Asian Fashion Designer-entrepreneurs

A Website for London-based Asian Fashion Designer-Entrepreneurs to Overcome Fundamental Barriers in Operating Fashion Business in UK

MA Design Management for the Fashion Industry STUDENT NAME: XINYI FAN (CAROLINE) STUDENT ID: FAN13401890 UNITE TITLE: Masters Project SUPERVISOR: Karen Miller DATE: 11/28/2014

Dissertation-­‐XINYI FAN

Abstract

In the last 5 years, London as fashion capital has witnessed a consistent rise in Asian designers, who came here primarily for academic purpose, decided to stay and establish their design firms as Asian fashion designer-entrepreneurs (AFDE). With London's leading role in creative economy, the industry significantly fuelled by the advent of technological advancement and globalization, indeed tend to encourage and nurture the development of emerging fashion business both nationally and internationally. Despite of the competitive advantages that top tier education system and numerous support schemes could potentially endow them to excel in the host country, the issues that relevant to the fundamental barriers of the AFDE are still remains to be explored to avoid the high failure rate of designer small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

This practice-based project aims to fill the literature gap by conducting theoretical framework regarding of the fundamental barriers that might hinder the survival and success of the AFDE, which they tend to face during the fashion business operating.

The project also attempts to provide guideline through the website in terms of the possible solution specifically corresponding to the fundamental barriers that has been identified and proposed from the research, based on both the theoretical scope and practical cases.

The study adopts mixed method approach upon the ethnography strategy, in the form of qualitative data collection procedures including qualitative questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and diary methods. The data analysis and discussion drew insights from the literature review and primary research proposes two nature patterns based on the nature profile classification—the AFDE-NO and the AFDE-O. The fundamental barriers framework, which represents the major contribution of the study, suggests six indicators in terms of both internal

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and external perspective of the fashion process that derived from practical issues rooted in their daily fashion business operating. The development of the website https://afde.squarespace.com/ is also contributed as guideline to overcoming the fundamental barriers.

＊The term of Asian in this paper only refers to designer originating from East and Southeast Asia such as Chinese, Korean, or Japanese.

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Statement of originality

“I declare that no portion of material in this dissertation has previously been submitted for a degree or other academic qualification of this or any other educational institution, and that to the best of my knowledge contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgement is made”

Signature: ..........................................................

Name

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Acknowledgement

I would like to express the first gratitude to my supervisor Karen Miller, to whom I gratefully acknowledge the consistent guidance, invaluable advice and support that significantly enriched my research. My word of appreciation also goes to my course leader Mark O’Brien, who has assisted me along the course time.

My great acknowledgement goes to my dearest parents and family for their unequivocal support that have accompanied with me all my life, which truly stimulates me throughout the writing process.

I am deeply thankful to the individuals that have contributed to the dissertation in different ways. Especially my dear friends Yuxi, Mori, Kay and Nick who supported me and devoted their time in my study; NA DI and Mingpin Tien, who offered me the opportunity to take participant observation in their studio; the Asian fashion designers in SS15 London Fashion Week showroom for their valuable insights.

Lastly, I owe my sincere gratitude to all my tutors and classmates in London College of Fashion, who helped me and gave me much valuable advice during the study.

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Table of Content ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. II STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................................ IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................ V LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... IX INDEX OF TABLES ................................................................................................... X INDEX OF APPENDIX ............................................................................................... X 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 CONTEXT AND RATIONALE ............................................................................................ 1 1.1.1 Fashion Industry in UK ............................................................................................ 1 1.1.2 Asian Fashion Designer-Entrepreneurs (AFDE) ..................................................... 2 1.1.3 Rationale and Gap ................................................................................................... 2 1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................... 3 1.3 PROPOSED RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................................... 3 1.4 CHAPTER OUTLINE ........................................................................................................ 4

2. PROJECT CONTEXTUALISATION ...................................................................... 5 2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 5 2.2 ASIAN ENTREPRENEURS................................................................................................. 6 2.2.1 Immigrant Entrepreneurs ......................................................................................... 6 2.2.2 Necessity Immigrant Entrepreneurs Versus Opportunity Immigrant Entrepreneurs ........................................................................................................................................... 8 2.2.3 The AFDE Versus UK Market ................................................................................ 10 2.2.4 The AFDE Versus UK Culture ............................................................................... 11 2.3 FASHION DESIGN .......................................................................................................... 13 2.3.1 The Role of Fashion Designer ................................................................................ 13 2.3.2 Fashion Design in Commercial Context ................................................................ 14 2.4 WEBSITE DESIGN .......................................................................................................... 16 2.4.1 Website Characteristics Versus Factors ................................................................ 16 2.4.2 Website Cognitive Content ..................................................................................... 18 2.4 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 20

3. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................. 21 3.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 21 3.2 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY AND APPROACH-INTERPRETIVISM ................................... 22 3.3 RESEARCH STRATEGY-ETHNOGRAPHY ...................................................................... 24 3.4 RESEARCH CHOICE-MIXED METHODS ....................................................................... 26 3.5 ETHICAL ISSUES............................................................................................................ 27

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3.6 DATA COLLECTION AND PROCEDURES ...................................................................... 29 3.6.1 Participant Observation ......................................................................................... 29 3.6.1.1 Data Collection and Analysis ............................................................................ 29 3.6.2 Diary Method ......................................................................................................... 30 3.6.3 Interviews ............................................................................................................... 30 3.6.3.1 Qualitative Questionnaire ................................................................................. 31 3.6.3.2 Semi-structured Interview ................................................................................. 31 3.7 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 32

4. DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................... 33 4.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 33 4.2 THE NATURE OF THE AFDE—WITHIN PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION (PO) ............ 34 4.2.1 Result From PO1—Ming Studio ............................................................................ 34 4.2.1.1 AFDE PO1 Mind Map ....................................................................................... 35 4.2.1.2 PO1 Nature Summary ....................................................................................... 35 4.2.2 Result From PO2—NA DI Studio ........................................................................... 37 4.2.2.1 AFDE PO2 Mind Map ....................................................................................... 38 4.2.2.2 PO2 Nature Summary ....................................................................................... 38 4.3 THE NATURE OF THE AFDE—WITHIN INTERVIEWS (IN) ........................................ 40 4.3.1 Result From IN1—Yifang Wan Studio ................................................................... 40 4.3.1.1 AFDE IN1 Mind Map ........................................................................................ 41 4.3.1.2 IN1 Nature Summary ......................................................................................... 41 4.3.2 Result From IN2—Yui Atelier Studio ..................................................................... 42 4.3.2.1 AFDE IN2 Mind Map ........................................................................................ 43 4.3.2.2 IN2 Nature Summary ......................................................................................... 43 4.4 THE NATURE OF THE AFDE—WITHIN GENERAL RESEARCH ................................. 44 4.5 THE NATURE PATTERNS .............................................................................................. 45 4.6 PRACTICAL ISSUES IN RELATION TO NATURE PATTERNS......................................... 46 4.6.1 Practical Issues relate to PO1 ............................................................................... 47 4.6.2 Practical Issues relate to PO2 ............................................................................... 48 4.7 THE FUNDAMENTAL BARRIERS OVERVIEW ............................................................... 50

5. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................. 52 5.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 52 5.2 FASHION DESIGN .......................................................................................................... 52 5.2.1 Barriers in the Fashion Design .............................................................................. 52 5.2.2 Website Development ............................................................................................. 54 5.3 MANUFACTURE & PRODUCTION ................................................................................. 54 5.3.1 Barriers in the Manufacture & Production ............................................................ 54 5.3.2 Website Development ............................................................................................. 56 5.4 STUDIO ADMIN AND MANAGEMENT............................................................................ 56 5.4.1 Barriers in the Studio Admin and Management ..................................................... 56 5.4.2 Website Development ............................................................................................. 57 5.5 SALES & DISTRIBUTION ............................................................................................... 57

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5.5.1 Barriers in the Sales & Distribution ...................................................................... 57 5.5.2 Website Development ............................................................................................. 59 5.6 PUBLIC RELATIONS ...................................................................................................... 59 5.6.1 Barriers in the Public Relations ............................................................................. 59 5.6.2 Website Development ............................................................................................. 60 5.7 INDUSTRY LINKS ........................................................................................................... 60 5.7.1 Barriers in the Industry Links ................................................................................ 60 5.7.2 Website Development ............................................................................................. 61 5.8 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 61

6. VALIDATION ........................................................................................................ 63 6.1 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................... 63 6.1.1 Revisiting Aims and Objectives .............................................................................. 63 6.1.2 Objiective1—The Nature of the AFDE ................................................................... 63 6.1.3 Objiective2—Business Operating in relation to Nature Patterns .......................... 63 6.1.4 Objiective3—The AFDE Theoretical Framework .................................................. 64 6.1.5 Objiective4—Website Development ....................................................................... 64 6.2 LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................ 64 6.1 FURTHER RESEARCH ................................................................................................... 65

BIBILOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 66 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................. 74

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List of Figures Figure 2-1: Research Focus for Literature Review................................................................ 5 Figure 2-2: Immigrant Economic Adaption and Social Embeddedness ................................ 8 Figure 2-3: Fashion System ................................................................................................. 14 Figure 2-4: Website Key Factors ......................................................................................... 18 Figure 2-5: Preference Matrix ............................................................................................. 19 Figure 2-6: Website Design Preference Matrix ................................................................... 19 Figure 2-7: Conceptual Framework derived from Project Contextualisation ..................... 21 Figure 3-1: ‘The Research Onion’ ....................................................................................... 22 Figure 3-2: Choosing research strategies ............................................................................. 25 Figure 3-3: Research Choice ............................................................................................... 26 Figure 3-4: Research Design ............................................................................................... 27 Figure 3-5: Research Map ................................................................................................... 27 Figure 3-6: Ethical issues at different stages of research .................................................... 28 Figure 3-7: Typology of participant observation researcher roles....................................... 29 Figure 3-8: Forms of Interview............................................................................................ 31 Figure 3-9: Methodologies Summary-‘The Research Onion’ ............................................. 33 Figure 4-1: Summary from Designer Ming ......................................................................... 34 Figure 4-2: Designer Ming Mind Map ................................................................................ 35 Figure 4-3: Summary from Designer NA DI ....................................................................... 37 Figure 4-4: Designer Na Di Mind Map ............................................................................... 38 Figure 4-5: Summary from Designer Yifang Wan .............................................................. 40 Figure 4-6: Designer Yifang Wan Mind Map ..................................................................... 41 Figure 4-7: Summary from Designer Yui Atelier................................................................ 42 Figure 4-8: Designer Yui Atelier Mind Map ....................................................................... 43 Figure 4-9: Education Level Result from Designer List ..................................................... 44 Figure 4-10: Home Country Result from Designer List ...................................................... 44 Figure 4-11: Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Target Market ........................................... 45 Figure 4-12: AFDE-NO Natures in relation to Fashion Process ......................................... 48 Figure 4-13:Design Strategies according to Porter Generic Strategies ............................... 49 Figure 4-14: AFDE-O Natures in relation to Fashion Process ............................................ 50 Figure 4-15: Conceptual Framework for Finding ................................................................ 52 Figure 5-1: Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Expected Issue ............................................ 53 Figure 5-2: Manufacturing and Sourcing Model for AFDE ................................................ 55 Figure 5-3: Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Reason for Manufacture Country ............... 55 Figure 5-4: Distribution Channels Model for the AFDE ..................................................... 58 Figure 5-5: Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Internship .................................................... 61 Figure 5-6: Theoretical Framework of the AFDE ............................................................... 62

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Index of Tables Table 2-1: Integration Level Classification ........................................................................... 7 Table 2-2: Comparison of the Profiles of NIE and OIE ........................................................ 9 Table 3-1: ‘Comparison of research philosophies in management research’ ...................... 23 Table 3-2: ‘Defining Features of Ethnographies’ ................................................................ 25 Table 3-3: Interviewee Summary ........................................................................................ 32 Table 4-1:Summary of similarities/differences between the AFDE studios ....................... 46 Table 4-2: Barriers Summary in relation to Practical Issues ............................................... 51 Table 5-1: Fundamental Barriers Summary ........................................................................ 62

Index of Appendix Appendix-1 The Profile List of the AFDE .......................................................................... 74 Appendix-2 The Guideline of Qualitative Questionnaire .................................................... 75 Appendix-3 The Guideline of Semi-structured Interview -Fashion Advisor-Jonas ............................. 77 Appendix-4 The Guideline of Semi-structured Interview -The AFDE-Mingpin Tien ......................... 79 Appendix-5 The Guideline of Semi-structured Interview -The AFDE-NA DI Studio......................... 81 Appendix-6 The Guideline of Semi-structured Interview -The AFDE Intern-David Lyu ................... 84 Appendix-7 Transcript of the Participant Observation-Mingpin Tien (PO1) ..................... 86 Appendix-8 Transcript of the Participant Observation-NA DI Studio (PO2) ................... 116 Appendix-9 Transcript of the Semi-structured Interview -Fashion Advisor-Jonas ........................... 127 Appendix-10 Transcript of the Semi-structured Interview -The AFDE-Mingpin Tien ....................... 137 Appendix-11 Transcript of the Semi-structured Interview -The AFDE-NA DI Studio....................... 144 Appendix-12 Transcript of the Semi-structured Interview -The AFDE Intern-David Lyu (Yifang Wan Studio) .............. 151 Appendix-13 Transcript of the Qualitative Questionnaire ................................................ 158 Appendix-14 Practical Issues Code Gathering -Participant Observation-Mingpin Tien (PO1) ........................ 165 Appendix-15 Practical Issues Code Gathering -Participant Observation-NA DI Studio (PO2)........................ 166 Appendix-16 Code Gathering Summary-Interviews ......................................................... 167

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1. Introduction 1.1 Context and Rationale 1.1.1 Fashion Industry in UK The fashion industry as the second largest employer in UK directly contributes £21 billions to the UK economy with 400,000 (nearly 12.5% population) people work in London’s creative domain (London & Partners, 2014; Elle, 2010). The whole industry is also distinguished by the creativity of its diverse designers, a top tier education system and numerous support schemes (Anaya & Wang, 2013; Lewy, 2014).

Simultaneously, prominent to its centre role in fashion industry, London as fashion capital is indeed constantly spotlighted for the abundance of design talents (Soh, 2012). Nevertheless, the current economic climate lacks optimism with 23.7% of the youth unemployment rate at an all-time high, fashion in London gradually becomes a challenging industry to secure employment due to the rising costs and increasingly competition as Soh claimed (2012).

Above all, there used to be a perception that to be a designer in UK, their careers usually begin as a tortured genius, slaving away in east London (Elle, 2010). However, solely being a talented designer is no longer enough today, a realisation among a new wave of business-savvy designers that entrepreneur skills need to be possessed meanwhile (Candy, 2010). Various platforms including Centre for Fashion Enterprise, Fashion Fringe, and Fashion East etc. are available to seek for support; whilst for those designers, who haven’t been accepted by them may have difficulties to foster the survival and further success (Chrysostome & Arcand, 2009). The continuous increase of competition in the industry has undoubtedly led to the emergence of designer-entrepreneurs referring to the concept of fashion designers who undertake their own business to both take advantage of business opportunity and size up the value of their design to make this opportunity as a success (Chrysostome, 2010; Granger & Sterling, 2012).

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1.1.2 Asian Fashion Designer-Entrepreneurs (AFDE) Each year, there are over 5,000 fashion students graduating in London alone (Soh, 2012), in which 1,600 Chinese students coming to the city to study fashion and design at a rise of over 150% speed in the last five years, with many then stay to set up business or work for the industry (Higher Education Statistics Agency, 2014). On the other hand, the UK entrepreneur visa was issued to Chinese nationals more than tripled in 2012 (CCTV.com, 2014). Current economic climate and education system is gradually nurturing entrepreneurship as the forefront option for Asian students (Granger & Sterling, 2012). Judging from those statistics, an imperative trend of being the AFDE in London is indicated.

Now the lights are shaded on the issue how to nurture emerging talent despite of the high failure rate of designer small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which partly due to the situation of under investment as well as the lack of business and entrepreneurial skills (Candy, 2010; Mozota, 2002). In order to help to launch the careers of young fashion designers and foster their thrive, an incubation platform joint between college and other support schemes need to be set up by investigating convergent models of the AFDE, based on both theoretical scope and practical cases (BOF, 2013).

1.1.3 Rationale and Gap As entrepreneurship is considered as a major force in the global economy, there are plenty of paper have been conducted to investigate and gaining new perspectives in terms of Asian entrepreneurs based in London (Breward & Gilbert, 2006). However, most of them merely placed the research in a general commercial context to synthesis the characteristics, perceived competitiveness, cultural issues or current situation in UK. There are only limited studies drawing insight from fashion industry to discover the specific natures the AFDE own and barriers the AFDE tend to face, in this case, the study tends to conduct a theoretical framework to fill the gap and provide potential solution towards the fashion system.

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1.2 Aim and Objectives Aim: This project aims to develop a website providing guidelines for Asian fashion designer-entrepreneurs (AFDE), who strive to establish their London-based design firms, to better coordinate their business operating by overcoming fundamental barriers.

Objectives: •

1. To rationalise and synthesis the natures of the AFDE in terms of their development in UK.

•

2. To explore and understand how the AFDE generally operate their fashion business in relation to the nature pattern.

•

3. To conduct the AFDE theoretical framework in terms of the formulation of the fundamental barriers

•

4. To develop website from the practical perspective to provide guideline corresponding to the fundamental barriers

1.3 Proposed Research Methodology Given the fact that this paper is an exploratory research regarding the nature of the AFDE in relation to their barriers based on practical cases, it will contributes to enhancing the body of knowledge on the topic of the AFDE. The research methodology is built on the metaphor of the ‘Research Onion’ to illustrate how the final elements could be reached in relation to implication of the methodological choice (Saunders & Tosey, 2012). The philosophy of interpretivism is considered to conduct research by an inductive approach to gather rich insights into the group and build a further theoretic framework.

Research strategy ethnography and the participant observation as part of the main procedure seek to draw insight from the phenomena of increasing numbers of Asian fashion designer establish their business in London. In this case, mixed method was

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employed to combine data collection techniques and analysis procedures, involving qualitative data from diary method, semi-structured interviews, and qualitative questionnaire. The detail of data gathering techniques, analytical methods and purpose for each procedure are described in chapter 3.

1.4 Chapter Outline Chapter 2—Project Contextualisation This part reviews the literature in terms of ‘Asian entrepreneurs’, ‘Fashion design’ and ‘Website design’, which closely relate to the research focus, in order to understand the state of knowledge body and identify the gap in current literature. The classification of the AFDE and their role in the fashion system, as well as the context of building a website are well interpreted. Moreover, the review also provides foundation for addressing research question and developing conceptual framework.

Chapter3—Methodology The research philosophy, research approach and strategy are identified in this part.

Mixed method approach is adopting upon the ethnography strategy based on the several qualitative data collection techniques, which will be presented.

Chapter4—Data Analysis and Discussion The result of this study is introduced. The nature patterns of the AFDE are identified along with the interpretation.

Chapter5—Project Development Based on data analysis, the website is developed to correspond to the fundamental barriers in terms of each step of the fashion process. Meanwhile, the theoretical framework is presented to summarize.

Chapter6—Validation This part presents the conclusion by revisiting the aim and objectives, provides the

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contribution of this research to academic field, followed by limitations along with the potential area for further study.

2. Project Contextualisation (Literature Review) 2.1 Introduction

Asian Entrepreneurs

Website Design

Fashion Design

Research Focus:

Website specifically designed for fashion designer who acts as Asian entrepreneurs

Figure 2-1: Research Focus for Literature Review

Before constructing the website with clear framework and content, it seems necessary to review the literature in terms of three main themes: Asian entrepreneurs, fashion design and website design as delineated in Figure 2-1, to better contextualise the project. This part firstly investigates the natures of Asian entrepreneurs under different situation, followed by their characteristics versus UK culture and UK market. The role of fashion design in academic context as well as its implementation in commercial context is then focused upon, as it indicates crucial influence for being fashion designer-entrepreneurs (Mozota, 2003; Chrysostome, 2010). Also, by reviewing and synthesizing related research, the chapter examines the website classification and key function in order to create foundation for further module development of the website. Finally, the review is concluded with a summary by identifying the gap existing in the current study and providing research questions that correspond to the gap.

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2.2 Asian Entrepreneurs Froschauer

(2001)

proposed

theoretical

models

of

immigrant

and

ethnic

entrepreneurs, which could guide research and provide explanations for immigrants to become business owners successfully. These models derived from observation of the pre- and post-migration experience of business owners suggest that all the immigrant entrepreneurs (IE) seem migrate and undergo the similar conditions. In this case, the London-based Asian entrepreneurs can also be assumed under the same situation and own specific characteristics according to the different circumstances.

2.2.1 Immigrant Entrepreneurs (IE): In those major destination countries for immigrants such as United Kingdom, United States, Australia and Canada, immigrant entrepreneurship plays an important role in not only economic development but also noneconomic effects including the development of vibrant ethnic communities, social integration, the recognition of immigrants as well as providing the immigrant role models, which is considered as an socioeconomic phenomenon in recent years (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010). Immigrant entrepreneurship proposed by sociologists and anthropologists as a concept, however, have generated limited literatures when it comes to a management perspective. Many aspects of the immigrant entrepreneurship, therefore, still need to be addressed (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010).

In ‘Immigrant Entrepreneurship: Scrutinizing a Promising Type of Business Venture’, the taxonomy of immigrant entrepreneurship has been classified based on the three factors: Integration level in the host country, the motives of venture creation and economic embeddedness (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010). For the integration level classification, each level has been related to the specific category of the IE business (see Table 2-1). To be more specific, the businesses of the low level of integration are suggested to be considered a relatively highly-segmented category which targets an ethnic market with an ethnic product, while the businesses of the high level should be considered a highly integrated category targeting a non-ethnic market with a

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non-ethnic product (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010). The two other categories of the middle levels of integration refer first to the product-integrated category—these businesses target an ethnic market with a mainstream product and market-integrated category targets the mainstream market with an ethnic product (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010).

Integration Level Low Level

Category Level

Market

High-segmented

Ethnic Markets

Product-integrated

Ethnic Markets

Product Ethnic Products Mainstream Prodcuts

Medium Level Mainstream Market-integrated

Ethnic Markets Market

High Level

Non-ethnic

Non-ethnic

Markets

Products

High-integrated Table 2-1: Integration Level Classification Source: Adapted from Chrysostome & Lin, 2010:78

Chrysostome (2010) also suggested that the classification based on the motives for venture creation can be divided into two main issues: the necessity driven IE who can only survive in the host country or find it difficult to gain a job there. The other one is the business opportunity, which might not be identified by their original home countries (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010). Different from the previous homogeneous conceptual of the IE, Chrysostome (2010) suggests that necessity IE are the people, who come from developing countries with limited professional experience, have to find the resources for operating business by relying on families, friends or ethnic community; whilst opportunity IE, in general, are highly-educated with graduate degree from host countries and target mainstream industries without relying on ethnic market, as well as the capability to access to the finical institutions there.

