bytes, checksum: fb63a87b6a02ba1af7c162894c4d0f02 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation presents a study on the configuration of the fashion industrial sector in the city of Cianorte/PR, Brazil, from the 21st century, questioning especially the practices of the agents acting in this specific context: sewers, entrepreneurs and designers. The objectives are: to understand this configuration through the reflection on the spaces, actions and relations of the agents involved with the industrial sector of fashion in the city, analyzing how a clothing sector was formed at first and later a fashion sector in the referred city; to realize how the listed agents define and conceive the fashion of the city in the 21st century; and to point what are the practices, strategies, representations, relations, negotiations and disputes that occur in the productive sector of fashion in Cianorte, linking agents to the social and symbolic space. Two hypotheses were built, examined and proven in the course of the research: the first indicated that the fashion sector of Cianorte was constituted from the professionalization, ie, from the insertion in industries of professionals trained in fashion higher education courses, which occurs from the first years of the 21st century; the second one unveiled that the position of the subjects in the fashion sector of Cianorte is related to their practices, strategies and representations, guided mainly by the symbolic capital present in relations. The concepts of field, habitus and symbolic power, by Pierre Bourdieu, were used as theoretical framework, above all, and as methodological approach the bibliographic research and the field research, which consisted the use of the ' participating observation' technique in a fashion industry, the Beeight group, were used besides data collection and interviews with agents of the sector. Analyses revealed tensions between the researched agents, observed in disputes in search of legitimation of power and of the fashion creator status. The three researched agents use strategies, representations and classification systems in support of the distinction, which is the generator principle of the practices, since it is through it that they aim to take positions not yet occupied. The sector, while field, was established supported in three fundamental processes: autonomy, specialization and professionalization, wherein the role of fashion superior courses in the city is relevant. In the speeches there is the objective to consolidate the city as fashion producer and no longer as clothing producer, which is perceived as a value. The cultural capital allied to the speech on creativity and art is perceived as important in the configuration of the disputes that are internal and external to the field, even though, many times, they are subjected to economic junctures, to profit-related ones or to relations of kinship. / Esta dissertação apresenta um estudo sobre a configuração do setor industrial de moda na cidade de Cianorte/PR, a partir do século XXI, problematizando especialmente as práticas dos agentes atuantes nesse contexto específico: costureiras (os), empresários(as) e estilistas. Os objetivos são: compreender esta configuração através da reflexão sobre os espaços, ações e relações dos agentes envolvidos com o setor industrial da moda na cidade, analisando como se formou primeiro, um setor de vestuário e posteriormente um setor de moda na cidade referida; como os agentes indicados definem e concebem a moda da cidade no século XXI; e, quais são as práticas, estratégias, representações, relações, negociações e disputas que ocorrem no setor produtivo da moda cianortense, relacionando os agentes ao espaço social e ao simbólico. Duas hipóteses foram construídas, examinadas e comprovadas no decorrer da pesquisa: a primeira indicou que o setor da moda de Cianorte se constituiu a partir da profissionalização, ou seja, a partir da inserção nas indústrias de profissionais formados em cursos de ensino superior de moda, o que ocorre a partir dos primeiros anos do século XXI; a segunda desvelou que a posição dos sujeitos no setor da moda cianortense está relacionada às suas práticas, estratégias e representações, pautadas principalmente pelo capital simbólico presente nas relações. Utilizou-se como referencial teórico, sobretudo, os conceitos de campo, habitus e poder simbólico, de Pierre Bourdieu e como abordagem metodológica a pesquisa bibliográfica e a pesquisa de campo que consistiu no uso da técnica observação participante numa indústria de moda, o grupo Beeight, além da coleta de dados, e entrevistas com agentes do setor. As análises revelaram tensões entre os agentes pesquisados, observadas nas disputas em busca de legitimação de poder e do status de criador de moda. Os três agentes pesquisados utilizam de estratégias, representações e sistemas classificatórios em prol da distinção, que constitui o princípio gerador das práticas, pois é por meio dela que objetivam assumir posições ainda não ocupadas. O setor, enquanto campo se estabeleceu amparado em três processos fundamentais: autonomia, especialização e profissionalização, em que o papel dos cursos superiores de moda da cidade é relevante. Há nos discursos o objetivo de consolidar a cidade como produtora de moda e não mais de vestuário, o que é percebido como um valor. O capital cultural aliado ao discurso sobre criatividade e arte, é percebido como importante na configuração das disputas internas e externas ao campo, embora, por muitas vezes, submetidas a conjunturas econômicas, do lucro ou ainda às relações de parentesco.