Regarding the level of the economic embeddedness, Lin (2010) distinguished certain forms of immigrant economic adaption according to the immigrant embeddedness in

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home and host countries respectively as shown in Figure 2-2. There are those who (Wage employment) fully integrated into the host countries as well as largely apart from original home country economically such as being able to be employed in the local general labour market. On the contrary, those who (Returnee businesses) have permanently backed to their home countries in business pursuits and then maintain certain level of “duality” on the basis of being able to draw resource from host countries (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010). Simultaneously, the most known economic adaption which is so-called ethnic enclave (similar as transnational entrepreneurship), have clientele in broader society or able to engage in the importation from home country, drawing resource on local co-ethnic communities for supply, production and market (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010).

Figure 2-2: Immigrant Economic Adaption and Social Embeddedness Source: Adapted from Lin 2010

2.2.2 Necessity Immigrant Entrepreneurs (NIE) versus Opportunity Immigrant Entrepreneurs (OIE) According to Table 2-2, Chrysostome (2010) provided a definition for necessity immigrant entrepreneur (NIE) and opportunity immigrant entrepreneurs (OIE). The NIE referred to those immigrants who undertakes business activities due to the barriers they might face, which prevents them from having access to the job opportunity in host countries (Chrysostome, 2010). Basically, the ultimate way to

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survive there since the NIE is generally considered as the natives of developing countries (Massey, 2000 cited in Chrysostome, 2010). While the OIE, who are the group freely decide to start businesses based on the purpose of taking advantage of the business opportunity or personal desire to be self-independent, which may be sub-divided into different groups (Chrysostome, 2010). For instance, besides the entrepreneurs who came to the host countries for undertaking the business opportunity, there are also those who came to host countries for the academic opportunity primarily and decided to stay longer, others came for specific job opportunities and decided to start their own business later to better take advantage of the chance, also this group include second-generation who actually born in the host country (Wong, 2006; Li, 1993).

NIE (Necessity Driven)

OIE (Opportunity Driven)

Education

High school to college degree

College degree

Professional Experience

Limited

Good

Host-country Language

Limited

Functional

Developing countries

Developing and developed

Proficiency Home Country

countries Country of Education

Home country

Home and host country

Country of Employees

Home country

Host country

Targeted Market

Ethnic market

Mainstream market

Target Industry

Challenging to mainstream

Mainstream industries

entrepreneurs Access to Start-up capital

Limited

Good

Access to Financial

Limited

Good

Source of Capital

Social network

Formal financial system

Level of Integration

Limited to ethnic community

Good

System

Table 2-2: Comparison of the Profiles of NIE and OIE Source: Adapted from Chrysostome 2010: 139

Meanwhile, the concept of the success and its measurement towards the necessity immigrant group including a wide range of indicators such as the age of the business, profitability (which means the cost of the small business is indeed covered by income),

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growth indicators referring to the increase elements such as sales, market share, net profit, and return on investment, sales, assets and cash flow (Chrysostome & Arcand, 2009; Oswald & Raymond, 2005). However, it may not realistic to use the same indicators to measure the performance for the NIE and the OIE. For example, the niche market that the NIE normally targets is an ‘enclave’ market, which does not increase significantly over time (Chrysostome & Arcand, 2009). As a result, it has been suggested that the success of the NIE should be measured in terms of the survival issues, which are considered mainly relevant to the performance of the age and profitability of the business.

2.2.3 The AFDE versus UK Market: Generally, the creation process of the small business is formed into a complex push/pull dynamic (Bates, 1999). On one hand, entrepreneurs who pursue self-employment might be pulled by the business opportunities; while others might be pushed into self-employment due to the fact that the access towards the good jobs is blocked by barriers including language issues, educational credentials and inappropriate working experience instead of their personal preferences on the other hand (Bates, 1999). In ‘An Analysis of Asian Immigrant-Owned Small Business’, Bates (1999) maintained that the evidence of self-employment success among Asian immigrant is still lacking even though several studies have been analysed in terms of the earnings from self-employment (Boyd, 1991) as well as the firm survival patterns from 1987-1991 (Bates, 1994), neither papers however provided the stereotype of business success.

The barriers excepting aforementioned, facing by ethnic IE are similar to those facing by small business to certain extent. Those barriers include the difficulties attracting target or initial customers; competing with entrenched competitors; building reputation in the market place and securing financing for an emergent entrepreneurship (Storey, 1994 cited in Basu, 2011). Moreover, those barriers are captured by the concept of ethnic disadvantage, which operates not only in the labour marketing in terms of the

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lack of language and career-related skills (which more or less block their market opportunities), but also in the aspect of lacking appropriate educational qualifications and capital, which indicated that the IE tend to establish business at a relatively low end of the opportunity structure (Mason, 2003; Basu, 2011).

Regarding the market strategies for the IE in the UK to ‘break out’ of the ethnic market in host country, pursuing a non-ethnic market and non-ethnic market strategy might be considered as best way. Waldinger et al. (1990) provided a more sophisticated version where either a middle-agent minority strategy by supplying products to the wider community relies on co-ethnic resources networks as before, or assimilate by weakening co-ethnic ties in the form of offering products typically of an indigenous business and running it as the same way of the majority in community (Basu, 2011).

However, breaking through into larger markets might not necessarily breaking out of ethnic customer markets since the technological developments in internet communication may make it accessible for ethnic entrepreneurs to be able to reach a broader customer base across the world by merely operating at relatively low cost (Ram & Jones, 1998; Basu, 2011). The concept of market ‘break through’ also suggested that the IE can indeed serve a larger market e.g. national and international, and do not necessarily have to ‘break out’ into larger markets at a later stage (Basu, 2011).

2.2.4 The AFDE versus UK culture Although the contribution of Asian entrepreneurship to the revival of SMEs in the UK is gradually being recognised, which is generally attributed to cultural factors, there remains some concerns that cultural factors may also hinder the growth of Asian entrepreneurs. This is common to the other ethnic minority business as well as those entrepreneurs who have managed to cross culture barriers in order to survive and grow (Basu & Goswami, 1999). Storey (1997) claimed that the growth and survival of the small business mainly relies on the interaction between three sets of variables: a) relating to the starting characteristics of the entrepreneurs, b) the natures of the firm

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and c) strategy. In addition, literatures involving studies on the emergence, survival and growth also imply that cultural and social factors are of great significance in explaining entrepreneurial growth (Waldinger et al., 1990; Basu & Goswami, 1999).

Scholar also identified that the significant contributors to growth in their model differ from the previous studies of ethnic business such as hard work, responsibilities to non-family members (Basu & Goswami, 1999).

Instead, those, who broken out of the ethnic enclave economy and have moved away from the traditional culture style of business model, have succeeded in their entrepreneurial pursuits. Similarly, those, who have maintained or even strengthened the industry links with the original home country, is argued have performed better than others (Basu & Goswami, 1999). The successful role models among this group seems to be whom were able to take advantage of the positive aspect of their culture in order to develop successful expansion strategies, which involves moving away from the stereotype of the British-Asian entrepreneur as well as the competence to operate in a wider territories (Basu & Goswami, 1999).

The following three implications identified by Basu & Goswami (1999) derived through a multivariate analysis of the factors that may potentially contribute to the growth of Asian entrepreneur in UK are: firstly, benefits and needs toward education, employee training and delegation; secondly, the traditional reliance of British-Asian business in terms of the retail sector needs to be reduced for better promoting entrepreneurial survival and growth; thirdly, the multi-cultural knowledge and economic information that may offer their business opportunities which they could more effectively exploit.

Furthermore, the process by integrating themselves within the host communities and across international borders may also contribute to gaining competitiveness in both the UK economy as well as the global marketplace (Basu & Goswami, 1999).

The classification undoubtedly is a good method providing more effective support programs to help policymakers promote entrepreneurs (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010),

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however, designer-entrepreneurs in fashion industries as a volatile and complicated group may combine the characteristic from several parties, which shall be detailed in main finding part (Christopher, 2004). In order to understand the perspective of fashion designer-entrepreneurs that form the focus of this study, it is important to define fashion design and this lead to the next section.

2.3 Fashion Design The term ‘fashion’ and ‘clothing’ is likely to be used synonymously. However, fashion conveys a wide range of different social meanings, whereas clothing may be merely the generic raw materials of what a person wears (Kawamura, 2004). In this ephemeral, image-driven society, fashion seemed increasingly pressurized at some levels when combined with the consumer market driven by biannually demands (Taylor, 2005). Meanwhile, advances in the technology and materials used for fashion production undoubtedly provided more advanced, cheaper and potentially desirable items to a wider audience (Breward, 1995). As a result, the role of the fashion designer evolved.

2.3.1 The Role of Fashion Designer Fashion design is commonly regarded as a multi-layered practice by combining design and drawing skills with a much broader range of activities (Bruzzi & Gibson, 2000). Although designers classically regarded themselves as led by inspiration, ideas, intuitions and their own dreams, the fact that they had to sell a look and a combination of ideas increasingly came to the force (McRobbie, 2000). Even though, designers are still the key figures in the production of fashion and even play a crucial role in the maintenance, reproduction and dissemination of fashion as suggested by Kawamura (2004). Clothes do not become fashion without designers standing at the forefront of the field (Kawamura, 2004). Their status and reputation are thus mainly determined by their active participation in the fashion system (Kawamura, 2004).

As barriers between the class have diminished, instead of being orientated towards

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the aesthetic preference of social elites, ‘consumer’ fashion has replaced class fashion, which offers great stylistic diversity and less consensus about what is “in fashion” (Crane, 2000). Crane also suggested that a single fashion genre—haute couture has been replaced by three major categories of styles: Luxury designer Fashion, Industrial Fashion, and Street Styles (2000). Luxury designer fashion is obviously the fashion that created by designers worldwide; Industrial fashion is the fashion created by manufactures, which sell similar products to similar social group in different cities; Street styles are created by urban subcultures and supply fashion ideas for fads and trends (Crane, 2000). Industrial fashion is also a form of media culture in terms of its value and attractiveness to the consumer being mainly created by advertising among the three (Crane, 2000).

2.3.2 Fashion Design in Commercial Context Fashion’s power in current contexts is potentially about associating and unifying the creation of globally dominating brands, which has effected the development of associative and referential scales (Taylor, 2005). According to McRobbie (1999), fashion system could be divided into six components as delineated in Figure 2-3.

Design Manufactur e & Production

Consumption

Fashion System The magazine & Fashion Media

Retail & Distribution Education & Training

Figure 2-3: Fashion System Source: Angela McRobbie 1999:41

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Fashion garments, the outcome of fashion design, are accompanied with references to which the brand is attached within the carefully constructed and imaginary context as mentioned (Taylor, 2005). Especially those models of success in UK, the UK-trained fashion designers have been relatively restricted to Stella McCartney, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen, with Vivinenne Westwood achieving status of national icon (Bruzzi & Gibson, 2000). The irony is that those designers with exclusive dressmaking and tailoring techniques may not survive as an enterprise since the whole industry gradually sifted its attention towards image-making, namely, the latter part of the fashion system including ‘The magazine & Fashion media’ and ‘Retail & Distribution’ in Figure 2-3 (Kawamura, 2004).

It could therefore be argued that the creative conglomeration of various fashion houses signals the absence of an important competitive and innovative edge with fashion industry, namely, on a wider scale, brands have become increasingly removed from the designer and original authenticity due to a label’s widespread application (Taylor, 2005). The ‘aura’ theory from Benjamin (1936) identified that the work of art is threatened by reproducibility, which contributed to its uniqueness and replaced by its ‘appearance en masse’ (Svendsen, 2006). It may also be concluded as a reason why fashion’s controversial designers such as Alexander McQueen was so desirable central rather than chasing the traditional aesthetic of beauty at the end of the twentieth country (Svendsen, 2006). As a result, being a designer-entrepreneur gradually considered as an inevitable choice for certain designers to keep their uniqueness and innovation.

Simultaneously, since fashion design is a highly disorganized and disintegrated economy as proposed by Lash ad Urry (1994), our everyday lives have become increasingly commercialized and aestheticized with ever-greater numbers of commodities in circulation (Taylor, 2005; Featherstone, 2007). The cheap ranges of collection with low quality produced by those high street intervenes’ tending seem full of the daily life (McRobbie, 1999; Featherstone, 2007). People thus potentially

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attempt to satisfy their own needs and desires by consuming fashion in order to get rid of the uniformity of daily life (Svendsen, 2006).

It seems that fashion has never been less interesting than it is today from an aesthetic perspective, there are reasons for fashion design to keep its diversity and heterogeneity to meet the increasingly demanding consumed-market as well as to survive under the situation of uniformity generally formed by stylistic pluralism from high street retailer (Breward & Evans, 2005; Svendsen, 2006). On the other hand, due to

the

lack

of

competitive

and

innovative

edge

within

fashion

industry,

designer-entrepreneurs seem playing a primary role of speeding up fashion changes as a designer and taking advantage of opportunity to run fashion business as an entrepreneurs.

2.4 Website Design Due to the fact that this study is practice-based in the form of website, the website design must be considered as a significant issue regarding the project contextualisation. Generally, websites service different purposes and indeed correspond to different categories. For instance, a retailing website can meet the needs of shopping, information gathering can be found on the news’ website and search websites (Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005). Although there is to date limited literature to shed lights on the characteristics of websites belonging to different domains, the evidences from academic studies and business resources indicates that audience expect the website from different categories to be designed to differ from others, on the basis of the purpose that it is being associated with (Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005; Agarwal, 2002).

2.4.1 Website Characteristics versus Factors In order to make a website effective, appropriate design characteristics are required to frame strategies for the design part including the content of the information, navigation characteristics, personalisation characteristics, technical properties and

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whether it is easy to use or not (Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005). The information content on the website is suggested to be closely relevant to the purpose, but also needs to be easy to read and comprehend, of adequate scope and depth (Palmer, 2002; McKinney et al, 2001). The navigation characteristics depend upon the information being well organised/arranged in terms of the design, layout and sequencing (Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005). Meanwhile, personalization and the capability to cater to customized information requirements from specific groups of audience are crucial aspect of website design (Greer & Murtaza, 2003). Also the technical properties available on the website are of great importance, such as security features, access speed in terms of how fast to download and how fast it can display the successive pages, accessibility and availability of the website (Palmer, 2002; McKinney et al., 2001; Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005).

In “Analysis of Critical Website Characteristics”, Tarafdar & Zhang (2005) also demonstrated the factors which underpin the composition of the website that determine its performance through conducting a factor analysis test across 200 websites. From this it was postulated that certain key factors was crucial:

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Website Key Factors:

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Factor 1—“ Information Content” referring to the characteristics that are related to the quality of the information on the website, the parameters of which includes “relevance” and “timelines” proposed

by McKinney et al (2001). Additionally, “the adequacy and depth of the information, how easily the information can be located, and how well organized and well arranged it is should” be considered as other information-­‐related parameters (Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005).

Factor 2—“Ease of Content” referring to those characteristics that attribute to improve users’ navigatation, which includes the board layout of different components and the way of arranging the elements such as hyperlinks and tabs (Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005).

Likewise, the consistency of the links should be focused so as to avoid the presence of dead links (Laudon & Travers, 2003).

Factor 3—“Usability” referring to the website characteristic that deal with the ease of use or the usability of the website. The terms of the “usability” or USAB is usually used to describe the extent to which a website is easy to use, whether it is challenging to have relevant information or it is visually appealing and engaging during the whole process (McKinney et al., 2001). This factor also covers the attractiveness and careful layout of the website, multimedia or characteristics that may potentially enhance the ease with the website (Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005).

Figure 2-4: Website Key Factors

Furthermore, since the main mission for information related websites is to provide relevant and appropriately structured information which can be accessed easily for users, the characteristics which can be used to facilitating information acquisition process such as “Search Engines & Portals, information quality, usability, ease of navigation and speed” are the fundamental characteristics (Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005).

2.4.2 Website Cognitive Content Web content has always been regarded as one of the main factors contributing to repeat visit, especially for those information related website (Rosen & Purinton, 2004).

A study provided by Forrester Research indicate that high-quality content, ease of use, speed and frequency of updating are the four factors lead to repeat visits (Numbers, 1999). The terms of web contents refers to the text, pictures, graphics, layout, sound, and motion, whilst making the right decision towards those issues seems critical to effective web design (Rosen & Purinton, 2004). Meanwhile, people indeed appreciate

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and are stimulated to use information that could helps to expand their previous knowledge contained in cognitive map (Rosen & Purinton, 2004).

Based on the psychological research, Kaplan and Kaplan (1982) developed a ‘preference framework’ as illustrated in Figure 2-5 to better understand how people satisfied their needs of making sense (understanding) and exploring (involvement) in an uncertain world through using information, since understanding and exploring represent two basic.

Preference Matrix Understanding

Exploration

Two-dimensional

Coherence

Complexity

Three-dimensional

Legibility

Mystery Figure 2-5: Preference Matrix Source: Kaplan et al,.1998: 13

Website Design

Preference Matrix

Coherence refers to the degree of the environment landscape hangs together, which mainly relies on redundancy of elements and textures; Complexity refers to the richness of the elements in a setting;

Legibility refers to having a site map to create easy navigation of website or a distinctive graphic/icon to make way-­‐ginding straightforward; Mystery refers to the landscape design that could enhances desire to explore a space through providing the feeling which much more could be found if one keeps on browsing

Figure 2-6: Website Design Preference Matrix Source: Adapted from Rosen & Purinton, 2004: 790

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Rosen & Purinton (2004) applied Preference Matrix into website design and associated each elements to the web landscape. The four factors can be used to tap into the cognitive maps and employed to build the website that users feel comfortable returning to again.

2.5 Project Contextualisation Summary The chapter reviews literature from three perspectives that relevant to the research focus to contextualise the whole project. Certain understanding has been provided in terms of the classification of the Asian entrepreneurs, the role of designer in the fashion system as well as the context of building a website from functional and content perspective. Yet, little attempts have been made to investigate the nature of the AFDE, before discussing how effective website may used as platform to potentially help the AFDE to overcome the obstacles when operating in UK fashion context. As a result, this study aims to research following research question, coming up with a conceptual framework, using methodology that is described in subsequent chapter.

Overall Research Question: What are the fundamental barriers to an enablers for Asian fashion designer-entrepreneurs (AFDE) in the UK to establish an SME? Ø

Q1: What are the classifications of the AFDE?

Ø

Q2: What are the nature patterns for the AFDE to establish a fashion SME in the UK?

Ø

Q3: What are the fundamental barriers in relation to nature patterns for the AFDE to establish a fashion SME in the UK?

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Figure 2-7: Conceptual Framework derived from Project Contextualisation

3. Methodology 3.1 Introduction Researcher usually begin by identifying what data are needed and then focus upon how they will obtain these data in order to design a piece of research to address the gap or answer the question (Saunders & Tosey, 2012). To obtain those data can involve a selection of data collection techniques, along with procedures analysing the data with specific strategies (Saunders et al., 2009). Within this chapter, the metaphor

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of the ‘Research Onion’ (see Figure 3-1) is used to commence the discussion to depict the key issues underlying the research choice.

Figure 3-1: ‘The Research Onion’ Source: Saunders et al,. 2011: 128

This section first presents the research methodology considering the philosophical context before a research design being identified to decide the implication of the strategy. The specific strategy and choice of the collection techniques, followed by the ethical issues in relation to the research are subsequently provided. The data collection and analysis, which lie in the core of the research onion, are then elaborated in detailed.

3.2 Research Philosophy and Approach—Interpretivism Research philosophy in the outer layers of the ‘Research Onion’ is beneficial to the development of a coherent research design (Saunders & Tosey, 2012). Philosophy is how a researcher formulates research questions to the study, which indicates a significant impact on the understanding of the issues being investigated thought the

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assumptions that underpin the research strategy and the methods (Creswell, 2013; Saunders et al., 2011; Johnson & Clark, 2006). Research could be generally divided into those of a theoretical or empirical nature (Remenyi & Williams, 1995). Within empirical research, according to Table3-1, there are two main philosophical paradigms: positivism and interpretivism (Easterby-Smith et al., 2004).

Table 3-1: ‘Comparison of research philosophies in management research’ Source: Adapted from: Saunders et al., 2009: 119

Based on the Table3-1, interpretivism closely relates to the social phenomena in their own natural environment, it was regarded as ‘empathetic stance’ as understanding social world and the meaning from their own perspectives (Saunders & Tosey, 2012).

In order to gathering rich insights into subjective meaning, data collection and analysis usually come up with the qualitative data from in-depth investigation with small samples as proposed by Saunders and Tosey (2012). Accordingly, interpretivism is an appropriate philosophy for this study.

The designer-entrepreneurs as a relatively new concept in the context of the UK fashion industry could be deemed as small size of research sample, with limited

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theories provided to build the framework. In this case, The term ‘Induction’ is considered to be an approach since it usually relates to the formulation of the abstract concepts and theories, in which a conceptual or theoretical structure is priory developed to the empirical research and expressed with theory as outcome (Gill & Johnson, 2002; Saunders et al., 2011). Furthermore, Glaser & Strauss (1967) maintained that the theory being inductively developed without systematic empirical research tends to be more fit into data, which likely form into a more useful plausible and accessible nature of theory (Partington, 2000 cited in Gill & Johnson, 2002).

3.3 Research Strategy—Ethnography The choice of research strategy should be guided by research questions, own philosophical underpinnings, time horizons, as well as the availability of the resources (Saunders et al., 2009). To correspond and underpin the coherent interpretivism research and build theoretical framework through an inductive research approach, the strategy tend to be conducted with ethnography. Ethnography usually shades lights on an entire culture-sharing group, which might be a small group sharing same pattern and could potentially involve many individuals who interact over time (Creswell, 2013).

‘Ethnographic research involves feeling one’s way in confusing circumstance, struggling to make sense of ambiguousness, reading signals, looking around, listening all the time, coping with conflicts and struggling to achieve task through establishing and maintaining a network of relationship’ --Waston, 1994: 8

In ‘Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design’, Creswell (2013) provide a brief list of defining features of Ethnographies:

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Ethnographies:

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The researcher seeks the patterns of the group’s mental activities such as ‘how they behave within the group as expressed through their actions’ (Creswell, 2013: 92).

Using theory to look for the patterns of a group usually involves ‘engaging in extensive 5ieldwork, collection data primarily through interviews, observation, symbols, and many diverse sources of data’ (Creswell, 2013:92; Fetterman, 2010).

The analysis results into an understanding of how the group works with functional essence. ‘What do people in this setting have to know and do to make the system work?’ (Wolcott, 2010 cited in Creswell, 2013: 92).

Table 3-2: ‘Defining Features of Ethnographies’ Source: Creswell, 2013: 9

--Figure 3-2: Choosing research strategies Source: Gill & Johnson, 2002: 196

Gill & Johnson (2002) claimed that explanations of social phenomena are relatively worthless unless they are grounded in observation and experience. As a result, due to the deficient of literature in actually knowing how the group works since the AFDE are not in the mainstream, ethnography as described in Figure 3-2 –a descriptive approach concerning with particular subjects within particular context, is more

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appropriate to explore and identify the behaviours and issues facing the AFDE (Creswell, 2013).

3.4 Research Choice—Mixed Methods In order to answer the research questions and better evaluate the extent to which your main findings can be trusted or inference, the multiple methods are employed for different purposes (Saunders et al., 2009; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2010).

--Figure 3-3: Research Choice Source: Saunders et al. 2009: 152

In Figure 3-3, Mixed-methods research has been concluded as way of using quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques at same time (parallel) or one after the other (sequential) (Saunders et al., 2009). For this study (See Figure 3-4), interviews at exploration stage aim to get key issues before using qualitative questionnaire to collect explanatory or descriptive data, followed by semi-structured interviews to address deepening and most important issues as well as assess the result. Simultaneously, a participant observation acts as continuous field research tend to correspond to the ethnography as research strategy. Data collection and its procedures will be detailed in section 3.6. The process is also mapped in Figure 3-5.

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QUAL

QUAL

QUAL

(Exploration)

(Questionnaire)

(Deepening and assessing results)

Semi-structured

Qualitative

Semi-structured

interview:

Questionnaire:

interview:

Advisor in fashion

The AFDE

The AFDE

industry Interns for the AFDE QUAL:Participant Observation—Internship in the AFDE studio (Continuous field research) --Figure 3-4: Research Design Source: Adapted from Miles and Huberman, 1994: 41

--Figure 3-5: Research Map Source: Adapted from Maxwell, 2009: 245

3.5 Ethical Issue Ethical in this study arise from the nature of the ethnography due to the relationship between researcher and host organization, which may block further researches if hostility aroused (Gill & Johnson, 2002). Based on Figure 3-6, ethical considerations therefore were made throughout the process regarding issue of the harm and risk, dignity, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, anonymity, avoiding deception,

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objectivity, honesty and transparency, misleading of the research finding in the lights of the key principles and procedure statement (Easterby-Smith et al., 2012; Miles et al., 2014).

--Figure 3-6: Ethical issues at different stages of research Source: Saunders et al., 2009: 188

Agreements with study participants in terms of ‘informed consent forms’ were provided and distributed at the beginning of the data collection to reach some explicit agreements about shared expectations (Miles et al., 2014). The boundaries of what may permissible to observe was outlined clearly since observation techniques raises their own ethical concerns (Saunders et al., 2009). Meanwhile, the data gained from primary research could only used for academic purpose with its objectivity and honesty.

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3.6 Data Collection and Procedures According to Figure 3-5, the research process is divided into four elements: participant observation, diary method, semi-structured interview, and qualitative questionnaire.

3.6.1 Participant Observation As research strategy, an ethnography attaches extended observations of the specific group through participant observation, which refers the research method that researcher is immersed in the day-to-day lives of the group and interview the group participant (Creswell, 2013). Participant observation in this paper aims to identify and analyse the current situation of the AFDE in UK fashion industry in terms of fundamental barriers through gathering insights into the group. As a result, ‘participant as observer’ was deemed as research role in observation.

--Figure 3-7: Typology of participant observation researcher roles Source: Saunders et al., 2009: 293

3.6.1.1 Data collection and Analysis This study attempts to participate fully in the activities of subjects by working as a member of their organisation and community, which entails the researcher to share the experience by both observing what is happening and ‘feeling’ it (Gill & Johnson, 2002). However, the sample size was necessarily limited by the time-consuming

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nature of the method, observation was taken in one of the AFDE studio (See Appendix-1) for a period of three months internship, apart from another 3 months observation being taken for the previous project. It was also considered as a way to potentially widen the scope of structured observation in questionnaire stage.

There are three main stages in the proceeding of field study: preliminary data collection, recording of observation and coding of observation (Gill & Johnson, 2002).

Regarding of the observation recording, a working diary allowed a closer and richer view of the business operation, which will be described in 3.6.2 (Saunders et al., 2009).

3.6.2 Diary Methods As proposed by Easterby-Smith et al. (2012), diaries are described as the form of a personal journal of the research process, which includes emergent ideas and results, reflections on learning, and an examination of personal attitudes and values. For this study, diaries were used as a result for participant observation. Owing to the occupational speciality of designer-entrepreneurs, a rich visual resource and qualitative picture of motives and perspectives were provided to allowing the researcher to gain considerable insights (Easterby-Smith et al., 2012). In addition, the collection of relevant data was reached through internship while the study is in process, which enable researcher to carry out much more analysis.

3.6.3 Interviews Interview is considered as an approach to gather valid and reliable data that relevant to the research objectives, while the nature of which should be consistent with research purpose and the research strategy (Saunders et al., 2009). As illustrated in Figure 3-8, interview can be categorised into standardised interview and non-standardised interview according to the level of formality and structure (Saunders et al., 2009).

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--Figure 3-8: Forms of Interview Source: Saunders et al., 2009: 321

3.6.3.1 Qualitative Questionnaire Questionnaire, as standardised interview, refers to the same set of questions in a predetermined order (DeVaus, 2002 cited in Saunders et al., 2009). The internship enable researcher to participate 2014 London Fashion Week showroom, in which 15 designers meet the standard of the AFDE (See Appendix-1). However, the qualitative questionnaire was conducted instead of non-standardised interview due to the difficulty of accessibility. The questionnaire paper that being distributed face-to-face towards 10 designers who own fashion studio in UK and qualified by British Fashion Council aims to investigate and reflect the general obstacle and current situation of the AFDE. This stage was also be complemented by following semi-structured interview to explore and deepening the results (Saunders et al., 2009).

Simultaneously, a graphical elicitation technique named the AFDE Mind Map was adopted during interviews and questionnaires to collect entrepreneurial journal, which may help to identify the pattern of the AFDE in the UK fashion industry.

3.6.3.2 Semi-structured Interview Generally, four interviews in the form of semi-structured interview (summary in Appendix 3- Appendix 6) on a one-to-one basis have been conducted by meeting ‘face-to-face’. In semi-structured interview, a list of themes and questions that derived

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from conceptual framework and participant observation have been covered to capture relevant data (Saunders et al., 2009). Nevertheless, the structure and the order of questions varied from interview to interview. Questions were omitted or added in particular interviewing, in relation to the research topic, flow of the conversation and particular organisation context (Saunders et al., 2009; summary in Table 3-3).

Interviewee

Role Fashion

Jonas

Advisor in FIA

Research Topic Fashion Entrepreneurs

Organisation

Time

Place

Duration

2014-7-22

London

0:47:23

Ming Studio

2014-9-30

London

0:24:58

NADI Studio

2014-10-16

London

1:16:05

2014-10-14

London

0:55:47

Fashion Innovation Agency

Fashion

Mingpin Tien

Design; Website AFDE

Design Fashion Entrepreneurs;

Di Na

Website Design Fashion

David Lyu

AFDE

Entrepreneurs;

Yifang Wan

Intern

Fashion

Studio

Design --Table 3-3: Interviewee Summary

The interviews were record under the explicit permission of the interviewees except Na Di due to the interference from PR agency and transcribed verbatim for the further analysis (Easterby-Smith et al., 2012).

3.7 Summary This chapter offers an overview of methodology the study adopted by using ‘Research Onion’ as a way of depicting all the method applied, which is summarised in Figure 3-9.

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--Figure 3-9: Methodologies Summary-‘The Research Onion’ Source: Adapted from Saunders et al. 2009: 108

4. Data Analysis and Discussion 4.1 Introduction Within this chapter, specific cases are described respectively based on the research from participant observation and qualitative questionnaire, with the follow-up cross cases research in support for building the conceptual framework. Subsequently, by comparing and contrasting the similarities as well as differences, natures patterns are identified in relation to their practical issues that emerged throughout the fashion process, before the chapter is concluded with an overview of the fundamental barriers.

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4.2 The Natures of AFDE—Within Participant Observation (PO) 4.2.1 Results from PO1—Ming Studio

Designer Background

Mingpin Tien is a London-­‐based womenswear designer graduated from London College of Fashion, comes from Taiwan. As a designer, he founded MING in 2012, and showcased in London Fashion Week for 5 collections. He is one of the designers who were supported by Fashion Scout.

AFDE Natures •

Education: Postgraduate degree

•

Professional: Good

•

Host-country language proficiency: Functional

•

Home country: Developing country

•

Country of education: Home and host countries

•

Country of employee: Home and host countries

• • • • •

Targeted market: Mainstream market Access to start-­‐up capital: Limited Access to formal financial system: Limited Sources of capital: Social network Level o f integration: Limited to ethnic community

AFDE Mind Map (Figure 4-2)

ü ü ü ü ü ü

Education & Training: CSM BA& LCF MA Working experience (internship): Visual merchandiser & Junior Designer Support schemes: Fashion Scout PSW Visa & Working Visa Showcasing: Trade show, Showroom, London Fashion Week Competition: Elle Taiwan Young Talents --Figure 4-1: Summary from Designer Ming

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4.2.1.1 AFDE PO1 Mind Map

--Figure 4-2: Designer Ming Mind Map

4.2.1.2 PO1 Natures Summary As a designer, Ming represents a typical type of the AFDE by combining both characteristics of necessity immigrant entrepreneurs (NIE) and opportunity immigrant entrepreneurs (OIE) as identified in chapter 2.2.3. His highly educated background, related professional experience and functional language proficiency allows himself to

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specialised in and be able to optimise the design process. However, limited access to start-up capital and financial system is the challenge that many NIE faced at the initial stage of entrepreneurial activities (Chrysostome, 2010). Owing to the support scheme: Fashion Scout, Ming can target a relatively mainstream market compared to traditional NIE, who generally owns very limited industry link with mainstream business of host country (Lin & Tao, 2012; Chrysostome, 2010). However, since his main stockists are mainly located in original home country, the ethnic enclave and limited business relationships are likely to result into relatively low level of integration (Chrysostome, 2010).

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4.2.2 Results from PO2—Na Di Studio

Designer Background

Na Di is a London-­‐based menswear designer graduated from London College of Fashion MA, comes from Beijing China. She established her brand in 2013 with an entrepreneur immigrant visa.

AFDE Natures •

Education: Postgraduate degree

•

Professional: Good

•

Host-country language proficiency: Functional

•

Home country: Developing country

•

Country of education: Home and host countries

•

Country of employee: Host countries

• • • • •

Targeted market: Mainstream market Access to start-­‐up capital: Good Access to formal financial system: Good Sources of capital: Social network Level o f integration: Good

AFDE Mind Map (Figure 4-4)

ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü

Education & Training: CSM BA& LCF MA Working experience (internship) Support schemes: Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE); Fashion East (not approved) Tier1 Entrepreneur Visa Showcasing: Trade show, Showroom British PR Agency: Bloody Grey Sales Agency Competition: ‘Premium’ Young Designer Award In-­‐house manufacture factory: China Studio Admin: Assistant & Studio Manager

--Figure 4-3: Summary from Designer NA DI

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4.2.2.1 PO2 AFDE Mind Map

--Figure 4-4: Designer Na Di Mind Map

4.2.2.2 PO2 Natures Summary Owing to the £200,000 UK entrepreneur visa being introduced in 2008 to further replace the PSW visa, Asian investor flock to the UK as the fairly volatile business environment in their home country, whilst Na Di is one of them (GOV.uk, 2014; Womack, 2014; FT.com, 2013). She represents another type of the AFDE who start business based on the purpose of personal desire to be self-independent in order to better take advantage of business opportunity, which could be mainly considered as NIE (Chrysostome, 2010).

According to Figure 4-4, Ming and Na Di share similar pattern in terms of several natures including education, professional experience and language proficiency. On the other hand, unlike Ming, the entrepreneur visa not only enables her to access to start-up capital and financial system from social network, but also endows her the

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capability of resourcing from the fashion industry.

Simultaneously, CFE as a support scheme undoubtedly provide Na Di certain cures to understand her brand philosophy and considered strategies to follow (CFE.com, 2013). By leveraging resource from home country with an in-house manufacture factory as well as being supported by local PR agency and studio manager, she tend to work as ‘creative director’ rather than solely ‘fashion designer’.

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4.3 The Natures of AFDE—Within Interviews (IN) 4.3.1 Results from IN1—Yifang Wan Studio

Designer Background

Yifang Wan is a London-­‐based womenswear designer graduated from Central Saint Martin BA with top prize and followed MA, comes from Dalian China. She launched her self-­‐titled label ‘YIFANG WAN’ in 2012, and showcased in London Fashion Week for 6 collections. She was supported by Fashion Scout as well.

AFDE Natures •

Education: Postgraduate degree

•

Professional: Good

•

Host-country language proficiency: Functional

•

Home country: Developing country

•

Country of education: Home and host countries

•

Country of employee: Home and host countries

• • • • •

Targeted market: Mainstream market Access to start-­‐up capital: Limited Access to formal financial system: Limited Sources of capital: Formal financial system Level o f integration: Good

AFDE Mind Map (Figure 4-4)

ü ü ü ü ü ü

Education & Training: B A & MA (CSM) Working experience (internship) Support schemes (sponsorship): UAL, Fashion Scout PR & Marketing: In-­‐house business partner & Chinese Sales agency Production: Mainly in original home country Team Building

--Figure 4-5: Summary from Designer Yifang Wan

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4.3.1.1 AFDE IN1 Mind Map

--Figure 4-6: Designer Yifang Wan Mind Map

4.3.1.2 IN1 Natures Summary The natures that Yifang owns tend to be the similar pattern as PO1 except the sources of capital is likely to rely on the sponsorship from support scheme and scholarship from the college. The interview with her studio intern indicates that the sales agency she hired is the london-based Asian agency that targets the AFDE as their main client. In terms of the local PR agency, it seems that she does not limit her workforce to the co-ethnic workers, which will potentially let her reach the high level integration in UK fashion industry (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010).

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4.3.2 Results from IN2—Yui Atelier Studio

Designer Background

The founder Hsin-­‐ Yu Lin, graduated in 2009 with an M.A. from the UCA. Working experience was gained with Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan and Celine. In 2012, Lin set up her brand as a London & Taiwan based label ‘ Yui Atelier’.

AFDE Natures •

Education: Postgraduate degree

•

Professional: Good

•

Host-country language proficiency: Functional

•

Home country: Developing country

•

Country of education: Home and host countries

•

Country of employee: Home countries

• • • • •

Targeted market: Mainstream market Access to start-­‐up capital: Limited Access to formal financial system: Limited Sources of capital: Social network Level o f integration: Limited to ethnic community

AFDE Mind Map (Figure 4-)

ü ü ü ü

Education & Training: MA (UCA) Working experience (internship): Designer & Intern 1-­‐3 Marketing Research Showcasing: London Fashion Week --Figure 4-7: Summary from Designer Yui Atelier

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4.3.2.1 AFDE IN2 Mind Map

--Figure 4-8: Designer Yui Atelier Mind Map

4.3.2.2 IN2 Natures Summary The natures of Yui tend to be the combination of NIE and OIE as well. Mind map as illustrated in Figure 4-8 shows education background and previous experience, which occupied majority of the map, are consider to be of great importance upon the decision making of being an AFDE for Yui. Unlike those designer who set up brand once they graduate, Yui spent certain period of time on education and gaining working experience beforehand, which could represent another type of the AFDE who learn and develop relevant skills before starting business in order to establish relationship with key industry links, allocate resources and own abilities of adjusting market demand (Vinogradov & Isaksen, 2008).

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4.4 The Natures of AFDE—Within General Research The AFDE designer list (see Appendix-1) implys the fundamental natures of most Asian designers who currently run fashion business in London, which was collected from London Fashion Week, Fashion Scout, Centre for Fashion Enterprise and their official website as main resources. Certain underlying similarities have been identified as below:

Ø

Education Level: 76%-postgraduate

Ø

Professional: 100%-several internships and working experience

Ø

Host-country Language Proficiency: 100%-IELTS 6.0-7.0 (College entry requirement)

Ø

Home Country: 85%-Developing country

Ø

Country of Education: 100%-Home and host countries

Ø

Target Market: 90%-Mainstream market (90% of interviewees covered both Asian and UK market in Figure 4-12, which can be considered as targeting mainstream market)

Education Level

Home Country

Undergraduate Postgraduate

Chinese

No answer

Philippines Japanese

Korean

Taiwanese

3% 3%

6% 18%

12% 12%

76%

70%

Figure 4-9 (Left): Education Level Result from Designer List Figure 4-10 (Right): Home Country Result from Designer List

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How many markets you have covered?

(Multiple) Other Russia Eropean UK Asian 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% How many markets you covered? (Multiple)

Asian

UK

Eropean

Russia

Other

90%

90%

80%

10%

10%

--Figure 4-11: Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Target Market

4.5 The Natures Pattern In the previous section, based on the literature review, the finding in terms of the AFDE nature has been suggested.

Ø

Since PO1, IN1 and IN2 share almost the same nature, they could be therefore concluded as one pattern which is in the form of combination of NIE and OIE, named AFDE-NO.

Ø

The PO2 who set up business mainly based on the desire of chasing business opportunity named AFDE-O.

There are both differences and similarities that could be summarised as Table 4-2, which will contribute to identify the emerged patterns in relation to their practical issues in the next part.

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AFDE-NO (PO1,IN1,IN2) •

Country of employee:

Similarities •

Host & Home countries / Home countries •

Access to start-up

Access to financial

•

Professional: Good

•

Host-country language

Sources of capital:

•

•

Home country:

Country of education: Home and host

system / Social

countries •

Level of integration:

Host countries •

•

Access to start-up

Access to financial system: Good

•

Developing country •

Country of employee:

capital: Good

Formal financial

network

•

proficiency: Functional

system: Limited •

Education:

AFDE-O (PO2)

Postgraduate degree

capital: Limited •

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Sources of capital: Social network

•

Level of integration: Good

Targeted market: Mainstream market

Good / Limited to ethnic community

--Table 4-1: Summary of similarities/differences between the AFDE studios

4.6 Practical Issues in relation to Natures Pattern Judging from section 4.5, the similarities could be deemed as the starting characteristics of the AFDE to certain extent, and it also closely relates to the growth and survival of the small business in terms of the underlying culture issues as stated in Chapter 2.2.5 (Storey, 1997). In this case, those similar natures could penetrate into every step of fashion process and ultimately result into several issues. On the contrary, differences between AFDE-NO and AFDE-O could only emerge on certain stages of fashion process relating to specific issues, which is described in detail in the following paragraphs.

Based on the internship diary as the recording of participant observation, the codes in terms of the practical issues that designer faced during the period of creating SS15 collection (PO1) and AW14 (PO2) are respectively categorised according to the fashion process adapted from McRobbie (1999) through open coding (Flick, 2013;

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See Appendix-14 & 15).

4.6.1 Practical Issues relate to PO1 Similar to most the AFDE, Ming set up his studio based upon his philosophy of design and his own opinion towards the design process, which more or less result into certain obstacles when the design project involves the management issues (Mozota, 2003; Cooper & Press, 1995). According to coding from participant observation (see Appendix-14), apart from similarities, AFDE-NO nature pattern could be derived from coding and categorised into each fashion process as illustrated in Figure 4-12. Ø

Limited accessibilities to the start-up capital and financial system block the opportunity of resourcing support from business sides including PR agency who can provide professional marketing strategy based on the large client database, sales agency who expertise in building market plan, as well as the in-house business partner to react to the business problem promptly (Mozota, 2003).

Ø

Low level of integration tends to be limited in ethnic market with ethnic products, which may hard to breakthrough into the local promising markets (Basu, 2011).

Ø

Meanwhile, although Ethnic employee can access through ethnic social network with their low paid salary, loyalty and willing to accept demanding work schedule (Chrysostome & Arcand, 2009; Basu & Goswani, 1999; Bates, 1994), employees from home country do not have easy access to the local industry link, sales distributor and fashion media, compared to the local employees.

Ø

Furthermore, since most of the AFDE-NO tend to rely on the local support schemes or scholarship as source of capital, which may contribute to the public relations, industry link and studio admin, as they can easily impress the fashion media through their professional press release and provide studio as reward.

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--Figure 4-12: AFDE-NO Natures in relation to Fashion Process

4.6.2 Practical issues related to PO2 Although the adequate start-up capital could guarantee Na Di studio in preventing from failing and maintain dually beneficial relationship with those industry links, it indeed brings its own advantages and disadvantages (Chrysostome & Arcand, 2009). ‘…The reason why sales is headache issue for lots of designers is all about making money to keep cash flow…For me, money is not the issue, my current stage is branding…If there is no direction for branding, there will not be any foundation for brand, not to mention about the following-up sales.’ (NA DI, see Appendix-11).

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Cost-­‐driven design strategy

Image-­‐driven design strategy

Market-­‐driven design strategy

Strategy dominated by costs

Strategy of differentation

Strategy of concentration

Design's role is to improve productivity

Design's role is to reinforce the company's market share through the quality of its image and brands

Design's role is to help position the company as a specialist that appeals to a certain kind of user

--Figure 4-13: Design Strategies according to Porter Generic Strategies Resource from Mozota 2003: 248

Apparently, one of the main advantages is that designer could manage design firm based on the long-term branding purpose instead of being cost-driven or market-driven, since the competitive design advantages would be constructed upon those purposes (Mozota, 2003). In terms of disadvantage, the AFDE-O natures pattern can be extracted from coding (see Appendix-15) as below.

Ø

Compared to the NIE whose business merely based on original home country or ethnic enclave (Chrysostome, 2010), the level of integration in terms of both product as well as the role of being the AFDE-O throughout the fashion process indeed require designer a highly integrated collection category being able to target a non-ethnic market (Chrysostome & Lin, 2010); leveraging resource mainly in host country (Crick & Chaudhry, 2010); weaken reliance on co-ethnic labour and resources, which involves public relations, studio admin and industry link (Chrysostome & Arcand, 2009).

Ø

Despite the difficulties of communication given by the employee from host country has been realized, it still considered as a means of survival in the host country. (Basu, 2011; Chrysostome & Arcand, 2009).

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Ø

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Simultaneously, due to the fact that most the AFDE-O who cannot be financially supported by any support schemes usually base fashion studio in the house, so the studio admin would be also associated with the house, which mainly rely on the source of capital.