Vi vill med det här kandidatarbetet ifrågasätta begäret efter övermäniskan som vi menar att reklam för modeindustrin idag porträtterar. Med hjälp av Guy Debords skådespelssamhälle och Gilles Deleuze och Felix Guattaris teorier ifrågasatter vi vad det är vi begär och varför vi gör det. Vi ifrågasätter övermänniskan som modeindustrin producerar med förhoppningen att det ökar medvetenheten för personer i samhället.    Ifrågasättandet av begäret har resulterat i två gestaltningar, en klänning av sönderrivna sidor ur boken Mein Kampf och en kreation av hönsnät formad som en naken kvinna. Vi känner oss fångade av modeindustrin och känner oss illa till mods över hur den mänskliga kroppen porträtteras i reklam för mode. Vi menar att det i klädreklam snarare handlar om avsaknaden av den mänskliga kroppen då bilderna retuscheras till en artefakt.     Vi ser vår undersökning som en grund till en fortsatt undersökning om ett alternativ och förhoppningsvis kommer vårt begär i framtiden förflyttats från övermänniskan till något mer mänskligt. / In this Bachelor thesis we question the desire for the übermensch that we mean advertising for the fashion industry portrays today. With help of Guy Debord's “Society of the Spectacle” and Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's theories we question our desire and why we desire it. We question the übermensch that the the fashion industry produces with the hope that it will increase the society’s awareness.    The questioning of desire has resulted in two designs, a dress of torn pages from the book Mein Kampf and the creation of chicken wire shaped like a naked woman. We feel trapped by the fashion industry and feel uneasy about how the human body is portrayed in advertisements for fashion. We believe that the advertising for clothing is more about the lack of the human body when the images are retouched into an artifact.    We see our study as a basis for a continued research for an option and in the future hopefully our desire will be moved from the übermensch into something more human. In this Bachelor thesis we question the desire for the übermensch that we mean advertising for the fashion industry portrays today. With help of Guy Debord's “Society of the Spectacle” and Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's theories we question our desire and why we desire it. We question the übermensch that the the fashion industry produces with the hope that it will increase the society’s awareness.    The questioning of desire has resulted in two designs, a dress of torn pages from the book Mein Kampf and the creation of chicken wire shaped like a naked woman. We feel trapped by the fashion industry and feel uneasy about how the human body is portrayed in advertisements for fashion. We believe that the advertising for clothing is more about the lack of the human body when the images are retouched into an artifact.    We see our study as a basis for a continued research for an option and in the future hopefully our desire will be moved from the übermensch into something more human.