--Figure 4-14: AFDE-O Natures in relation to Fashion Process

4.7 The Fundamental Barriers Overview The Table 4-5 concludes and reports an overview of barriers that may occurs during the developing of fashion SMEs; while in Figure 4-16, in order to investigate the fundamental barriers underneath the practical issues, it is necessary to combine both AFDE-NO codes and AFDE-O codes based on the nature pattern through the fashion process, which will be used to further describe fundamental barriers and develop theoretical framework in the next chapter.

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--Table 4-2: Barriers Summary in relation to Practical Issues

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--Figure 4-15: Conceptual Framework for Finding

5 Project Development 5.1 Introduction In the preceding chapter, the nature pattern emerged through analysis result within cases and an overview of barriers in relation to practical issues was provided. This chapter explores those barriers in greater depth across cases through assessing in the interviews and relevant back to the project contextualisation. The fundamental barriers are discussed in the context of fashion process, before the website development is presented to correspond. Subsequently, a theoretical framework is summarised to conclude the chapter.

5.2 Fashion Design 5.2.1 Barrier in the Fashion Design Design philosophy is advanced as a key factor in deciding brand philosophies, as the

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AFDE usually starts their design firm as a freelance design consultant by endowing their firm a leadership style and strategic positioning based on the philosophy of design (Mozota, 2003). Nevertheless, the AFDE seems have difficulties setting up brand philosophy based on their own design philosophy, due to the lacking of managerial knowledge and examples of successful role models.

On one side, the professional natures of the AFDE doom the barrier of dealing with managerial issue as purposed by Mozota (2003). On the other side, the evidence of self-employment success among Asian immigrant is still lacking as mentioned in chapter 2.2.3, since the success only could be measured in terms of the survival issues mainly referring to the performance of the business age and profitability as aforementioned despite the fact that the AFDE is a relatively new group in London, which more or less results into the lacking of the successful role models (Chrysostome & Arcand, 2009; Bates, 1999; Boyd, 1991).

Compared to design strategy, Figure 5-1 indicates that 70% designers prefer to learn from successful role model, 40% expect to know the designer story on the website, which also could be proven by designer Ming.

For the information-­‐based website, what kind of the key issues will you expected to learn from the website?

Design Strategy Key Question

10%

Trend Forecasting

10%

Designers’ Biography/Story

40%

Supplier Suggestion

40%

Buyer/Store recommendation Business viewpoints Successful Model

0%

50% 60% 70%

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--Figure 5-1: Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Expected Issue

5.2.2 Website development “I would prefer to learn what designers want to express through the brand, or their brand philosophy and inspirit…research in a brand context…instead of merely one garment or collection. Use the development of collection to support the story.” (Ming, see Appendix-10)

Accordingly, since website should be correspond to specific purpose, so the website in this part aims to provide the AFDE role models in terms of their design philosophy in a visual representation (Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005).

5.3 Manufacture & Production 5.3.1 Barrier in the Manufacture & Production “…London is definitely the fashion capital without debate…the manufacture here could be a barrier… ‘made-in-UK’ would have a lot of the cashier and good will in other places…it’s the reason to trade off but not the reason to move here…” (Jonas, see Appendix-9)

In qualitative questionnaire, designers consider manufacture & production as the second tough problem for them to deal with, which mainly attribute to the fact that almost all of them have manufacturing and sourcing scheme in original home countries, since 90% of them manufacture in both home and host countries, followed by the rest 10% of them only produce in home country. Figure 5-2 demonstrates the general manufacturing & sourcing model that most the AFDE adopted.

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Fabric Selection and Pre-­‐production

Raw materials bought directly

External Weaving / Fabric Supply

Product Manufacturing

Internal Production controlled by AFDE

External Production

SpeciKic Techniques

Warehousing and Logistic

--Figure 5-2: Manufacturing and Sourcing Model for AFDE Adapted from Moore & Birtwistle, 2004: 418

Apparently, supply chain comprising fabric sourcing and procurement, specific techniques referring the special procedures in the pre-production (including 3D pattern printing, embroidery, handmade process etc.) that designers need to reinforce their design competitiveness, as well as in-house house factory management all involves in the model (Moore & Birtwistle, 2004). Although product manufacturing is secured through a mix of internal and external capability in both host and home countries, certain barriers still emerged.

Could you simply answer why you usually manufacture in UK or in your home country?

•

Easier on cost

•

Cheaper

•

The cost for production in China is relevantly low, however some of techniques and material are not guarantee compared to those in European countries

•

Special techniques & Material delivery

•

Quality & Quantity

•

Price issue

•

According to different customers in their location

…….

--Figure 5-3: Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Reason for Manufacture Country

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Apart from the successful role models that aforementioned in design part, lacking access to capital in this stage are regarded as one of main barriers, which also tends to be the fundamental reason for manufacturing in both home and host countries according to Figure-5-3. The nature of the AFDE also doom the difficulties reaching local manufacture resources, it is indeed block the possibility to sourcing from the supplier who could produce high quality with specific techniques besides the price issue. Moreover, in terms of the underlying realistic issues that they have not met before, the AFDE might need support schemes due to the lacking of professional viewpoints from industry, which will be described in the following sections.

5.3.2 Website development To weaken the reliance on co-ethnic resources and reach local manufacture resources in order to maintain a sustainable manufacturing and sourcing scheme, the relevant fabric supplier information in UK are likely to provide on the website. Also, the information might be categorised by cities, order amount and price range to guarantee the usability of the website.

5.4 Studio Admin and Management 5.4.1 Barrier in the Studio Admin and Management Studio as the multi-purpose space for designers, is indeed valued by the AFDE according to interviews. Generally, successful firms horizontally based on organisational structure, in which self-organizing multidisciplinary project teams are responsible for executing specific projects as suggested by Mozota (2003).

Accordingly, human resource management should be acquired through finding business partner who expertise in brand management as well as possess enough knowledge to understand the available strategies, with the studio manager who not only own capability of allocation of human resources including work allocation for management, setting up time schedule and employee training, but also have the competency to develop leadership in studio (Mozota, 2003).

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“The best way to manage a studio is find a business partner…find someone who can deal with the difficult part for them…” (Ming, see Appendix-10).

‘It indeed super important… I need someone to be the studio manager to administrate everything including documenting file, timetable, answering telephone, building database etc. for me…’ (NA DI, see Appendix-11)

However, owing to the consideration of the capital in terms of the high rental cost of their studio and maintaining cash flow for the production, most the AFDE are likely to play multidisciplinary role at the same time with unprofessional managerial knowledge.

On the other hand, the nature of limited level of integration result into the difficulties communicating with employee from host country to the cultural extent.

5.4.2 Website development “We have to choose them thoughtfully…‘New Gen’ will never choose the designer from ‘Fashion Scout’…it involves some industry internal issues…they offer diverse things based on different purpose for different designers…” (Na Di, see Appendix-11)

Despite the cultural barrier that cannot be sort out in merely limited time through virtual community, which should be based on involvement and time accumulation, support schemes can be considered as source of capital and mentor for professional viewpoints and managerial knowledge from an internal perspective to certain extent.

Hence, a detailed list of fashion support schemes is provided to potentially overcome the barrier.

5.5 Sales & Distribution 5.5.1 Barrier in the Process of Sales & Distribution Sales & Distribution domain both the most essential issue regarding of the competitiveness and most difficult part to deal with according to the questionnaire

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(see Appendix-13). For the AFDE, the distribution of their design and products is achieved through wholesale arrangements with third-party stockists through trade shows and operation of brand-own online stores, as presented in Figure 5-4 (Moore & Birtwistle, 2004).

Full

Retail Distribution

Wholesales Distribution

Online shop

Department Stores

Product Range

Specialty Fashion Stores

Limited Product Range

Pop-up Stores --Figure 5-4: Distribution Channels Model for the AFDE Adapted from Moore & Birtwistle 2004: 420

From strategic perspective, although designers seek to set strategic positioning for products with a reasonable price, participating right trade shows to find potential stockists, as well as building individual database throughout the process, the barriers in terms of lacking managerial knowledge and capital may not enable them to collect professional support from organisation and sales agency. Simultaneously, judging from Ming’s answer to the question ‘Why do you consider sales & distribution as headache problem? In which aspects?’ difficulties of building up individual database undoubtedly could be deemed as fundamental barrier in this process as well.

“The stage of research…not only contact those established retailers, but also emergent shops…it is hard to do the research and set up the relationship…once the relationship is established…also need time to foster trust.” (Ming, see Appendix-10)

5.5.2 Website development “Sales agency (not only) help to sell the collection…(they also) set strategy and offer

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a market plan…which means designer may not necessary to try different markets, they will have a clear target market and strategy with agency’s help.” (Ming, see Appendix-10)

In regarding of Ming’s interview, it seems that the AFDE seek to build their own database and get support from professional agency in host country rather than learning strategies on their own. The website content in this part is providing sales agencies database and distributor database in terms of the company information, the designers or client they own, based on the accreditation List provided by British Fashion Council for 2014 London Fashion Week.

5.6 Public Relations 5.6.1 Barrier in the Public Relations Public Relations rank second place in terms of competitiveness for the AFDE with merely 40% of them hired agency indeed (see Appendix-13). They have realized that building long-term relationships with some key journalists and media provides the brand with a variety of advantages, nonetheless, this policy requires: regular press releases sent to the professional design press; relationships with the general press and fashion media, in order to foster the role of the design profession in the large public, which cannot be accomplished solely by designers and their interns (Mozota, 2003). As a result, the managerial knowledge and individual database building seems associate with the issue as barriers.

“Apparently, finding a proper PR agency and build up social media strategy are the necessary processes I would go for…combine online and offline in promotion.” (NA DI, see Appendix-11)

Meanwhile, PR agency might need to hire to sustain and reinforce design philosophy, which also relates to the social media strategy and intellectual property right issues, lacking access to capital and professional viewpoints from industry therefore need to

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overcome as barriers (Moore & Birtwistle, 2004). Despite the advantages, the PR agencies that 40% of the AFDE have hired are all UK agencies, which means the difficulties of communicating with agencies to the cultural extent are remain to be concerned.

5.6.2 Website development Likewise, the AFDE also seek to cooperate with PR agencies from host country, when their brand reputation reaches certain stage. Hence, based on the accreditation List, PR agencies database is likely to develop in terms of the company information and the designers or client they own, as well as the fashion media they have been closely worked with.

5.7 Industry Links 5.7.1 Barrier in the Industry Links The reputation of designer and his brand require building relationships with new design community members and improving relationships with present and past members at same time, the scope of the community member covers a wide range from fashion support scheme, press, buyer, blogger to photographers, editor etc. named industry links (NA DI, 2014; Mozota, 2003). A successful design SME not only rely on the internal perspective as owned and managed by partners with managerial backgrounds, an explicit policy to increase number of industry links are also required indeed (Mozota, 2003).

Working with outside specialists and develop long-term relationships with focus on building up a sophisticated network of experts in design industry, is considered as crucial way to overcome the limitations of designers’ competency (Mozota, 2003).

Additionally, as mentioned in literature review, the entrepreneurs who have maintained or even strengthened the industry links with the original home country is argued have performed better (Basu & Goswami, 1999).

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“I have been researched those resources since I was in college…there is no way (for people who are not familiar with the fashion industry here to find industry links).” (Ming, see Appendix-10)

Compared to UK designers, the nature of the AFDE naturally brings the difficulties resourcing help from community. Especially, reliable and professional internship is crucial when they run their business without support from organisations as shown in the Figure 5-5, so that they have to spare some time finding interns.

How many interns you usually work with?

70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% How many interns you usually work with?

1-­‐-­‐3

4-­‐-­‐6

7-­‐-­‐9

40%

60%

0%

--Figure 5-5: Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Internship

5.7.2 Website development As a result, a community should be an effective approach to a) offer job for those fashion related students at college who seek to acquire the internship or work opportunity; b) provide interns and other industry links to the AFDE studios efficiently under a emergency situation; c) potentially widen the industry links.

5.8 Summary In the chapter 4, three sub-research questions have been addressed respectively, which leads into a development of the findings in relation to the overall research question in chapter 5. Based on the nature pattern that deeply woven into the AFDE SMEs, which closely relates to the practical issues faced by their operating fashion

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business, each barriers is analysed in terms of fashion process with relevant finding during the data collection, followed by the website development corresponding to the barriers in each process.

Barriers

Fundamental Barriers

Lacking of managerial knowledge

Managerial Skills

Difficulties building up individual database Lacking examples of successful role models

Successful Role Models

Difficulties reaching local manufacture resources Difficulties to communicate with agency and

Integration Level

foreign employees Lacking professional viewpoints from industry

Institutional Support

Lacking access to capital

Capital Access

Difficulties resourcing help from community and

Industry Network

fashion schemes

--Table 5-1: Fundamental Barriers Summary

AFDE Education

Country of employee

Professional

Access to start-up capital

Host-country language proficiency

Starting Natures (Similarities)

Specific Natures (AFDE-NO/AFDE-O) Access to financial system

Home country

Sources of capital

Country of education

Level of integration

Fundamental Barriers Targeted market

Managerial Skills

Institutional Support

Successful Role Models

Capital Access

Integration Level

Industry Network

--Figure 5-6: Theoretical Framework of the AFDE

Accordingly, a theoretical framework in Figure 5-6 is concluded and conducted to

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illustrate the fundamental barriers that formed from Table 5-1, based on the nature patterns the AFDE own when they operate their london-based SMEs in UK. The next chapter will contribute to present the conclusions and limitations of this study.

6. Validation 6.1 Conclusions 6.1.1 Revisiting Aims and Objectives The overall aim of this dissertation seeks to develop a website corresponding the fundamental barriers to an enablers for Asian fashion designer-entrepreneurs (AFDE) to establish an london-based SME in the context of UK fashion industry, and produce a theoretical framework through clarifying the barriers derived from nature patterns of the AFDE. This section draws insights from project contextualisation and analysis of primary research in accordance to the research objectives that guided dissertation, thereby contributing to the overall aim.

6.1.2 Objective 1—The Nature of the AFDE On the basis of the profile of the NIE and the OIE proposed by Chrysostome (2010), this objective was emphasized through literature review by providing the general classification of Asian immigrant entrepreneurs, and suggested profiles of the AFDE nature regarding the finding within participant observation, interviews and general research. By comparing the similarities and differences, there are two nature patterns being found that potentially affect the decision making of the AFDE fashion business operating from the result. Specifically, the pattern—AFDE-NO is proven to be the combination of NIE and OIE, while the pattern—AFDE-O tends to be mainly OIE context.

6.1.3 Objective 2—Business Operating in relation to Nature Pattern According to the fashion system components adapted from McRobbie (1999), this paper also sought to gain insights into the group of the AFDE in terms of UK fashion

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industry. Apart from the similarities as the role of starting nature to the cultural extent, the specific differences of AFDE-NO and AFDE-O have been described in relation to their practical issues. The practical issue codes, which were collected from participant observations respectively, have been categorised into the nature patterns and fashion processes in order to address the underlying barriers.

6.1.4 Objective 3—The AFDE Theoretical Framework In order to fill the rationale gap by conducting theoretical framework and enhancing the body of knowledge, fundamental barriers have been addressed and concluded from the underlying barriers derived from the practical issues. The internal implications in terms of managerial skills, successful role models and integration level; the external implications in terms of institutional support, capital access and industry network; which are obtained from the participant observation and highlighted from the result of qualitative questionnaire and interviews.

6.1.5 Objective 4—Website Development Based on the interpretation of ‘website key factors’ (Tarafdar & Zhang, 2005) and ‘website design preference matrix’ (Rosen & Purinton, 2004) in the contextualisation, this objective was discussed along the barrier analysis in the last chapter by transforming the fundamental barriers into the design of the website. The website<https://afde.squarespace.com/> aims to guide the AFDE to better coordinate their fashion business, designer perspectives clarified from the questionnaire and assessed from interviews therefore contributed to the development as well.

6.2 Limitations Despite the knowledge contribution, the study also has its own limitations pertaining to the methodology and research findings. In terms of the methodological limitations, the first relates to the time-consuming nature of the ethnography as research strategy (Gill & Johnson 2002). The participant observations, which were merely taken in two

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designers’ studio for respective 3 months, could not be investigated in-depth.

Meanwhile, the sample size of qualitative questionnaire was also restricted by the resources availability to the researcher since the AFDE as relatively new concept are the minority group in the host country (Gill & Johnson 2002). As a result, the limitation in finding is also involved.

Due to the induction commitment and unstructured methods of data collection, the validity of ethnography is usually considered to be limited to the actual phenomena (Gill & Johnson 2002). The finding nevertheless has limited the generalizability since the research lacks the full representativeness of the AFDE group (Ha & Stoel, 2009).

In addition, the designers’ views in the interviews tend to be subject to bias, it is difficult to be replicated and generalised to certain extent. Apart from that, the nature patterns and practical issues coding based on the researcher’s own analysis is hard to avoid subjectivity. The data, however, should have been triangulated through interviews with more experts from fashion support scheme to mitigate this effect.

6.3 Further Research The research merits additional study in certain areas. Firstly, the theoretical framework derived within the paper need to be verified, a further research could be conducted through multiple-case study for investigating comparatively to generate more effective implications and check the relevance of the fundamental barriers proposed, in accordance with different nature patterns (Chrysostome, 2010).

Moreover,

a

survey

can

be

undertaken

to

evaluate

the

website

<https://afde.squarespace.com/> in terms of the functional features and information content, based on a large sample.

Given the emergence of different types of the AFDE today, a typology with more detailed nature pattern could also be a good contribution, which would be a research agenda for further exploring the potential solution towards the fundamental barriers proposed in this study.

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Appendix-1 The Profile List of the AFDE

Resource: http://www.fashion-scout.co.uk/london-designers/ http://www.fashion-enterprise.com/designers/ http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/designers.aspx

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Appendix-2 The Guideline of Qualitative Questionnaire

Part 1: General information about designer •

How many years have you been here?

•

How many collections you have so far?

Part 2: Current situation being the AFDE in London •

How many markets you covered? (Multiple)

•

Will you consider you original home market as major market?

Probes: the scope of market and sales

•

Do you usually manufacture in UK or in your home country?

•

Could you simply answer why?

Probes: manufacture issue

•

Do you have PR Agency?

Probes: public relations

•

How many interns you usually have?

Probes: studio admin

Part 3: Barriers in terms of individual perspective •

In the following options, Please rank the key issues regarding of the competitiveness, from 1 most important to 6 less important.

•

What kind of designer you consider to be as a london-based designer?

•

As a designer, which part of business problems including sales, merchandise, logistics that you find yourself difficult to deal with?

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Part 4: Website development •

For the information-based website, what kind of the key issues will you expected to absorb from it?

•

If you get a chance to read any guideline or lecture available on the website, will you spend some time on it?

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Appendix-3 The Guideline of Semi-structured Interview with Fashion Advisor-Jonas

Part 1: General information about UK fashion industry •

What do you think of the UK fashion industry?

•

Is it the right place to develop fashion business?

•

Do you think “Made-in-UK’ will be the competitiveness for those London- Based Designers?

Part 2: General information about the group AFDE •

How do you view the phenomenon that increasing numbers of fashion designers chose to be London-based designer-entrepreneurs apart from the globalisation? Imperative or coincident?

•

What’s the current situation of the Asian designer-entrepreneurs?

•

What kind of fashion designers could be considered as design talents and might potentially become successful designer-entrepreneurs in the future?

•

Are there any patterns or share something in common?

Part 3: Fundamental barriers from internal perspective •

What kind of competitiveness might be more acceptable for the UK fashion market?

•

Since you actually work with a diverse range of clients, try to understand their needs.

What do you think the fundamental barriers for them to survival here?

•

Do you think is it necessary to hire PR agency?

•

Compared to European designer-entrepreneurs, what are the differences and common between those come from Asian?

Part 4: Potential solution towards the barriers •

What do you think of the potential opportunities for them to take advantage of for better developing in UK market? Are there any crucial steps to go through?

77

•

Dissertation-­‐XINYI FAN

Is it a good opportunity to be showcasing in those luxurious department stores? Or is it necessarily to take the chance?

•

Are there any crucial stages to go through? Social media? Press release? Go for a buyer?

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Appendix-4 The Guideline of Semi-structured Interview with the AFDE-Mingpin Tien

Part 1: General website content As I explained before, my final project would be divided into five parts: Design, Production, Promotion, Sales & Studio Admin, which are the main issues should be concerned as I thought.

What do you think of these five options?

Part 2: Website development •

For the design part, what kind of source you would like to see?

•

According to the questionnaire, there are 80% of designers would like to read the model/story of successful designers that they can learn from. I was wondering I might put some designer story or some brand philosophy development of certain designers on the website, what do you think?

•

What kind of the information-based style you may like to see?

Probes: Fashion Design •

Being a Fashion designer is quite intensive, do you think it is necessary or helpful to have a pre-arranged schedule? Or some reminder for the key date?

•

How can you know those fashion activities in advanced?

•

Are you going to take some time for the research or just wait to be informed by the organization?

Probes: Industry Links

•

For Production part, what kind of information you would like to reach? Such as Supply Chain?

Probes: Manufacture & Production

•

Since I heard that there will be certain designers shared a same technical support like: sewing, how do you reach those industry links at very first stage?

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•

For those people who have not trained in UK, they may not familiar with the fashion industry in UK. How can they find the industry link here?

Probes: Industry Links

•

If I put contact list or information database in the “promotion”, do you think it is proper? Or you would prefer to put it into the sales part?

•

In terms of the Promotion, are you willing to know some PR agency information?

Probes: Public Relations

•

You are one of the designers supported by Fashion Scout, Would you like to know some detailed information about organisation/platform?

•

In terms of which aspects you would prefer to know?

Probes: Fashion support schemes

•

Sales is obvious the most essential part for all designers, is a sales agency necessary to have?

•

What you expect to have from them except improving sales?

•

Do you feel it was such a headache problem for you to sale? Why? In terms of which aspects?

Probes: Sales & Distribution

•

Although Studio admin seems not the important issues at current stages, it would be a question to consider in the future. Do you have any ideas towards Studio management?

Probes: Studio Admin

Part 3: Further suggestion for website development •

Overall, do you please with the idea building information based website? Any suggestion so far?

•

What else do you expect to see on the website? Such as the things that other website have not covered so far?

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Appendix-5 The Guideline of Semi-structured Interview with the AFDE-NA DI Studio Part 1: Business operation of the AFDE Overall, my final project tends to create a website to support Asian designers here. The website would be divided into five parts: Design, Production, Promotion, Sales and Studio Admin, which are the main issues should be concerned as I see. So, tell me, how do you deal with design part first?

Probes: Fashion Design

•

How about your production? What are you usually do in Pre-collection.

•

What about the problem you’ve met so far?

Probes: Manufacture & Production

•

What about Post-collection? It should involve the sales and PR, right?

•

Could you detail all the channels?

Probes: Sales & Distribution; Public Relations

•

What about your studio here?

•

Do you have any issues about your studio admin?

Probes: Studio Admin

Part 2: Website development According to the questionnaire towards designers in LFW showroom, in terms of the Design part, there are 80% of designers would like to read the model/story of successful designers that they can learn from. So what kind of information-based style you may like to see? You know, they could be key points, mind map or some visual work such as video, picture.

How about the form of mind map for the inspiration?

Probes: Fashion Design

81

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Being a Fashion designer is quite intensive, do you think it is necessary or helpful to have a pre-arranged schedule? Or some reminder for the key date?

Probes: Industry Links

•

As I know, it has been four seasons, for Production part, what kind of information you would like to reach?

Probes: Manufacture & Production

•

Since I heard that there are certain designers shared a same technical support like: sewing, how do you reach those industry links at very first stage?

•

Would you like to know some detailed information about organization/platform such as Fashion Scout, Centre for fashion enterprise, fashion east?

Probes: Industry Links

•

If I put contact list or information database in the “promotion”, do you think it is proper? Or you would prefer to put it into the sales part?

•

In terms of the Promotion, which process do you think is necessary to go through?

•

If you get any chance to hire PR agency, what kind of way that you may adopt to research PR agency?

Probes: Public Relations

•

‘Sales’ is obvious the most essential part for all designers, what you expect to have from them expect improving sales?

•

Do you feel it was such a headache problem for you to sale? Why? In terms of which aspects?

Probes: Sales & Distribution

•

Although Studio admin seems not the important issues at initial stage, it would be a question to consider in the future. Do you have any ideas towards Studio management?

•

How many employees you have so far? How you are going to taking advantage of them?

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Probes: Studio Admin

Part 3: Further suggestion for website development Overall, do you please with the idea building information based website? Any suggestion so far?

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Appendix-6 The Guideline of Semi-structured Interview with the AFDE Intern-David Lyu Part 1: General information of the AFDE studio and internship •

How long have you been in UK?

•

How many Asian designers have you interned for? Could you name it for me?

•

Is the internship based on your personal preference or you are required by college to do that?

•

If you want to find an internship, will you prefer to choose Asian studio?

•

What do you think of the internship in Asian studio overall?

•

Well, in terms of the working content, which part is the most interested one for you?

•

Who is the success model for you?

Part 2: The nature profile of Yifang Wan •

What kind of language you usually use during the working time?

•

Will you think language is a big issue for them?

Probes: Host-country language proficiency

•

How many interns he/she usually hired?

•

What are their working ranges?

Probes: Studio Admin

•

What about the commercial side, how she deal with it?

Probes: Country of employee; business partner

•

Do you think country of education/employees will influence the development of being a designer-entrepreneurs or building fashion business here?

Probes: Country of education

•

What do you think of their target market? Ethnic/non-ethnic?

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•

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Do you think their original home country will be considered as major market?

Probes: Target market

•

Which part of the business problem that you think is the most difficult part to deal with?

•

For them, can you rank following competitiveness from most important 1 to less important 6? Design, marketing, sales & Merchandise, studio admin & HR, industry link and designers’ characteristics.

Probes: Barriers

Part 3: Website Development •

The website would be divided into five parts: Design, Production, Promotion, Sales & Studio Admin, which are the main issues should be concerned as I see. What do you think of the five options? Do you have any other suggestion that you expect to see?

•

In terms of the Design part, there are 80% of designers would like to read the model/story of successful designers that they can learn from. So what kind of the information-based style you may like to see?

•

For Production part, what kind of information you would like to reach?

•

Would you like to know some detailed information about organisation/platform such as Fashion Scout, Centre for fashion enterprise, fashion east?

•

In terms of my project, what kind of the key issues will you expect to see on the website?

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Appendix-7 Transcript of the Participant Observation-Mingpin Tien (PO1)

1st July Ming Studio is located in the second floor of wool house on back church lane. The whole apartment was converted to a multi-purposed space for home, studio, showroom and office, which also shared by two Asian designers: Ming and Jamie.

Ming manages the studio by himself without hiring any PR agency or tailors, which is quite different from other emergent designers. Normally, there would be two interns supporting for pattern making and draping, and he take charge of the design part and business part including buyer research, public relation, showroom management as well as the sales.

I was hired as studio assistant who might potentially support for both pattern making and admin. The first day, I was told to dehydrate the 3 meters of wool fabric as well as modify the pattern of one tops from AW14 collection since client seems ask to lengthening the hem. Ming said the wool fabric was originally sold as wholesale price £35/per meter, however, he had to purchase as retail price £75/per meter when he came to store another day and was told they just changed the price.

WOOL SHIRT WITH LEATHER PANEL-100%Wool

To sum up, although the whole situation seems to be a little bit difficult, the designers were trying different ways to better survive here. They share the space, share the

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application, share the opinion from each other and even share the opportunities since their showroom are in the same room; the works were sometimes boring and hard to deal with, they still continue to strive forward.

3rd July This is the second day of my internship. I need to mark the pattern I have modified last day on the fabric and create the toile for the fitting. Through chatting with another intern, I heard she comes from Korean and was studying the second year of BA Womenswear design and technology in London College of Fashion (LCF). She had interned here for almost 1 year and longing for an opportunity for the gap year. ‘Ming is a nice person, so I quite enjoy working for him’ she said: ‘the rental fee for the place is quite expensive and he also need struggling to survive, that’s why he is always busy.’

In the afternoon, Ming interviewed one girl who studied fashion design in Brighton and he quite pleased with the portfolio from the girl. ‘Since we only have three tables for making pattern, the new girl might replace you for doing it, could you help me to do the admin job such as arranging the showroom, researching buyers and doing the technical drawing next week? Also, I would appreciate if you can also help me to update the social media.’

Studio interns: Ming: 3 Asians Jamie: 2 Asians, 3 European

In this case, I can speculate out that two point: 1. The rise of the Asian emergent designers, their collection seems gradually known by people in fashion industry 2. Fashion students realize that working experience is quite important for their study

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8th July I started to do the admin work as creating archive and garment tags for the AW14 collection in Google drive on the third day (See below pic).

Simultaneously, I was also asked to manage the showroom due to the garments which have been lent out to buyers are remaining to be arranged. It would appear that they haven’t had checklist for each collection for renting, which might cause the confusion and lost issues.

In the afternoon, there is one buyer came to Jamie and bought three pieces from her.

‘The buyer just come back from DongLiang, she said the price there is too much expensive. While the price is one of our competitiveness’ Jamie discussed with Ming after that.

[Dongliang, a multi-brand conceptual retailer based in China, collected a wide range of Chinese emergent designers including Haizheng Wang, Yifang Wan, Renli Su, Yirantia, Christine, Xander Zhou, Bin Bin and Uma Wang who graduate from London and based here. In 2013, they even bought 3 designers to Royal opera house for the

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London Fashion Week.]

Compared to those designers who have third party to promote them, Ming and Jamie’s studio are undoubtedly relatively weak; cost-drive strategy is not a permanent solution.

10th July Besides continuous arranging the showroom, I also did social media update in weibo to keep synchronization between all the social media.

Ming was picked by Elle Taiwan as one of the Young Talent Award finalists, which

is chance for brand promotion. However, due to the fact that Ming did not run a good social media strategy via every account, the news has not got enough attention yet. There probably be strategy need to be considered towards the social media that covers China, Taiwan and London.

Apart from that, the invitation card for Ram Place Fashion Market also needs to be done for further updating via social media. Ming mentioned that we might need to

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accompany the campaign.

15th July Today, we went to the barbican venue for showcasing the AW14 collection with the Strut London. It was a good experience, however, there were no orders the whole day since the venue has been located in Hackney, which indeed targets the wrong target customer groups.

Ming Installation

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During the showcasing, we had quite nice talk, which involves brand, personal experience and even emotional problems living in London.

“Once I graduate, I realize I want to stay in London instead of back to Taiwan. Also, I’m lucky that I could apply PSW visa in its last year. To be honest, I will try my best to stay here for my brand despite the visa issue.

“Normally, we’ll ask the fee for showcasing in advanced. Tranoi Paris will take us € 600 (£480), which is the most expensive one. Although we haven’t got any order from Paris trade show, we still need to keep it on the list since lots of buyers worldwide considered Paris as the first choice.”

“We recently receive the invitation from Capsule, which might enable us to showcase our collection in Paris, Berlin, New York, Las Vegas and New York. It seems a golden chance for us, however, a rate for the season is going to cost me almost £310.

Another headache issue.”

“At present, we do not have online-shop, but stockist. There is one from Russia, more from Taiwan.”

I can understand that some pieces made of 100%wool both well-tailored and well-made will be really suits Russians’ sense. The question for me is that why they based in London but not sale in London market? Compared to Taiwan and China, the manufactory cost will far more cheaply than here. So the issue might need to consider in the future.

21st July We went to a seminar hosted by Google Campus London and British Fashion Council talking and discussing about fashion, innovation and technology.

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Class 1: Clear Brand Voice need to have content strategy, which shall be convey to the world.

Find right platform and reallocate the available resources.

How to speak to customers through stockist?

Utilize the online resource=> clear brand voice => reach potential customers

Objects Content

A collection

2005 Now

Advice for fashion entrepreneurs: Target customers, Target strategy towards brand DNA/ design philosophy Target energy to put energy in Create a world through website instead of the E-commerce

How to manage the online world?

Create the brand awareness like Net-A-Porter

How to adjust the website to emergent luxurious market?

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Analyse the driving the business Large database & proactive social media strategy

How to involve the LVMH to the website?

Bridge the gap between different channels

Celine

My Brand

Well-­‐known brand

Emergent brand

Nothing(social media)

Print Ad and social media are necessary

Class 2—Stella & Dot—Relevantionary Model: Speaker: Kathleen Mitdell Misson: Accessible Luxury

Create Lots of shareable content=> Fierce loyalty “ROI” 1. Empowered evangelist 2. Cross roots R&D Team 3. Hungry customer base

Find out what people interested in Social Meida Example: NewJeans—Topshop—Sponsor: London Fashion Week

Consumers are accelebrating Example: Kate spade, New York, Saturday shop 24hrs

Personalized Experience Example: Mr Smith

Seamless Experience

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Example: “Tiffany&Co” schedule an appointment

Wise up to stand ahead Example: Burberry

Database is crucial for Google: à First Mobile à Test with Marketplace à Personalized à No boundaries

Build for your consumer’s needs Example: All saints=> Adjust according to windows

Get communication before the products being release (Google Eyewear) “Burberry” Google/Tmall/ Farfetch Shopping=> Products preview on the website, 360 degree review, Similar products

Look forward: Easy checkout=>Google shopping+express=>one-day delivery

Personalized: how to make the internet more relevant?

Add audience context and make it visible: who just browse your internet? Who just bought before?

No boundaries: Online boundaries trade will accelerate Move quickly: “Zalendo” 38% consumers come from mobile

Google Trends: Localize your language Localized your language Use google find out your next location: “How much translating in different language?”

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Google Shopping: Paid program (Advertisement) Cookies: think about what they want, careful about the private policy, responsible for the customers personal information, monitoring the potential customers

Class3: Social media panel Workout your own strategy à target age group Try to find story behind the brand: create through audience, sourrounding Process to put content together: Storyà Best thing to do (Read, Engage and Spread)à personal brand identityà what people understand what they’ve bought

Class4: Payment Paypal online, Monetization Strategies Bank account/Credit Card/Paypal Balanceà Paypal buyerà Paypal merchandiseà Bank account.

Existing partnershipà online & Mobile & worldwide (203 countries)

“Paypal Here”=> Around £100 remote device to accept credit card that can bring to Trade show

How companies go international?

1. Enable shipping and payment 2. Localise to your specific market 3. Become a local

Top tips on capturing the opportunity 1. Plan the entry 2. Accept the payment 3. Shipping service: Clear Policy, Good Value, Returns 4. Taxes, laws & regulation: Customs & VAT

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5. Localise: Translation, Feedback and Helpline

29, 31st July I need to re-arrange the showroom in order to make sure all the garments labeled and being placed in order. Designers seems only focus on the design and draping part, so he was confused when I told him that part of the garments are out of stock, some garments even have cosmetic stain on it.

At same time, I was also asked to take off the washing label in the print sweater and sew the label on the back by hand. The sweaters were indeed bought from other brand in the factory, and then put 3D-print on it. Although this might involve the legal issue, but designer seems not care too much about this part.

The rest of time during these two days is used to finish the handmade fabric transformation that will be placed on the garments as show in the pictures. Each stripes of the mesh was cut by intern, which follows the instruction from designers.

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In the final stage, each intern had to weave those mesh together as fabric transformation. Although the final pieces looks well-made and sophisticated, it remains the manufactory issue when it comes to the business perspective in the later stage.

5th August Today’s main issue is to sort out the press book for Ming Studio.

Surprisingly, designer did not have any saved documents such as PDF or page from magazine to do the press book, but according to the post in Facebook. However, he probably needs more professional ways to record the editorial report including products placement, interview and even video pic. At same time, the good thing here is that at least, Ming realized that his brand indeed needs to have press book, which is already better than another emergent designers. However, according to his brand website, the press information is not saved and updated time by time, which is a lost for promotion channel.

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Also the latest information, which is the products placement in Bazaar has been updated on the Social Media Weibo.

Apart from the working days, I was also asked to help to finish the technique drawing (AI) for the accessories that bespoken for clients. In order to earn money for the fee to afford trade show, Ming also seek another opportunities for designing and pattern making garments besides his own collection.

7th August Ming was wondering to have a website that could be freely arranged compared to the present one, in this case, we transferred the website domain from Cargo to Squarespace and do the domain mapping at the same time. Even the price is slightly high, Ming insisted to change the website provider in order to get the better visual

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effect and prepare for the online shop.

Also, all the Press Release had been updated on the website according to each collection, so that people can browser the collection gallery and press at the same time.

12th and 13th August As mentioned before, Ming will also take some design job apart from his own collection. In the following 2 pictures, one is the flat drawing for the client, another one is for the SS15 collection (right side), which finished by me in half day. He took the drawing to meet the bag provider and check the detail for the further manufactory.

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Front View

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Interior View Another Piece of same size leather

Long Shoulder Strap - 116cm+9cm''L x 2''W Short Shoulder Strap - 49cm+9cm''L x 2''W

Front View

Back View

Long Shoulder Strap - 116cm+9cm''L x 1''W Short Hand Strap- 14cm+9cm''L x 1''W

Alternative Belt Buckle 7.5cm

3cm

14cm

Rivet

2cm

3cm

13.5cm

3cm

10cm

18cm

7cm

17cm

13.5cm

10cm

16cm

Open

2cm

23cm

5cm

26.5cm

8.5cm

2cm

0.7cm 2.5cm

Recently, Ming has been in touch with buyer, who comes from a new Market—Romanian. Their brick and mortar stores are due to open in the late October, in three main cities of Romania, Bucharest, Sibiu and Brasov, with brands like 3.1.

Phillip Lim, Acne and 7 for all mankind. In order to facilitate further progress, they proposed to choose just a few evaluation sample products for their needed review and material feel, before starting the orders. Also they suggested whether we can sent few samples free of cost for their review, which namely is cover the both side of deliveries by Ming. In the end, they decided to pay just one side of the delivery each since Ming doesn’t have the budget for such big delivery fee. To help customs clearance, a max of 10 $ TOTAL VALUE has been set on the package papers and describe them as samples with no commercial value. Two parcels of the sample

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garments have been sent to the clients through Fedex, the international delivery fee, which normally cost around £90 for the 2-3kg garments.

At the same time, we also started to research the make-up and hair reference for the SS15 collection. Since the collection will be showcasing with Fashion Scout, so the hair dresser from Tony & Guy and make-up designer from Body Shop would take charge of those two part for free according to designer’s instruction.

19th and 21st August As a womenswear designer, August and Sept is probably the most urgent period of time that designer have to settle down all the issues involving with the Fashion week and trade show including sponsorship for the goody bags, invitation for buyers and people who might potentially interested in the collection and the installation or equipment for the presentation. Compared to the designing collection, those issues

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seem not that worthy of time and energy, it indeed of great importance for the fashion week. Meanwhile, in order to reach all the resource, design studio not only needs to own the outstanding pieces of work to stimulate business opportunity, but also required to process in a quite good order so that intern can help designer to get in touch with resource as soon as possible. In this season, Ming will be showcasing with fashion Scot in Somerset House in London Fashion Week and Capsule in Paris.

This week, I’ve been working with Vivian, a Hong Kong girl who already worked for Ming for almost 2 years. We try to sort out the spreadsheet and contact list by check the website and contact information one by one, so as to get a relatively tailored list for the studio. The list would be used to send invitation information and provided to the PR agency, which hired by fashion Scout directly. However, the spreadsheet and contact list, which managed by the previous interns, indeed contain part of valid link and waste website; it may take plenty of time to go through all the sheets. After that, we sent email to several buyers from established fashion boutique to check whether they are available to come to the fashion week and trade show.

For the sponsorship part, Feng, a new intern from Shanghai took the whole part from researching to contacting:

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Goody bag sponsorship products will be used by (selected by the following list as applicable) in the following fashion week:

1.

London Fashion Week Presentation at Freemaison’s Hall and The Designer Showrooms at Somerset House

from 12th Sept to 15th Sept

2.

Capsule Paris Showroom during 26th Sept and 28th Sept

Also, your generous goody bag sponsorship will be highlighted by (selected by the following list as applicable) at different forms of promotion and social media platform in the following fashion week:

1.

Invitation of both London Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week

2.

Look book of the following season

3.

Press release documents

4.

Brand social media platform such as: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Weibo, as well as our

website, www.mingpintien.com

While the reference part, we also sent email to the two organization so that we can let them figure it out in advanced before the testing day.

For the hair part, we would like to have the two plaits in the back with a bit messy and loose on the top, pins on the side and back to make it contrasts to the casual feel of the front. Plaits better to be absolutely tight when it comes to tail.

For the make-up part, we would prefer if you can keep the moist on the highlight areas. We prefer to use products like vaseline instead of shimmer. The gradual change shall be great for both eyeshadow and lips as shown in the attachment, just partly colored and keep it light.

Sorry for the lips reference since we cannot find exactly the same one, we want it to be light orange. Eyebrow part could be the smooth one without brow ridge, which is similar as the last face pic in the makeup reference PDF.

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26th and 28th August We’ve been to the designer showrooms sales & Marketing seminar hosted by British fashion council, which is presented each season with slightly difference. The whole presentation seems tend to provide business viewpoints and guideline for those new designers for London fashion week.

Floor Plan, Events Logistics & Production, Marketing, UK trade & Investment, Sales & Merchandising and Public Relations have been detailed and interpreted in a quite reasonable ways. Especially the Sales and Merchandising part, a list of the fashion stores and buyers was provided to send the invitation card or even try to sell to them.

Ming and Jamie wrote down all the name of it and asked interns to update the contact

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list as well as research those who may potential to be the future buyers. The sales part presented by Anna Orsini was divided into three stages: ‘Before Sales’, ‘During Sales’ and ‘After Sales’. Anna listed the key issues in terms of the practical viewpoints that may not identified by designers at first, but obviously of great importance for buyers and customers.

Also, in the Trading Terms and Conditions part, Timothy O’Callaghan emphasized the importance of setting and sending the terms and conditions before you sell to clients.

The whole process is not only a part of the trading but also an effective proof when it involves the legal problem. And the time for the payment and time for the delivery should also be outlined clearly in the conditions.

After the seminar, we backed to studio and started the new term of work. I worked on the contact list again, which is part of the database building with the support from Feng. I asked Feng the issue regarding of the goody bag sponsorship, she answered “I have no idea, since we sent the email to them, nobody actually replied us. Ming seems forget the whole things as well.” Apart from this, Feng also was asked to research the manufactures for hanger and rack, which might be used as installation in the presentation show in LFW. Since those rack may used just once, so the budget will not be too abundant. However the pieces that Ming asked were four in total, the price will be more expensive than wholesale and retail price if you asked manufacturer to produce such small amount.

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2nd, 3rd September

For Ming, all the processes followed by pattern making and draping besides the hand-made pieces were done in Taiwan. Benefiting from the previous job, Ming had a quite close industry link in Taiwan fashion industry, so that all the pieces from fabric cutting to rating till sewing could be done with a quite reasonable price. In comparison, Jamie, who share the studio with Ming, have no choice but assigned interns to finish all the processes in London studio. Whilst the interns who work in her studio came in the office every working days, from 9:00am to 10:00pm of the month before LFW.

The collection was almost done currently, meanwhile all the garments need to have technical drawing/ flat drawing to finish the line sheet for the whole collection. In this case, today’s work was starting the part of technical drawing and finishing it before the presentation day.

On the 3rd Sept, we went to the studio located in the Hackney Wick for the SS15 Look

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book photo shooting including model shooting and products shooting. The day was intensive since the venue only available from 9am to 5pm, while the model should be there from 9am to 5pm followed booking. However, due to the agency issue, model suddenly changed the schedule to 3pm, which means the model shooting had to be fast. Today’s job was mainly supporting the shooting: unpacking, sewing, ironing, dressing, shooting and packing. There are 7 interns, 1 stylist, 1 photographer, the whole shooting was quite smooth overall. Meanwhile, the database for the contact list was still undergoing, and had to be sorted out by this week. After that, Vivienne would send invitation email to them and inform the PR agency who is going to come.

Additionally, according to the email that British Fashion Council sent to every designers, it seems the first time that LFW could provide accreditation list of UK and international buyers who is going to attend London Fashion Week. In the attachment, they actually divided the buyers into First row, Second row and Ordinary, which was indeed a good way for designers to recognize and sort out the buyers in a reasonable order.

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9th, 11th September It was the last week before London fashion week.

The collection including the shoes, which came just in time, and accessories has been almost done.

The Make-up and hair testing has been done.

The invitation email has been done.

The Technical drawing has been done.

The Look Book printing has been done.

Interns were still working on the finishing job as well as preparing the decoration for the final presentation. The decoration supposed to be four painted racks being plugged by flowers and sponge. All of the sponges have been sprayed in gray as stone.

Meanwhile, models that Ming had picked during the casting meeting came to the studio to do the final fitting. Regard of the model picking, models not only need to fit the collection in terms of the size, color and concept of the inspiration, but also have to be concordant and coherent. There would be 6 models in total being showcased 20 looks. So we asked to dress the models when they came in and take photo of them each in order to make comparison.

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At the same time, another two interns outside to get some dry flowers, leaves from streets and empty bottles from bar, so that all those decoration could be free.