Hur kan modeföretag genom sin kommunikation leva upp till sina koncept om könsneutralt mode? Under en längre tid har en debatt kring könsroller och könsuppdelning pågått, och modebranschens sätt att skildra män och kvinnor har kritiserats hårt. Modet framhäver vad som skiljer sig mellan det manliga och det kvinnliga alltmer, samtidigt som fler modeföretag börjar förmedla koncept om könsneutralt mode. Det är inte bara plaggen i sig som gör det svårt att könsöverskrida, media har även en stor påverkan, både på samhället som stort, och på individnivå. Vad konsumenter önskar se i media stämmer inte alltid med det företagen kommunicerar ut. Samhället strävar efter ökad genusmedvetenhet, jämställdhet och jämlikhet. För att en skillnad skall kunna ske krävs en förändrad inställning och en faktisk förändring, inte minst i modebranschen. En del forskare menar att kampanjer med representationer av icke stereotypiska könsroller spelar en positiv social roll för att en samhällsförändring gradvis skall ske. Vi har undersökt två utvalda företag som kommunicerar den typen av reklam och om deras butiker lever upp till de koncepten som de förmedlar i kampanjerna. Makt gestaltas i vad en bär för plagg. Åhléns ville med sin kampanj, Bryt Klädmaktsordningen , belysa förhållandet mellan kön, plagg och makt. Forskare menar att en kvinna klättrar upp i maktstegen om hon bär stereotypt maskulina plagg medan en man går ner i maktstegen. Samhället har accepterat att se kvinnan representera något som värderas lika högt som mannens plagg, vilket förknippas med dagens unisexmode. Hur skulle det se ut om rollerna byttes? Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka hur modebutiker genom sin kommunikation lever upp till sina koncept om könsneutralt mode samt föreslå hur företagen kan förbättra kommunikationen av begreppet könsneutralt mode till konsumenterna. För att kunna besvara syftet användes teoretiska modeller som identifierar vart det brister i kommunikationen som företagen försöker att förmedla till konsument. Det empiriska materialet bestod av två intervjuer, fyra fokusgrupper, observationer och pressmaterial. Först utfördes en intervju med en doktor i modevetenskap som också är idékläckare bakom Åhléns kampanj “Bryt klädmaktsordningen”. En intervju genomfördes med sekreteraren på transföreningen Full Personality Expression Sweden. Sedan fick vi en pressrelease utav projektledaren bakom & Other Stories kampanj “The Gaze & Other Stories”. Därefter lät vi våra fokusgrupper se samtliga kampanjfilmer och tolka vad för koncept kampanjerna förmedlar för att sedan diskutera kring hur företag kan leva upp till konceptets idé i deras fysiska butiker. Två observationer gjordes i de två respektive företagens butiker vars kampanjer vi utgått ifrån. Modebranschen är en av många olika sändare som utsätter oss för budskap och ideal, varför den blir mer synlig än andra branscher i fråga, handlar om att den är påtagligt mer synlig. Vi, ihop med alla respondenter hoppas på att en förändring är på väg, mot mer jämställdhet och jämlikhet, samt att den nya generationen som nu stiger in i branschen kommer att bidra till en förändring i vad som sänds ut genom de olika marknadsföringskanalerna. Viktigt att tänka på är att förändringar sker konstant, även inom modet. En förändring större än trender kommer att ske men frågan är: När? / Visual communication of gender neutral clothing within the fashion industryA study that examines whether chosen companies live up to the concept of gender neutral fashion. How can fashion companies through their communication live up to their concepts of gender neutral fashion? During a longer period of time there has been a debate on gender roles and segregation of genders, also within the fashion industry. The way it divides and depicts the differences between men and women has been criticized for a long time. A change is coming, there are more and more fashion companies that mediate concepts of gender neutral fashion within their communication. What consumers wish to see when it comes to the way fashion companies communicate concepts about gender neutral fashion do not often accord with the way they are actually communicating it. The concepts are not cohesive, the way it is displayed in their communication does not match what you are exposed to in their stores. Our society strives for an increase of gender awareness, gender equality and equality. In order for a change to happen, a change of attitude and an actual alteration needs to happen, not at least in the fashion industry.