12th September Today was the day that Ming would present his SS15 collection with Fashion Scout in London Fashion Week. 7 interns have been asked to come directly to the venue around 8:00 am to prepare for the 12:00 show.

Firstly, we unpacked the garments, pressed each pieces, divided the collection into 3 groups according to the model cards.

Then, waited for the models and contacted their agency if they had not arrived on time, brought them to the hairdresser and make-up designer.

After that, arranged glasses, drinks and dessert outside. Feng and me actually were assigned to support the PR agency to make it work. Dessert—Mallow, which was bought by designer and hold by interns, tend to please guests.

Finally, all of the interns were asked to decorate the platform. Since the ‘stone’, which

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made of plastic sponge, suppose to be fully plugged by dry flowers and placed on the rack, so we’ve tried to use tape or double side tape to stick them together. However, the process was not only take times, but also proved to be not working. Ming was so frustrated by the unexpected situation and did not have any plan B to replace it. He was also told that the racks, which consist of four hollow aluminum, is fragile indeed and need to be filled with sand inside to stand more stably. Ming seems too busy to remember it. In the end, we have no choice but take off the branch of the rack but to plug the dry flowers directly into the holes in order to avoid using tapes and cover the rack.

In terms of the work arrangement, 5 of us would stay in the backstage supporting dressers and check the outfit, 2 of us would stay in front of the house supporting PR agency. The presentation, which in forms of the two fashion shows, indeed attracted certain people, professors from colleges (who I’ve learnt from last term), and media including social media, blogger, magazines as well as flat paper. There seems part of people who have not known Ming before, they just followed schedule and would leave immediately once the show finished. In this case, the guests for two shows are

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obviously different. This seems the way that organization runs the show presentation, making it twice to get more opportunities to reach more audience, which would benefit to promoting designers to certain degree.

After finishing the show, we both carried collection to the showroom located in Summerset house. The whole building was divided into three floors, several show rooms and nearly hundreds of show space. According to the showroom list, there were 194 designers and sales agents in the showroom, 15 of which is Asian designers who meet the standard of study.

J.JS Lee (RTW, Seoul); Jamie Wei Huang (RTW, Taiwan); Lucy Choi (Shoes China); Ming (RTW, Taiwan); Patrick Li (RTW, China); Rejian Pyo (RTW, Seoul); Shao Yan (RTW, Taiwan); Steven Tai (RTW, Asian); Yang Du (RTW, China); Yifang Wan (RTW, China); Yui Atelier (RTW, Taiwan); Yuzzo London (RTW, China); Bao Bao Wan (Jewelry, China); Cynthia Mak (RTW, China); and Haizhen Wang (RTW, China)

I would accompany Ming for two days in the showroom, both for the internship and better research for my own study. For the first day, we actually arrived around 2 pm, used almost 1 hr to allocate the collection on the hanger. Usually, designer seems only own one hanger rack, and need to pay for the extra one. This time, Ming rent two hanger racks to occupy all the garments. People who came to the see the showroom are probably buyers, journalist, sales agent, PR agency and those who show interest in the presentation. At same time, Fashion Scout had already sent the Press release to Ming regard of the show, so that designers could update those information on the website and social media.

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16th, 18th September In order to get more information from those Asian designers, interviews or questionnaires were likely to be conducted. Nevertheless, designers in showroom were quite busy dealing with clients and buyers during most of time, and they would not accept interview from strangers without any media background. Benefiting from the internship in Ming’s studio, Ming indeed introduced me to those designers that he familiar with or even just known. Still, an interview whether formal or informal might take much time, most of them were free to join even they are the friends of Ming. In this case, I changed my plan to create a questionnaire instead. Although the information that I can extract from the questionnaire was quite limited, there could be some information from them at least. For the questionnaire, it tends to figure out their current situation, sales condition, difficulties as well as the issues that they might expect to see from my website.

Overall, data collecting was quite smooth, except some designers refused to draw the journey map since it seems take more time than they have expected. For those who showcased their collection individually without any PR agency or Sales agency were free to answer the paper, however, Patrick Li who supported by XXX was banned to fill the questionnaire by his PR due to the questions involving the issues of manufactory or internal condition that had been considered as improper ones.

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23rd, 25th September This was the first week after London Fashion Week, the main mission of which would be dealing with sales issue and press release for those designers who may not have PR agency or Sales agency. I had been asked to sort out the new contact list for those who showed interest in Ming in the showroom including who left the business card or took the Look book as well as those buyers/shops who had already placed orders. We need to sent email which contains showroom invitation (Paris), SS15 look book, catwalk images and the brand book to not only inform them our schedule for Paris Fashion Week but also reminder them our brand or enhance the opportunity making order for our SS15 collection.

This season, Ming intended to entre into China Market, in this case Weibo might become one of the main channels for him to reach buyers and shops. Bellowing was the Buyer shop apart from the established stores in China that Ming asked me to research and contact: S.T.A.R.S. (SiTouAiRanSe) Email: info@sitouairanse.com

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Website: unavailable Weibo: Store---http://www.weibo.com/starschina Buyers---http://www.weibo.com/michelstars WeChat : stars_concept_store Tel: +86 10 8408 3833 Mobile: 13263426872 Address: No.23, Doujiao Hutong, Dongcheng, China, 100009

Glossy Email: Ben@glossysh.com Website: http://www.glossysh.com Weibo: http://www.weibo.com/glossyben Address: Glossy x verpan concept store Xintiandi style L115, 105, 106 units, Shanghai Xintiandi South Building 6

一尚门 The Front Doors Email: tfdbrand@163.com Website: http://www.tfd.hk/ Weibo: http://www.weibo.com/thefashiondoor Tel: 020-34415170 Address: B3nd Building No.397 Xingang Zhong Road, P.R.China.

肆合 F.O.U.R Email: sihefour@163.com Website: weibo: http://www.weibo.com/sihefour Tel: 028-81134501 Address: 成都市小科甲巷 1 号第一城一楼 2 号

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ONE BY ONE Email: info@onebyonestudio.com buying@onebyonestudio.com Website: http://www.onebyonestudio.com/about.html Weibo: Store---http://www.weibo.com/u/1916710273 Buyer---http://www.weibo.com/u/1626950437 Tel: +86 21 63300599 Address: Xintiandi Style L237, 245 Ma Dang Road ,Shanghai

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Appendix-8 Transcript of the Participant Observation-NA DI Studio (PO2) 2014-01-07 I had a meeting in NA DI studio to check the future three months plan of their brand.

They were doing the finishing job for FW14 collection; Rebecca Gray came to the studio helping to check that everything is well under going for the menswear buyer from Joyce Couture (Hong Kong Brand).

8 Jan Look-book shooting for the FW14 collection 10 Jan Germany travel for “Premium” exhibition trade show (3days) 17 Jan Paris travel for “Tranoi” trade show (3 days) They plan to launch their own online store in the beginning of 2014 Jan-Feb Manage the order, send the garments to the entire buyer clients

FW14 collection: the whole collection turn more “commercial design”, keep the simple silhouette wiz simplified prints, reduced manufactory cost on fabric, adopt a new printing format- Screen print & Puff print.

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2014-01-21 NA DI won the “Premium” Young Designers Award at Mercedes-Benz fashion week in Berlin through trade show, which is obviously good for her company development.

2014-01-27 I got the information from designer that she got a good feedback from trade show; almost 8 country buyers showed interest and ordered several garments through the show.

Fake Tokyo (Tokyo) / Shine (Paris) / Sanlipop (Beijing) / Waterstone (Beijing) / Candy

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(Tokyo) / hLorenzo (Los Angeles) / Biffi (Milan) / KniQ (Hong Kong)

NADI though that trade show is quite good way for them to promote their brand due to the fact that they may not affordable for the fashion show. Simultaneously, she realized that personal selling is much more profitable than franchising way which refer to the way selling the garments to buyer with wholesale price. But from my prospective, franchising way is indeed an efficient way to examine the market; NADI can decide whether to focus on the market or not relying on the market feedback.

2014-01-30 We met for a discussion for applying for “Fashion east” and manufactory plan for the new season. We outlined the rough plan in order to discuss the following question: 1. Is it necessary to have in-house studio in Beijing 2. How to make the processes more efficient in both London and China We took the SS15 for the example and did the flow chart. The re-arranged processes which was created to fit the schedule in order to improve the efficiency for staying both in UK and China.

The re-­‐arranged collection processes

Inspritation +Research+ Design and development (Print, Fabric)

Correction (change pattern)

Print (Manufactory)

Final line up Industrial line up

Print design (Final print according to pattern)

Fabric

Pattern cutting

Toile & Toile Fitting

Final Garments production +Finsihing works

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The follow-­‐up processes

Shooting Look books

Produce Print

Following-­‐up works

Pricing Line Sheets

Produce Print

Washing Label+Content Label+Packaging

Time schedule: Date

Schedule

1 Feb – 12 Feb

Inspiration + Research

13 Feb – 28 Feb

Back to China

12 Feb – 10 Mar (26 days)

Final Line up & Industrial Line up +Print Design

10 Mar – 10 Apr (30 days)

Pattern cutting + toile + correction + Print correction

10 Apr – 30 Apr (20 days)

Print producing + Fabric

1 May – 1 Jun (30 days)

Final producing + Finishing Work

1 Jun – 20 Jun (20 days)

Look book + Line sheet

China Trip Task (13 Feb – 28 Feb): 1. SS14 ordering 2. Packaging/Label/Preparation 3. Looking for studio place 4. Recruiting new employee for BJ studio: Manager/tailor/sewing 5. Collecting fabric sample catalogues 6. Finding logistics company 7. Print company 8. SS15 collection

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9. Appointment with factories in order to make sure AW14 re-production

AW14 ordering 1. 28 Feb Ordering Deadline (for Buyer and Pop-up store) 30 Apr Ordering Delivery date 2. 15 May Ordering Deadline (for Private clients) 30 Jun Ordering Delivery date

Social Media Strategy: Weibo (Chinese)

Facebook (Global-Brand Account)

Instagram (Global-Studio Account)

Look book

Video

Designer inspiration

Celebrity-wear

Look book

Figuring Sketch

Celebrity-wear

Celebrity-wear

Internal

Interview

2014-02-07 For the FW14 look book shooting, Na di shot twice since the first one which shot outside indeed has certain problems in lighting and color towards the garments.

However, after checking the second edition of FW14 look book with Becc, the arrangement of the overview pictures and detail pictures which cause the difficulties for buyers to get a clear prospection for the new collection. So she decided to reproduce a new look book and line sheet matching the detail pictures to the corresponding overview pictures.

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In order to get better performance for the personal selling and online store in the new future, we decide to create the product and catalogue sheets that show the detail information and total ordering amounts for each garment. There is no doubt that such statistic sheet will be benefit to releasing the inventory pressure and preparation for the production.

Additionally, the Production code part seems need to be improved, we may create a new code format which could including the style code, color, size and season at same time.

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2014-03-06 Na DI stared to concern about launching online store including the inventory issue, logistic issue and delivery issue. She set her China’s studio in ShenZhen instead of BeiJing since the cheaper price and more stable condition.

Meanwhile, she proposed that the FW14 collection is not what she wants to do as a designer even though she got quite good reactions from the buyers. The silhouettes as well as the simplified print in the collection become hard to differentiate itself from the other brand, which is likely to result in a serious problem for an emergent fashion designer brand. On the other hand, Na Di lowered manufacture cost for the fabric last collection in order to lower the product price and get more profit, which will also become struggling problems for her to pricing for her new collection.

Although Becc asked us to create a plan to catch the media’s eyes, Na Di did not show the high interest towards the plan. For her, branding and strategic selling seem more important. As we discussed before, she does not want B2B model which refers to selling the products rely on the buyers, B2C model is not only more profitable but also benefits to be aware of the customer database.

2014-03-09 Obviously, the design strategy that Na Di adopted has been changed through the FW14 collection, which might shift the brand competencies and competitive environment. The SWOT analysis also needs to be modified in this case.

In comparison, Na Di Studio still got the similar weakness: no target customer market and well defined identity as well as the similar threats: the new entrants and downturn fashion condition; but they got more opportunities since their FW14 collection won the “premium” young designer awards and got more orders from buyer then last collection.

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Strengths • High material quality • Authentic prints design • Technologic implement • “Premium” Young Designers Award

Opportunities • Growing interest in emerging designers • Positive attitudes towards menswear fashion (Mintel) • Customization and co-­‐creating • Collaboration • E-­‐commerce & E-­‐marketing

Dissertation-­‐XINYI FAN

Weaknesses • Luxury price • Limited product line • InsufKicient marketing communication • No well defined identity • No target consumer group Threats • Unpredictable local issue • Downturn fashion market • New entrants with similar style • Intellectual property protecting

However, through the analysis, the purpose of the project is clear: reinforce the core competencies in order to bring the brand awareness and re-emphasize the brand identity.

2014-03-11 The business model is considered to be structure basing on the issues, which were identified through the SWOT analysis. Products, manufacturing and sourcing, distribution channels and marketing communications are all cover the issues that Na Di Studio facing with.

Product: 1. From a commercial purpose/ From long-term branding purpose?

2. Simplified print/ distinctive print?

3. Luxury textile/ profit-drive model?

Manufacturing and Sourcing: Third-party manufacturer/ In-house factory?

Distribution channels: Online retail distribution/ Wholesale stockists distribution?

Marketing communication: No social media campaign and No follow-up strategy to maintain the influences

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2014-03-12 The core brand values part and strategy rationale are all quite challenge for the project plan. Core brand values, which are hard to identify as an emergent fashion designer, are usually based on the brand mission and vision. For designers who probably only focus on the design concept or the consumer reacts towards their

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design, they would not be able to create a brand mission or vision seriously.

Therefore, those parts have to be on the basis of the observation through the talk with designer. While the target consumer groups can only be investigated through their distribution channels since we cannot get reply from the buyers.

Although we know our rationale for why we choose such management plan for NA DI Studio, several rationale models are needed to support our statement. Internal analysis through detailed core brand values as well as target consumer profile and external analysis through Porter’s five forces would be adopted to better illustrate the strategic rationale for the management plan.

2014-03-18 We did presentation and express our purpose of the project, core brand value analysis and concept of the video. Through the feedback, we find that the current core brand values including quality, authenticity and price are not unique enough, which means competitor can be easily imitated. In this case, we try to identify a new more core brand values for Na Di Studio. Akshita found another value among their marketing communication is ‘unisex’, which can be a functional differentiation for their brand.

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Appendix-9 Transcript of the Semi-structured Interview-Fashion Advisor-Jonas Name of Researcher: Xinyi Fan University: London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London Course: MA Design Management for the Fashion Industries

Interviewee: Jonas, Fashion Innovation Agency (FIA)

Time & Place: 15:00 p.m, 22th July, 2014, London

Q1: What do you think of the UK fashion industry? Is it the right place to develop fashion business?

A: I think London is definitely on of the fashion capitals in the world without debate.

The cost living here and manufacturing here could be a barrier, if you want to be seen as ‘Made in Britain’, it would have a lot of the cashier and good will in other places.

But it’s not necessary that valuable.

Q: Do you think “Made-in-UK’ will be the competitiveness for those LondonBased Designers?

A: It is proposed methods. It’s the reason to trade off but not the reason to move to London from China, or from American to then said you make your clothed in ‘Britain’, but you may decide to after you launch your collection in Singapore or New York, then you may think London is your next destination, so that will be showing your collection, open up a pop up store or a physical store. Like J-crew open up their online shop even without a store. There are 16 million people in the UK, there are 3,59 million on the state, the market is get more smaller, even smaller than Asian. But if you endorsed by Oxford Street and Covent Garden as a designer, which is like what you are talking about, then I think it could go a long way because here is the heathy place to be and have present.

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Q2: How do you view the phenomenon that increasing numbers of fashion designers chose to be London-based designer-entrepreneurs apart from the globalisation? Imperative or coincident?

A: This question is not so much about choice, it sometimes about the necessary. They can’t get a job or they don’t want to go back home.

Q: I worked with some of designers and I asked them why do you chose to live here? They answered I just like here, for me that is not the reason being a designer here.

A: That is choosing the life style for living in Dalston or being able to say I’m the fashion designer in London. I suppose to the first question, which is building the business here and hiring staffs, London is the place to do it, so choosing a lifestyle and allowing to say that I'm a fashion designer in London could be as the question you said, imperative for them to stay here? No, they can go back to Asian to build a successful brand there, they want to be here, they want to be in London, and be recognised in London.

Q3: What’s the current situation of the Asian designer-entrepreneurs?

A: Probably if you open-up a financial with the friends and the designers you worked with, they are not even pay for their own salary. Some of them, I would not say there is a lot, as we works in an innovation company. Except for a few designers, most of them are very small business like five or four employees, turning off may be 5 thousand to1 million and a half, that is the life style business and that’s fine.

I do know in terms of the Design Management and entrepreneurs, if you have a brand and you are an Asian Designer, using patterning or fabric or something that makes your collection a representation about who you are, then I think it could be really unique because it might has Asian Chinese patterns as part of your collection, or you may use fabric that you family’s friends’ factory get, which is most soften silk. And there is a story here, why do I need to know that you are an African or Christian Designer? You are Artists, so you should stand for your collections, irrelevant of

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where you come from, but if you gonna trade of your collation as an Asian Designer, then what’s the benefit? I suppose to hiding it, there are lots of people they talk about it in their essays and dissertations, Korean born or Japanese Designer, and I think they are great, but what those mean for? As I saying, Britain made car, mini cooper with awesome power, associate with Britishism. So if you are an Asian Designer, in London, maybe you can be Asian British Fusion, I don’t know, I’m just wandering why and how it gonna turning into an essay sometimes, how do you make something as a differentiation. This is also challenging, because entrepreneurs work as a business job, designer work as an emotional person. And not lot of people are good at both, there is actually like people make a collection, agent or showroom or business manager that sell the collection. And doesn’t necessary to be always that way, but lot of time, designer and entrepreneurs as one person, it’s very hard.

Q4: From the FIA, you guys seem partnering with design talents in London and provide ground-breaking brand collaboration and consultancies. So what kind of fashion designers could be considered as design talents and might potentially become successful designer-entrepreneurs in the future?

A: From my view, you got some designers who are really fancying doing collaboration, so they will be really dedicated as they focus on their collection, they are not interested in doing something like Topstop. One case is that designer engagement, also is the designer professional, will they be able to work till the standard to fast peace environment or meet the needs of clients. Access the designers is wanting and being able. A man from talents point of view, is get attractive as a collaborator. If they are saying like American Transing, they are doing lots of patterns sort of designers who have signatures all about recognisable, it might be easier for the agent to sell their intellect creative. They got hundreds of designers, I’m pretty sure that percentage of those designers are popular. But the other ones might just existing, they just known, so it will about match making. Some also might risking, less commercial, some might be really, commercial and very sort of high street.

Q: Do you normally need to combine design and commerce together ?

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A: Matthew from FIA, is good at that, because they can find client has problem and a need allowing them to do. They all need to do innovation to make more money or save money. And designers are merely incapable of seeking themselves in that way, so this service is valuable for them. Also, when it was a nice match, if you go to check our website, there are some pretty case study. They got a dress for London fashion week and then the collaboration with UGG. Those cool things usually happen without being initial abled by.

Q: Is it possible if they can find any sponsorship through the collaboration?

A: Yes, some of them they are. Some collaborations are pay for us to put sunglasses or clothes on these models. It’s sponsorship. And then I think partner-ship, sponsorship and collaboration sometimes are next style. There’s a really good one, look at Nike and Apple, they got together 9 years ago, they created Nike Plus, which is the tech of Apple and performance of Nike. As a driving venture, made hundreds billions of dollars, it’s profitable. They all put something on the table. But some brand merely gave you the clothes to put on the catwalk show, that’s fine, maybe it’s just not innovative to create something or some experience new.

Q5: Are there any patterns or share something in common?

A: One pattern is that people are employed at company in marketing department and innovation department can continuously come up with new ideas. So pattern is that there always going to be a need for them to look good to save their job. If you have a look at the decision maker at the company, this pattern is building relationship with them. And then with the trust you can have a try on different things. But I think it’s hard to shut up someone’s door and have them believe that you are going to solve their business needs and which will takes some time. It’s sometimes take two to three months, sometimes it take one year from the time you have conversation until the money in your bank. The patience is not everyone has that, so I don’t know are there any magic quotation about what make a good collaboration each time, but certainly have trust and patience helps.

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Q6: What kind of competitiveness might be more acceptable for the UK fashion market?

A: You are doing the design management, you should usually deal with the “Ps”—Price, products promotion. If you go beyond that, then you got those Perceptual areas, which are the things you cannot control. It’s the emotional effects. The things you feel put on those shoes, for guys putting on those baseball caps, does he feel like accepted by his pure community? Those things are really hard to quantify, so it’s hard to be competitive when things start to base on emotional. If you can compare Amazon and Net-A-Porter on how fast for fill-up, I get vote for Amazon wherever the date coz they make me feel that their tech and service are way better that independent brand that order from the website. The item is not in stock, then I get an email, then they charge my credit card wrong, then done. Even the products are awesome, I’m lost as a consumer. So these things are hard to compete on, because you are compete against the company have terms and departments. So the emotional side is something that if you create something that appears to someone.

A bad example will be Joyce Couture and Vodafone, both are pretty like business to certain degree for a while. However, they are fade, they were so popular, they were sort of the sign of the class of trike, so it’s hard to fulfil to be that. The network are influencing me to behave and consume in certain ways, so this is getting competitive than that sort of emotions really hard. If you compete on the price, it will be like Primark and Topshop.

Q: So you will recommend like those emergent designers to be like more emotional than being commercial?

A: Well, they cannot really compete on those things, just think, because they do their cost sheet, they have long material, they don’t have the luxury like not making a profit.

There are some other ways like “Online T-shit”. They gradually changed the model of making clothing what we used to make it, put it on the shelves, then sell it, they are using digital now—a website, E-commerce, Online community to say we want that, there are lots of companies, kind of using technology to challenge.

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Q7: Since you actually work with a diverse range of clients, try to understand their needs. What do you think the fundamental barriers for them to survival here?

A: You might need to define it in your dissertation, you might also need to define it with designer-entrepreneurs as a buzz word. Fashion designer, who has a fashion design business and be their CEO. I’ve talked to a couple of them, you came to their studio, you look at Vogue magazine with their highly created process on their own peace. Now what happened when they say 15th Nov, we need 8 silhouette in four different pantones with all expected delivery, otherwise you are not gonna get paid.

Now you are in the service of the clients, you are no longer in the service of your own emotion. All you had is the deadline for being able to show or whatever the collection that you are showing, so you have to be professional to service someone elses. Not everyone good at that.

Q: Anything else? Promotion? Or showroom stuff?

A: I mean, if it’s a small brand collaborate with big brand, it probably all force on the bigger company to do the promotional marketing, not to say that small one. What if the designers was hired to do the collection but also a film, and the film will be spread on the web, you got the share, it drove the desire to buy the collection, so the designers actually are becoming more versus type. They are making the clothes, they are communicating the clothes through photography, through the video, perhaps even well they selling it. Maybe they only sell it online, or they might have physical stores, and they control that, you can control the experience from making, telling and buying.

If no one buy it, whatever they making, that’s the measure of success. People talk about it, so they got all magazine, all the press and then you got the store to buy it. If there’s no stock or sold out, what happens next? Business wise is not very good, sometime it creates more than that like Iphone, “We don’t have it”, but everyone wants it, and if you don’t fulfil them, then you lose it, so you only have certain period of time to meet consumers.

Q: Do you think is it necessary to hire PR agency?

You can, it depends on what they are trying to achieve. If you have let’s say a big PR

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firm, you have lots of people to talk about you, but you don’t have the products as a point of sell. If you have great products but no one talk about it, then you got the problem. Like some people use in-house PR, they hire like PR interns, sometimes if they really like your clothes as a collectors, as a designers, they understand that’s a lot of money, probably will work with you for free or for cheap with the idea. When you gat famous and be able to make making lots of money, you should loyal to them.

There are some showrooms are really willing to take designer-entrepreneurs from CSM and LCF if they are awesome. If they were awesome, and they might say “Please, look at my collection and paying 2,000 a month” then we will have a look upon your brand. Then they will send the collection for styling, right press release and a paying for the journalist and PR agency.

Q8: Compared to European designer-entrepreneurs, what are the differences and common between those come from Asian?

A: I don’t know, but I can see. There seems to be something about Asian-entrepreneurs, designer-entrepreneurs, which might be more either sourcing spoken, getting on with making, doing and I suppose to talk? It’s not just the language issue, it’s culture, you can have Paris-Asian designers who is extremely excentral, something that collection all over the place, however the collection is not that great, really

good

at

promotion,

really

likeable,

then

you

can

have

another

Asian-entrepreneur who’s got on amazing stuff, but doesn’t talking about it. You know sourcing spoken as a culture things, and come back to PR, it has to be profound enough when to stop. Give it very persistent for some points to get ride of to get stop.

You shall have good products and deep persistent.

Q9: What do you think of the potential opportunities for them to take advantage of for better developing in UK market? Are there any crucial steps to go through?

A: The market is extremely extremely extremely extremely competitive, you’ve got 400 high-end fashion designers in London, the CFE knows all of them and work with

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30~40of them in any points, a lot more will be hanging around in 5 years. So when you say opportunity, then if you do a chart, the opportunities you used to have when you make your collection, you sold and then you do your SS15, AW15, now you would add a collaboration that’s gonna be a new things. You will also get private sell when you go to Dubai and sell them to the rich women one of the pieces. And maybe the products, apps and BTC ,doing the E-commerce. Also, if you are doing business today, designer-entrepreneurs, you shall cut down into 20%, 20%, 30% and 50%. 10 employees and at least 3 of them, one person sell, pick and pre-sell online, and innovation agency to do the collaboration and you got to Dubai ad Hong Kong a year to sell the private sell and then you got cash Joint here to do the fashion shows. This is the regular stream where your money come all the time, not on the season. You will do four season collaboration a year and 25 grand each, 1000 grand salary for you to live nicely. And all sell you stock at 3 London-based, 2 Paris-based, 4 Japan-based and 3 stores in New York. Now you can really not to worry, waiting for people to approach you because they can really see your good-will, they see you focus instead of other brand like raise me up, supports me and restock me just like give them in queue.

Q: So is it like finding more channels to be approached?

A: if you really believe in your products as a designers in your collection and you are doing some elses as service by then they start to stock you. Then you should able to see which reasonable store do I willing to stock like Browns, Selfridge, Liberty and which translate in money, which make you enough money for you to live of, maybe 5 brands or 10 brands each season.

Q: I used to talk to Becc from BloodyGrey, she won’t let emergent designer to sell their clothes in those luxurious department store. As she said, if the collection being showcased there, there seems nobody buy those garments, that’s the problem.

A: Yes, I used to sell in River Island, Topshop and Harrods. They will send you report in the end saying that you have like 2XS, 2S,1M whatever is was, and they will send to you say that “Well, we sold 1XS, 1M and 2L, we got 6 left overall, Could we send it

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back to you or could we change it for another stock?” And you will think No, but you don’t have the contract if they asked. If you don’t serve them, they might not reorder from you again because they are the business, which means that they order from you or they taking a guess what sizes they gonna order or the products aren’t that Cool.

There are so many annoying facts, so that’s likely that you got stock at Selfridge, and your collection didn’t sold out, or maybe 60% out.

Q: So, is it the good opportunity to be showcasing in those luxurious department stores? Or is it necessarily to take the chance?

A: I got one argument is that having the present to be able to put your stock in Harrods and actually have a place in London for people to buy it beyond I suppose your studio or your bedroom. Then if you actually have said Harrods or independent store, they’ve place exactly the same order, it’s argument to made decision. Since independent store gonna put big display in windows, they sales gonna talk about your brand proactively, and they gonna write big post about it, they gonna do sort of the events or social media campaign, then it’s easy to decide. You are not going for the name, you gonna go for what they gonna sell, what they gonna be a long-term stockist. But that’s won’t happen frequently. I got friend who works in Harrods as buyer, buyer is the one who decide what independent store’s taking. When they leave, you gonna start again with next buyer, they gonna order 70%,80% of what they think is main brand or established brand, and only a percentage for experimental like 4-5 brands totally. The rest are all safe brand like Disel.

Q: Are there any crucial stages to go through? Social media? Press release?

Go for a buyer?

A: Yes, I think you should valuate, not the store they gonna purchase but the customers gonna buy your clothes time and time again. For example, someone is the new designer who has one reason or just the graduation collection, does he/she know that people who own those pieces on the street? Or that they gonna pay 100pounds or 1000pounds for the collection? If not, that means you don’t have brand. The buyers orders from you, they are just middle person. Knowing the customers going to the stores buying your clothes is necessary, otherwise you creating your clothes for

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yourself.

Some people will say like “Oh, I have 9 pieces, and I put 4 of them in the exhibition”, then you are the version artists, now you should go to V&A. Then another one will be from the design management point of view, do the numbers of that ‘how many pieces? how many collection? How many things you need to be doing?’, in order for you to have sustainable business and be able to grow over time. For example. the first day of your collection, you are not gonna make any moneys, you will make 300 pieces and sell them all, pay for your production, interns and other space. You will eat noodles for the first several months, then you got a brand in market, and you do the collaboration next years. The money becomes your salary. Also you have to really care for your business side, so the production have to be amazing, the business have to be amazing, and the possibilities the people that you hired and worked with, they have to be wonderfully, professional and well-attitude.

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Appendix-10 Transcript of the Semi-structured Interview-The AFDE-Mingpin Tien Name of Researcher: Xinyi Fan University: London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London Course: MA Design Management for the Fashion Industries

Interviewee: Mingpin Tien, a London-based designer-entrepreneur

Time & Place: 5:30 p.m, 30th September, 2014, London

Q1: First of all, I have to thank you for offering me such a great opportunity to be an intern in your studio. As I explained before, my final project would be divided into five parts: Design, Production, Promotion, Sales & Studio Admin, which are the main issues should be concerned as I thought. What do you think of these five options? Or do you think I should put sales and promotion together?

A: Well, I will suggest not to putting sales and press together, even they have interlinks to some extent. It depends on the general direction of your idea.

Q: From my perspective, the sales section will be buyer store recommendation and sales agency information, while the promotion part will be mainly concerned with PR agency information.

A: Ok, then it sounds better if you can separate those two.

Q: Great! Are there any other suggestions that you expect to see on the website?

A: Hum…I think it has already covered the fashion process.

Q2: For the design part, what kind of source you would like to see?

A: I have no idea, or maybe the development of the design. Some pictures or some processes that designers used to create a collection from the stage of inspiration to

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garments.

Q: According to the questionnaire, there are 80% of designers would like to read the model/story of successful designers that they can learn from. I was wondering I might put some designer story or some brand philosophy development of certain designers on the website, what do you think?

A: I would prefer to learn what designers want to express through the brand, or their brand philosophy and inspirit.

Q: So…overall, you are interested to learn?

A: Yes, but it will be too limited if you only present one collection. In order to express the whole story of a designer, you should research in a brand context, what they want to say through their brand instead of only one garment or collection. Then you can use the development of certain collections to support the story. Subsequently, the audience will know whether he/she follow his/her own brand philosophy or not.

Q: What kind of the information-based style you may like to see?

Key points è Diagram Drawing è Mind Map Video è Design Journey Others?

A: I think it should be video or image, some visual form. The description for the collection might be only two or three sentences, not necessary to offer a long story.

Q3: Being a Fashion designer is quite intensive, do you think it is necessary or helpful to have a pre-arranged schedule? Or some reminder for the key date?

A: It seems not that interesting for me.

Q: Here is the question. How can you know those fashion activities in advanced? Are you going to take some time for the research or just wait to be informed by the organisation?

A: Both. For example, London Fashion Week is the biggest date, so that everyone knows the date. While for the other small activities, I don’t think I have time and energy to spend on the research. Generally, I wait until the organisation to find me.

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Q: Will you ask your intern to find the information for competition or showcase?

A: If it’s a quite famous one, we will know the date in advanced, all we need to do is pay attention to the exact date. For those small ones, I will ask interns to do the research of course.

Q4: For Production part, what kind of information you would like to reach?

Such as Supply Chain?

A: Oh…it’s impossible, designers won’t share those information. I will suggest you to focus on the development of the design, such as the special techniques for the collection.

Q: Will you curious about what kind of production they used?

A: We will ask them generally, they may answer depending on the friendship.

Q: Do you mind sharing technician with other designers?

A: I will definitely consider them. Some technician will also serve the big brand such as Burberry, their techniques will be also on the list, I mean why not.

Q5: Since I heard that there are certain designers shared a same technical support like: sewing, how do you reach those industry links at very first stage?

A: I have started to find those resources since I was in college. Asking tutors, asking technician in college, or find by myself.

Q: For those people who have not trained in UK, they may not familiar with the fashion industry in UK. How can they find the industry link here?

A: No ways. You have to find by yourselves or ask others.

Q: Others? You mean other designers?

A: Yes, or some big exhibitions. You may find some establish supplier who own some special techniques or fabric that you like.

Q6: If I put contact list or information database in the “promotion”, do you think it is proper? Or you would prefer to put it into the sales part?

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A: What do you mean by contact list? What kind of contact information?

Q: For example, buyer stores recommendation.

A: Hum…but it impossible that each shop will fit each designers.

Q: What if I categorise them according to style?

A: First, I will consider the design and style. If they match my brand, than I will think about price range. Basically, these are the two indicators. Except, the shop wants to change the style.

Q: Ok, how about an established conceptual shop, not your style but quite famous, will you still consider? Like LN-CC? A: For those established shop, they will not buy a whole collection. They may only purchase a few pieces of certain category like shirt or outwear. If I want to introduce my brand to them, I will offer those pieces that they might be interested in.

Q: Namely, you will also category your own collection according to the shop?

A: Yes, we have to and do the research in advanced.

Q7: In terms of the Promotion, are you willing to know some PR agency information?

A: Yes, I will.

Q: Are you prone to research by yourself or have some clues?

A: I will prefer ask. It really depends on the different PR agency. Normally, Sales agency and PR agency, they will both have their own brand list. They will not put the egg in the same basket, which means it also depends on the interaction between your brand and agency.

Q: Will you suggest to finding PR agency or doing it by yourself?

A: At initial stage, you can do it by yourself. Once your brand reaches certain stage, you have to find PR to help your brand grow up.

Q8: You are one of the designers supported by Fashion Scout, Would you like to know some detailed information about organisation/platform?

A: Yes, I would like to know some.

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Q: In terms of which aspects you would prefer to know?

A: Such as, those organisations could potentially help new emergent designers, even they are not on the schedule. Or those business consulting agency, they may offer difference service and help. Or maybe some production consulting agency or manufactory trade show. It will be brilliant if you can provide a list of them, and we my browser and decide which one we should apply simultaneously.

Q9: Sales is obvious the most essential part for all designers, is a sales agency necessary to have?

A: It surely necessary to have one. Sales agency could enable you to grow fast.

Q: What you expect to have from them except improving sales?

A: They mainly help you to sell your collection. Moreover, they can also help you to set your strategy and offer you a market plan. Not every designers suit Dover Street Market, and they will help you to find your target market. It may not be limited in UK, which mainly depends on the level of your sales agency. Therefore, designer may not necessary to try different markets, they will have a clear target market and strategy with agency’s help.

Q: So you will also loyal to the good agency?

A: Definitely yes.

Q: In terms of the Sales agency, you would prefer to have them on the initial stage or find them when your brand develop to certain extent?

A: I think it’s hard to have at first, since Sales agency will also consider your brand.

They aim to find some brand with certain special points they have been look for that can sell and develop a long-term relationship.

Q: As a result, when do you think is suitable to find one? How many collections after?

A: After one collection, you can start researching. However, some designers prefer to do sales part by themselves, so that they can set up their own database. If you hire a sales agency, you need to trust each other to make it work. It obviously brings both pros and cons. You need to take these risks if you want to grow up.

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Q10: Do you feel it was such a headache problem for you to sale? Why? In terms of which aspects?

A: The stage of research. You want to attract and target the customer as much as you can, which means you can not only contact those established retailers, but also those emergent shops with relatively less money and with the style that you like. It is hard to do the research and set up the relationship with them. Once the relationship is established, you also need some time to foster trust.

Q: So, you will also keep the relationship with previous clients, right?

A: They hope as well. They will not prefer to bring you this season, and then bring others for next season. Besides the sales part, they will also consider whether they like you as a brand or whether they are willing to promote you or not.

Q: In this case, when you design a new collection, you will take their feedback and comments into account as well?

A: Yes, yes, you have to. You should listen to their feedback, not necessary everyone, but some of them. You will gradually realise what they want from you.

Q11: Although Studio admin seems not the important issues at current stages, it would be a question to consider in the future. Do you have any ideas towards Studio management?

A: The best way to manage a studio is find a business partner for me. Some designers are not good at designing or some may good at social, they have to find someone who can deal with the difficult part for them.

Q: Do you have any advices for finding interns?

A: I would prefer to find them through the college.

Q: Will the previous intern experience influence your decision of finding new intern?

A: Yes, of course.

Q: What kind of intern you would like to find?

A: Responsibility. The attitude means everything for me. The capability could be educated in the work.

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Q: In the future, what level of the studio you wan to reach?

A: I want also have a studio in New York, and have my catwalk show in London and Paris. I wish my studio could have in-house technician. And if I have money, the fist person I will hire is studio manager.

Q12: Overall, do you please with the idea building information based website?

Any suggestion so far?

A: It may not that useful for designers themselves, it indicates the importance for those people around designers such as PR agency, Sales agency and people who are looking for new designers.

Q: Why do you think designers maybe not interested in the website?

A: Because we don’t have time in fact to search information on the website.

Q: Even with larger database to research?

A: Then could be, but for the emergent designers. Because, when you research for a period of time, you will realise that fashion industry is a quite conservative industry.

The relationship between people based on the real social life. So it asks you to go outside, find those people though the activities, then expand the network.

Q: What else do you expect to see on the website? Such as the things that other website have not covered so far?

A: Hum…the website nowadays covered quite wide range, the issue is their high fees.

Q: Which website?

A: Fashion monitor Q: What about management related issue?

A: I would like to have a website that provide a platform to hire intern. It can be a community that they come to you when they saw your information on the website, or we can search each other. As a result, we can save time for not research other places.

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Appendix-11 Transcript of the Semi-structured Interview-The AFDE-NA DI Studio

Name of Researcher: Xinyi Fan University: London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London Course: MA Design Management for the Fashion Industries

Interviewee: NA DI, a London-based designer-entrepreneur who holds the entrepreneurs immigration, expertise in 3D printing design.

Time & Place: 6:00 p.m, 16th October, 2014, London

Q1: Hi, Na Di. It has been a long time sine last time I worked for you. Today, I would like to ask you some questions about the experience for being an Asian designer-entrepreneurs in London, and your comments about my project.

A: Ok, sounds great.

Q: Overall, my final project tends to create a website to support Asian designers here. The website would be divided into five parts: Design, Production, Promotion, Sales and Studio Admin, which are the main issues should be concerned as I see. So, tell me, how do you deal with design part first?

A: First of all, I’m kind of person who has obsessive-compulsive disorder, so I’m quite organised. Regard of the whole processes, I usually divided it into two stages: Pre-collection and Post-collection. Pre-collection is obviously the steps before producing the collection, which contains ‘collection plan’, ‘design process’ and ‘production’.

Q: Woo…so could you detail a little bit about the term ‘collection plan’?

A: Well, it’s kind of product range. This is something that I would recommend you to put in you design part of website. Each season, we will have a plan for our collection

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such as 20 jumpers or 10 pants, which is the product family for the collection according to our references. Therefore, it would be useful if you can produce some template for designers.

Q: That’s sounds interesting. I would think about it for sure. Then, what’s the ‘design process’ for you according to your order?

A: As you know, I’m a 3D printing fashion designer. My design process starts from ‘research’, ‘illustrator’ to ‘technique drawing’ and ‘textile design’.

Q: Is it the similar pattern with the other designers?

A: Similar, but not the same. ‘illustrator’ is all for designing the print, while ‘textile design’ will then put the print on the fabric based on the different techniques. So those two terms are the special steps for my collection.

Q2: Brilliant, let’s move to your next part. How about your production? What are you usually do in Pre-collection.

A: ‘Production’ is the step that I need to check clearly before I send my collection back to China, including ‘CAD print design’, ‘check List’, ‘production detail’ and ‘sample sheet’ which will outline all the pattern, techniques, material-used as well as fabric cutting for the China producers. Also, in order to make sure they can fully understand my requirement, I will also attach flat drawing plus garment figuring for them to draping more correctly. Textile production form will detailed size, thread, colour.

Print-layout form will display the prints on the fabric to help them better cutting.

Q: Those are really thoughtful, what about the problem you’ve met so far?

A: Well, with all those detailed forms, I have never done any mistakes so far excluding the rate of shrink that I could not control, but it will potentially affect my final pieces.

Q3: I think we almost done with your Pre-collection part, what about Post-collection? It should involve the sales and PR, right?

A: Yes, but before them, we need to arrange photo shooting, create line sheet, write process release and produce the final work of Look Book. My Look Book will contain both modelling photo and products photo. If you need to sell you products online, you

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will need detailed photo and products photo. When you finish all those steps, you need to think about what kind of channel you want to release your collection.

Q: Channels? Could you detail all the channels?

A: Sure, but I cannot name all of them. There are installation, private showroom, catwalk show, press release, presentation, trade show. At first, all the designer aim to make catwalk show, and most of them cannot afford it. For me, I will not consider trade show next season.

Q: Why not? You’ve even got prize from there.

A: It’s sort of wasting my money, I will consider opening my private showroom in the near future.

Q4: You are such an ambitious designer. I know you have hired PR agency and owned a small factory in China. What about your studio here? Do you have any issues about your studio admin?

A: Since I don’t need interns to help producing my collection, I only have one assistant in my studio to sort out the document, answer email, maybe training my interns later as well.

Q: For an organised designer as you, you should also have a clear management rule, am I right?

A: Yes! My assistant and me share a same Google drive, which is divided into media, PR, sales, design process production, internal, contact and Logo. I usually ask her to save and manage them for me. It was such an efficient way to manage the studio.

Q6: Good to know that. Well, back to the website. According to the questionnaire towards designers in LFW showroom, in terms of the Design part, there are 80% of designers would like to read the model/story of successful

designers

that

they

can

learn

from.

So

what

kind

of

information-based style you may like to see? You know, they could be key points, mind map or some visual work such as video, picture.

A: Visual is always work for designers. Especially for non-local people, we feel bored

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to read large paragraph of English words. So I would prefer picture with key points. No need to be many pictures, at least 1 or 2 coming up with key words will be prefect.

Moreover, layout is also crucial, make sure to keep it playful enough.

Q: How about the form of mind map for the inspiration?

A: For me, it works, but I don’t think you can reach it. Inspiration is something private for designer. Also, designers nowadays tend to be more commercial and don’t really have concept or story behind their collection. As a result, it would be hard for you to access those resources.

Q7: Being a Fashion designer is quite intensive, do you think it is necessary or helpful to have a pre-arranged schedule? Or some reminder for the key date?

A: It surely was beneficial to building our own timetable. I usually have my schedule otherwise I will get lost.

Q8: As I know, it has been four seasons, for Production part, what kind of information you would like to reach?

A: Supplier information and fabric producer. I expect they can be categorised by country, order amount and price range. Contact information or website, I was surprise to know that producer and manufacturer in China gradually establish their own website. Their timetable is also of great importance, it will be easier for us to arrange our schedule if we can know their available time. Database in this part is obviously hard to build unless your website could provide a community for them.

Q: That sounds a huge database.

A: Yes, it is. I would recommend you either quantitative or qualitative towards your information.

Q9: Since I heard that there will be certain designers shared a same technical support like: sewing, how do you reach those industry links at very first stage?

A: Hum…it won’t be the question for me since I own a factory in China, specifically producing my own collection. But another reasons for owning a factory is that I’m not

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pleased with sharing technician with other designers.

Q10: If I put contact list or information database in the “promotion”, do you think it is proper? Or you would prefer to put it into the sales part?

A: I would prefer to have clear categories. Blogger, press, buyer and other including photographers, editor etc. are the four main aspects I have so far. Sales and PR are the most important one, so you would better to divide them into two parts.

Q11: In terms of the Promotion, which process do you think is necessary to go through?

A: Apparently, finding a proper PR agency and build social media strategy are the processes I will go for. You should combine online and offline in promotion.

Q12:

Would

you

like

to

know

some

detailed

information

about

organisation/platform such as Fashion Scout, Centre for fashion enterprise, fashion east?

A: Definitely yes, we have to choose them thoughtfully. For example, ‘New Gen’ will never choose the designer who used to work with ‘Fashion Scot’. It sometimes involve some industry internal issues. Moreover, they offer diverse things based on different purpose for different designers. So for some reasons, we need to know about them.

Q13: If you get any chance to hire PR agency, what kind of way that you may adopt to research PR agency?

A: Google Research? I’m joking. I have no choice but to wait them to find me first. The PR agencies you could find through Google are too established and covering other areas such as car brand or fast food. Also, those PR agencies you may know usually refuse to accept strangers or emergent studio. It is hard to survival even London is much better than New York.