Bakgrund och problemdiskussion:Corporate social responsibility är ett ansvarsåtagande som expanderat i samhället de senaste årtiondena. Samhället präglas idag av en större medvetenhet och ställer allt högre krav på att företag ska agera hållbart i sin verksamhet. Modeindustin har fått utstå stor kritik i media men även i andra informationskanaler. Kritiken speglar framförallt deras externa leverantörers hållbarhetsåtagande, som företagen importerar sina produkter ifrån. Leverantörerna är framförallt etablerade i utvecklingsländer och har tidigare använt sig av barnarbete, haft bristfälliga anställningsvillkor och samtidigt haft negativ påverkan på miljön. Detta är några av anledningarna till att modeföretagen ställs inför allt hårdare krav. Det är därför av stor vikt att de synliggör för samhället sitt engagemang i CSR och därigenom uppfyller kraven som ställs på dem. Hållbarhetsrapportering har därför blivit ett av de mest betydelsefulla tillvägagångssätten inom modeindustrin som ett bevis för att de uppfyller CSR-åtagandet. Syfte:Syftet med uppsatsen är att ta reda på ifall modeindustrin implementerar CSR i sin verksamhet för att överleva på marknaden eller för att generera konkurrensfördelar och högre ekonomisk vinst. Metod:Undersökningen genomfördes på samtliga börsnoterade modeföretag i Sverige. Vi utförde en innehållsanalys där samtliga modeföretagens hållbarhetsrapporter analyserades och granskades för att få information om deras CSR-engagemang. Slutsats:Modeindustrin utformar generellt sätt CSR-rapporter av symboliska skäl. Företagen utför med andra ord hållbarhetsaktiviteter för att överleva på marknaden och försäkra sig om en långsiktig framtid. Hållbarhetsansvarstagande är något som framförallt deras nyckelintressenter; kunderna kräver,vilket företagen måste beakta för att inte försämra sitt rykte och kritiseras i media. / Background and problem discussion:The focus on corporate social responsibility has expanded in the society in the past few decades. Our society is characterized by an improved awareness of the topic and it imposes increased demands on companies in terms of being sustainably responsible in their business activities. The fashion industry has received a lot of criticism in the media and other information channels. Primarily, the criticism concerns the nature of activities, whether sustainably responsible or not, of third party suppliers with whom the fashion industry companies cooperate. Third-party suppliers are mostly located in developing countries and have previously been involved in the employment of child labor, providing inadequate employment conditions as well as having a negative impact on the environment. This is one of the factors leading to fashion companies now facing stricter requirements. Thus, it is of crucial importance that companies in the fashion industry engage in CSR activities and satisfy expectations on them. Therefore, the sustainability reporting system is one of the most prominent approaches in the fashion industry, offering a way to prove and communicate their CSR activities. Purpose:The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether the fashion industry implements CSR in their activities to either survive as a competitor in the market, or for the purpose of generating competitive advantage and higher financial profit. Method: All publicly listed fashion industry companies in Sweden were included in this research. We conducted a content analysis where all fashion industry companies' sustainability reports were analyzed and reviewed to generate information about their CSR engagement. Conclusion: he fashion industry delivers CSR reports for symbolic purposes. The fashion industry companies implement sustainably responsible activities in order to survive as a competitor in the market and in order to ensure a long-term future. Sustainable responsibility is of importance to the key stakeholders, i.e. the customers, of fashion industry companies, and therefore a topic that must be on the agenda of these companies in order to avoid damage to their reputation and criticism in media.

The aim of this thesis is to define fast fashion as a trend in the contemporary retailing with a deeper focus on the Czech market. It provides an analysis and further comparison of marketing strategies and business activities of five chosen retailers (C&A, H&M, Marks&Spencer, Reserved and ZARA) who are mutual competitors on both, domestic and foreign markets. The empirical part presents information about Czech consumers and their perception of the marketing strategies that particular companies apply in the Czech Republic.

The thesis analyses and describes TailorMySuit start-up in order to asses its potential success. In the introduction the goals of thesis are stated and the structure is explained. The thesis is divided into two main parts -- a theoretical part and a practical part. The theoretical part includes models for business evaluations, basic introduction to online business, its terms; and it also introduces reader into particular start-up industry and international management realities. The practical part contains business analysis based on real data from the company and the market. Analysis is drawn up based on the theoretical aspects.The thesis ends with conclusions and gives the most possible scenarios of business development.