Q14: Sales is obvious the most essential part for all designers, what you expect to have from them expect improving sales?

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A: To be honest, I’m not sure about hiring sales agency. I mean it seems necessary to have one; somehow I want to keep the mystery of my brand to stimulate the clients meanwhile.

Q15: Do you feel it was such a headache problem for you to sale? Why? In terms of which aspects?

A: The reason why sales is headache for lots of designers is all about making money to keep cash flow. The more they can earn, the more they can put into their business, so that they can have much money. For me, money is not the issue, my current stage is branding. Thus, I would rather build reputation with limited sales than crazily sales worldwide. If there is no direction for branding, there will not be any foundation for brand, not to mention about the following-up sales.

Q16: Although Studio admin seems not the important issues at initial stage, it would be a question to consider in the future. Do you have any ideas towards Studio management?

A: It indeed super important for me. I need someone to be the studio manager to administrate everything including document file, timetable, answering telephone, building database (on hard drive). I used to think about to do everything by myself from pre-collection to post-collection. Then, I gradually realize it will not work if I want to make my firm established. So I shift my career from designer to direction, taking charge of every step instead of all by myself.

Q: How many employees you have so far? How you are going to taking advantage of them?

A: I currently have one employee from Belgium, who may potentially be my studio manager. However, we were not work very well. First reason is that I feel hard to communicate with her sometimes in terms of the language issue. Second reason is that she is not that ambitious like me, so that I need to force her to work hard, which is sort of personality issue. Overall, I would like to train her as my manger in the near future if she wants. She will help me training the new interns and manage all of them

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in my studio. Next, I will hire interns who expertise in social media and marketing to support each sides. After that, several designers will be hired to finish whole design process. That’s my ideal plan for the studio management.

Q17: Overall, do you please with the idea building information based website?

Any suggestion so far?

A: Yes, I’m sure it will be a useful resource for all of us. Compared to Korean fashion community who always shares resources together, Chinese fashion community lacks the terms of ‘sharing’. This website will supportive to certain extent as long as it contains large and rich database.

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Appendix-12 Transcript of the Semi-structured Interview-The AFDE Intern-David Lyu (Yifang Wan Studio)

Name of Researcher: Xinyi Fan University: London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London Course: MA Design Management for the Fashion Industries

Interviewee: David Lyu, has been worked for Yifang Wan and Peir Wu as an intern for half year.

Time & Place: 11:30 a.m, 14th October, 2014, London

Q1: Hello, David. I would like to interview you about your experience of being an intern in Asian designer-entrepreneurs studio. First of all, how long have you been in UK? A: I’ve been in London for almost years. I’m currently studying BA menswear in Central Saint Martin College of Arts.

Q2: How many Asian designers have you interned for? Could you name it for me?

A: I used to work for two Asian designers. One is Yifang Wan, the other one is Peir Wu. Peir Wu is a london-based menswear designer, who comes from Singapore. In fact, he graduated earlier than Yifang Wan. Q: Why I cannot find him on the designer list in London Fashion Week?

A: He is mainly a vintage menswear designer, so that his collection is more like style of Hulmet Lung.

Q3: Is the internship based on your personal preference or you are required by

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college to do that?

A: Actually, I did not take the initiative to find those internships. My tutor and friend introduced them to me when they asked for the helpers.

Q: If you want to find an internship, will you prefer to choose Asian studio?

A: Hum…not really. For me, most of them are small studio, and they will work as designer and entrepreneurs at same time. Although I may think about to be a designer-entrepreneurs in the future, it still sounds abstract so far.

Q: Oh… so you want to establish design studio as well?

A: Yes, I do. But I do not really have time to think about it, or, I would say the whole plan seems too abstract and complicated for me. A briefing idea is all what I am able to do.

Q4: What do you think of the internship in Asian studio overall?

A: It depends on time. The week before fashion week is absolutely intensive, but the reset of time is not that busy. Compared to the established brand, where you may only work for specific context, small studio may offer a wider range of work content.

Q: It sounds you prefer to work on multi-worked base rather than specific content?

A: Small studio, undoubtedly, covers a quite board range from buyer shop research, supplier research to pattern cutting and design inspiration research, and you will learn quite a lot from it.

Q: Well, in terms of the working content, which part is the most interested one for you?

A: Personally, design and pattern making for sure.

Q: However, I heard that most designers asked intern to help research the inspiration for the collection, what do you think of it? Do you think it will more or less bring some influence to the collection?

A: From our perspective, we are happy to work on it. Sometimes, we worked for designers for free on the thing that we may not interested in, therefore, we need something to learn as feedback and prize. Meanwhile, interns are indeed more

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motivated to better work for the studio.

Q: I totally understand. But if you are the designer, do you think you will let others to get involve in your design part? Since inspiration or design work is the private property for designers.

A: In order to build a studio, you need to learn a long-term and sustained model and bring up the leadership in a group. Studio will get to know what are interns looking for from them, and they usually offer chance in return for their hard work.

Q5: Who is the success model for you?

A: It actually differs from different aspects.

Q: For you, how do you define the success model?

A: Design is obviously the most important theme for me. I would suggest 马可 from design perspective, which is only judged from the collection. Uma Wang is also a success model in terms of the good balance between design and commercial.

Q6: What kind of language you usually use during the working time? Will you think language is a big issue for them?

A: It depends on what kind of language that designer said to me, I answer in the same language as they asked. Most of time, we use Chinese. From my perspective, I think language is no longer a big issue for them.

Q7: How many interns he/she usually hired? What are their working ranges?

A: For those studios of small scale, 1-2 is enough for the long-term interns, while the short-term helpers including technicians and tailors will be according to collection.

Q: In the studio I worked before, we usually have at least 2 interns working on the pattern, 1 technician from outside. What about Yifang Wan? A: She usually hired 2 technicians for sewing. The patterns were usually produced by us. Also, the finishing job was also accomplished by us.

Q: What about the commercial side, how she deal with it?

A: So far, she worked on her own and her partners, who help her to deal with

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business issue.

Q: In this case, she will not let any of her interns to get involved into the business?

A: Hum…it seems so. I guess she does not want to expose her company too much.

Q: However, for those established studio, they will never need interns upon business. They hire PR agency or Sales agency to provide professional advices, right?

A: Yes, I recently met a friend named Roxanne who owns a PR agency, particularly providing services for Asian designer-entrepreneurs. Yifang is one of the clients.

Q8: Do you think country of education/employees will influence the development of being a designer-entrepreneurs or building fashion business here?

A: They apparently show great significance on it. Especially some of the personal experience, it will reflect on their collection. You can see where they come from, what they fancy about, how about their styles.

Q: So compared to those Asian designers who based in Asian, whether designer-entrepreneurs based in London will be the competitiveness?

A: It may still depend on the designers. London-based Asian designers, nonetheless, face certain obstacles in terms of the culture issue. ‘From Zero to everything’.

Q9: What do you think of their target market? Ethnic/non-ethnic?

A: They will certainly have the preferred target market, which will also be reflected on their collection. Taking Yifang Wan as an example, her collection is more close to aesthetic preference of Asian people, so the major market might be Asian. However, for myself, I would like to have a combined collection that integrates Asian culture with European culture.

Q: Will you deem ethnic target market as a beneficial issue or not? Sometimes, designers tend to design based on the suggestion from buyers, which may more or less result into ethnic market.

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A: When designer thinks about their collection, they will have certain image in their mind. This is could be one of the considered indicators, but not the most important one.

Q10: Do you think their original home country will be considered as major market?

A: They will. But just as what I’ve mentioned, this could be one of the considered indicators for them.

Q: Well, it indeed may involve the latter stage of the fashion system. Such as social media strategy for promotion, if you focus on the Chinese market, you may need to take advantage of Weibo instead of Facebook or Instagram, which have been forbidden there.

A: Absolutely yes.

Q11: From your perspective, why do you think they don’t hire a PR agency or local agency?

A: There seems no reason not hiring local PR agency besides money issues. First of all, they know better of the local fashion system compared to us. They own rich resources and industry links; have no difficulties to communicate in terms of the language, culture and ethnic background. Moreover, thoughts are also of great importance, they need to share similar destination or objectives.

Q12: Which part of the business problem that you think is the most difficult part to deal with?

A: There are different difficulties existing in each stages, it depends on how you deal with those difficulties.

Q: Let’s say, which part you may take more time for?

A: For Asian, PR will be a time consuming issue.

Q: What if they’ve already had PR agency, what else?

A: Production is also the thing I will spend more time on it.

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Q13: For them, can you rank following competitiveness from most important 1 to less important 6? Design, marketing, sales & Merchandise, studio admin & HR, industry link and designers’ characteristics.

A: Humm…it’s really hard to rank, for me, each stages has its own importance.

Q: What about Studio admin & HR? Since somebody argue that it may not that important on the initial stage.

A: Not really, Studio admin is the issue that closely related to the final result. It was a term work, involves cooperate and time management.

From objective perspective, designer’s characteristics are vital. However for designers themselves, they might not deem it as main competitiveness.

Design and industry link are relatively important.

All stages are related to each other.

Q14: The website would be divided into five parts: Design, Production, Promotion, Sales & Studio Admin, which are the main issues should be concerned as I see. What do you think of the five options? Do you have any other suggestion that you expect to see?

A: It sounds a good idea for me, I do think that five aspects have covered main issues in the whole system. However, I would recommend you to emphasized on one issue, which may let your website become more competitive. That issue could be something have not been identified by other website, such as business model of each designer studio.

Q: To be honest, the business model is quite related to privacy, and it also need participant to reach the information, so it would not be easier in a quite limited time. Also, the website would only be an information based guideline website, but I will take your suggestion into account.

Q15: In terms of the Design part, there are 80% of designers would like to read the model/story of successful designers that they can learn from. So what kind of the information-based style you may like to see?

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Key points è Diagram Drawing è Mind Map Video è Design Journey Others?

A: I would prefer key points and pictures, which could be more emotional. However, I may only interested to know when the designers that really attract me appear.

Q16: For Production part, what kind of information you would like to reach?

A: For me, I would like to know sort of the industry link or some unique factory. Also, fabric resource that could be high quality or unique also sounds great.

Q17:

Would

you

like

to

know

some

detailed

information

about

organisation/platform such as Fashion Scout, Centre for fashion enterprise, fashion east?

A: Yes, even though I don’t really believe them.

Q18: In terms of my project, what kind of the key issues will you expect to see on the website?

A: Legal issues, Successful models and Buyer store suggestions.

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Appendix-13 Transcript of the Qualitative Questionnaire Overall Result:

How many years have you been here?

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% How many years have you been here?

1-­‐-­‐3

4-­‐-­‐6

7-­‐-­‐9

10+

20%

50%

10%

20%

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Years in London

How many collections you have so far?

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% How many collections you have so far?

1-­‐-­‐4

5-­‐-­‐8

9-­‐-­‐12

13+

50%

40%

10%

0%

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Collections

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How many markets you have covered?

(Multiple) Other Russia Eropean UK Asian 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% How many markets you covered? (Multiple)

Asian

UK

Eropean

Russia

Other

90%

90%

80%

10%

10%

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Target Market

Will you consider you original home market as major market?

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Will you consider you original home market as major market?

Yes

Maybe

No

80%

20%

0%

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Major Market

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Do you usually manufacture in UK or in your home country?

Others UK & Country Home Country UK 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Do you usually manufacture in UK or in your home country?

UK

Home Country

UK & Country

Others

0%

10%

90%

0%

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Manufacture Country

Could you simply answer why you usually manufacture in UK or in your home country?

•

Easier on cost

•

Cheaper

•

The cost for production in China is relevantly low, however some of techniques and material are not guarantee compared to those in European countries

•

Special techniques & Material delivery

•

Quality & Quantity

•

Price issue

•

According to different customers in their location

…….

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Reason for Manufacture Country

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Do you have PR Agency?

Yes, British local PR

Yes, Non-­‐British PR

No, not yet

40%

60%

0%

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: PR Agency

How many interns you usually work with?

70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% How many interns you usually work with?

1-­‐-­‐3

4-­‐-­‐6

7-­‐-­‐9

40%

60%

0%

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Internship

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In the following options, Please rank the key issues regarding of the competitiveness, from 1 most important to 6 less important 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Industry Links

Design Characteris tics

20%

0%

60%

0%

40%

40%

10%

10%

10%

40%

20%

10%

30%

10%

30%

0%

30%

0%

Rank 2

10%

60%

10%

0%

10%

10%

Rank 1

30%

20%

40%

0%

0%

10%

Sales&Merc Studio handising Admin&HR

Design

Marketing

Rank 6

10%

0%

10%

Rank 5

10%

0%

Rank 4

10%

Rank 3

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Competitiveness Rank

What kind of designer you consider to be as a london-­‐based designer?

80% 70%

70%

60% 50% 40% 30% 20%

20%

10% 0%

10% 0% Artistic

Contemporary

Commercial

Freelance

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Designer Genre

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As a designer, which part of business problems including sales, merchandise, logistics that you find yourself difficult to deal with?

•

Cash Flow

•

Marketing

•

Sales

•

Manufacturing

•

Sales and Production

•

Promotion

•

Sale

•

Sales Channel

•

Marketing

•

Production & Sales

…….

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Barrier

For the information-­‐based website, what kind of the key issues will you expected to learn from the website?

Design Strategy

0%

Key Question

10%

Trend Forecasting

10%

Designers’ Biography/Story

40%

Supplier Suggestion

40%

Buyer/Store recommendation Business viewpoints Successful Model

50% 60% 70% Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Expected Issue

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If you get a chance to read any guideline or lecture available on the website, will you spend some time on it?

0%

Yes, it's quite helpful 2 3 4 5 No, it's useless

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Qualitative Questionnaire Result: Website Applicability

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Appendix-14 Practical Issues Code Gathering-Participant Observation-Mingpin Tien (PO1)

PO1-Codes

What the AFDE highlight Fashion Design

Brand philosophy development

✓

Manufacture & Production Fabric resource

✓

Specific Techniques Manufacture country

✓

Supply chain

✓

Sales & Distribution Strategic positions

✓

Trade show

✓

Stockist

✓

Market plan

✓

Database building (Buyer research)

✓

Public Relations Localised social media strategy

✓

Press book recording

✓

Database building (Spread sheet)

✓

Studio Admin Multi-purposed space (high rental)

✓

Work allocation management Human resource (Business partner,

✓

studio manager) Working transfer

Industry Link Social Network (peer sharing)

✓

Seminar training (British Fashion

✓

Council)

✓

Sponsorship & supplier

✓

Look book shooting

✓

Model casting

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Appendix-15 Practical Issues Code Gathering-Participant Observation-NA DI Studio (PO2)

PO2-Codes

What the AFDE highlight Fashion Design

Brand philosophy / Design philosophy

✓

Design Strategy

Manufacture & Production Supply chain

✓

In-house factory management

✓

Sales & Distribution Strategic positions

✓

Stockist

✓

Pricing issue

✓

Database building (Buyer research)

✓

Public Relations Localised social media strategy

✓

Database building (Spread sheet)

✓

Intellectual property rights

✓

Individual tailored strategy

✓

Communication with foreign agency

✓

Studio Admin Work allocation management Time schedule issue

✓

Employee training

✓

Communication with foreign employee

✓

Industry Link Social Network (peer sharing)

Seminar training (CFE)

✓

Sponsorship & supplier (Fashion East)

✓

Look book shooting

✓

Model casting

✓

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Appendix-16 Code Gathering Summary-Interviews

Code Number

Interviewee

Role

Research Topic

Fashion

IN1

Jonas

Innovation

Centre for Fashion Entrepreneurs

Agency

IN2

Mingpin Tien

IN3

Di Na

IN4

David Lyu

Design Fashion Entrepreneurs; Website Design

AFDE Intern

Fashion Entrepreneurs

Fashion Design; Website AFDE

Organisation

Ming Studio NADI Studio

Fashion Entrepreneurs;

Yifang Wan

Fashion Design

Studio

Fashion Design (Barrier) IN1: …you should stand for your collections, irrelevant of where you come from, but if you are going to trade of your collation as an Asian Designer, then what’s the benefit?

…they are doing lots of patterns sort of designers who have signatures all about recognisable…

…you are in the service of the clients, you are no longer in the service of your own emotion. All you had is the deadline for being able to show or whatever the collection that you are showing, so you have to be professional to service someone else.

IN3: …designers nowadays tend to be more commercial and don’t really have concept or story behind their collection. As a result, it would be hard for you to access those resources.

Fashion Design (Website development) IN2: …maybe the development of the design. Some pictures or some processes that designers used to create a collection from the stage of inspiration to garments.

I would prefer to learn what designers want to express through the brand, or their

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brand philosophy and inspirit.

Yes, but it will be too limited if you only present one collection. In order to express the whole story of a designer, you should research in a brand context, what they want to say through their brand instead of only one garment or collection. Then you can use the development of certain collections to support the story.

…it should be video or image, some visual form.

IN3: …it’s kind of product range... Each season, we will have a plan for our collection…which is the product family for the collection according to our references. Therefore, it would be useful if you can produce some template for designers.

Visual is always work for designers. Especially for non-­‐local people, we feel bored to read large paragraph of English words. So I would prefer picture with key points…make sure to keep it playful enough.

IN4: I would prefer key points and pictures, which could be more emotional. However, I may only interested to know when the designers that really attract me appear.

Manufacture & Production (Barrier) IN1: The cost living here and manufacturing here could be a barrier, if you want to be seen as ‘Made in Britain’, it would have a lot of the cashier and good will in other places.

But it’s not necessary that valuable.

IN2: …it’s impossible, designers won’t share those information.

Manufacture & Production (Website development) IN2: I will suggest you to focus on the development of the design, such as the special techniques for the collection.

IN3: Supplier information and fabric producer. I expect they can be categorised by country, order amount and price range…Their timetable is also of great importance, it will be easier for us to arrange our schedule if we can know their available time. Database in

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this part is obviously hard to build unless your website could provide a community for them….I would recommend you either quantitative or qualitative towards your information.

Industry Links (Barrier) IN2: Q: For those people who have not trained in UK, they may not familiar with the fashion industry in UK. How can they find the industry link here?

A: No ways. You have to find by yourselves or ask others.

IN4: Actually, I did not take the initiative to find those internships. My tutor and friend introduced them to me when they asked for the helpers.

Industry Links (Website development) IN2: I have started to find those resources since I was in college. Asking tutors, asking technician in college, or find by myself.

…those organisations could potentially help new emergent designers, even they are not on the schedule. Or those business consulting agency, they may offer difference service and help. Or maybe some production consulting agency or manufactory trade show. It will be brilliant if you can provide a list of them, and we my browser and decide which one we should apply simultaneously.

I would like to have a website that provide a platform to hire intern. It can be a community that they come to you when they saw your information on the website, or we can search each other.

IN3: Definitely yes, we have to choose them thoughtfully. For example, ‘New Gen’ will never choose the designer who used to work with ‘Fashion Scot’. It sometimes involves some industry internal issues. Moreover, they offer diverse things based on different purpose for different designers. So for some reasons, we need to know about them.

Public Relations (Barrier) IN2: At initial stage, you can do it by yourself. Once your brand reaches certain stage, you have to find PR to help your brand grow up.

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IN3: … finding a proper PR agency and build social media strategy are the processes I will go for. You should combine online and offline in promotion.

I have no choice but to wait them to find me first. The PR agencies you could find through Google are too established and covering other areas such as car brand or fast food. Also, those PR agencies you may know usually refuse to accept strangers or emergent studio. It is hard to survival even London is much better than New York.

IN4: There seems no reason not hiring local PR agency besides money issues. First of all, they know better of the local fashion system compared to us. They own rich resources and industry links; have no difficulties to communicate in terms of the language, culture and ethnic background.

For Asian, PR will be a time consuming issue.

Public Relations (Website development) IN2: Q: Are you prone to research by yourself or have some clues?

A: I will prefer ask. It really depends on the different PR agency. Normally, Sales agency and PR agency, they will both have their own brand list. …which means it also depends on the interaction between your brand and agency.

IN3: I would prefer to have clear categories. Blogger, press, buyer and other including photographers, editor etc. are the four main aspects I have so far.

Sales & Distribution (Barrier) IN1: …the market is get more smaller, even smaller than Asian. But if you endorsed by Oxford Street and Covent Garden as a designer, which is like what you are talking about...

IN2: I think it’s hard to have at first, since Sales agency will also consider your brand. They aim to find some brand with certain special points they have been look for that can sell and develop a long-­‐term relationship.

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After one collection, you can start researching. However, some designers prefer to do sales part by themselves, so that they can set up their own database. If you hire a sales agency, you need to trust each other to make it work. It obviously brings both pros and cons. You need to take these risks if you want to grow up.

The stage of research. You want to attract and target the customer as much as you can, which means you can not only contact those established retailers, but also those emergent shops with relatively less money and with the style that you like. It is hard to do the research and set up the relationship with them. Once the relationship is established, you also need some time to foster trust.

Sales & Distribution (Website development) IN2: First, I will consider the design and style. If they match my brand, than I will think about price range. Basically, these are the two indicators. Except, the shop wants to change the style.

Sales agency could enable you to grow fast. …They mainly help you to sell your collection. Moreover, they can also help you to set your strategy and offer you a market plan. Not every designers suit Dover Street Market, and they will help you to find your target market. It may not be limited in UK, which mainly depends on the level of your sales agency. Therefore, designer may not necessary to try different markets, they will have a clear target market and strategy with agency’s help.

Studio Admin & Management (Barrier) IN2: I would prefer to find them (interns) through the college.

… if I have money, the fist person I will hire is studio manager.

IN3: I need someone to be the studio manager to administrate everything including document file, timetable, answering telephone, building database (on hard drive). I used to think about to do everything by myself from pre-­‐collection to post-­‐collection. Then, I gradually realize it will not work if I want to make my firm established. So I shift my career from designer to direction, taking charge of every step instead of all by myself.

I currently have one employee from Belgium, who may potentially be my studio manager. However, we were not work very well. First reason is that I feel hard to communicate with her sometimes in terms of the language issue. Second reason is that

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she is not that ambitious like me, so that I need to force her to work hard, which is sort of personality issue…Next, I will hire interns who expertise in social media and marketing to support each sides. After that, several designers will be hired to finish whole design process

IN4: In order to build a studio, you need to learn a long-­‐term and sustained model and bring up the leadership in a group.

Studio Admin & Management (Website development) IN2: The best way to manage a studio is find a business partner for me. Some designers are not good at designing or some may good at social, they have to find someone who can deal with the difficult part for them.

IN3: …Compared to Korean fashion community who always shares resources together, Chinese fashion community lacks the terms of ‘sharing’.

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