A New Growth Strategy of Entrepreneurial Designer Fashion Enterprise (DFE) in Korea

• Published in: International Journal of Costume and Fashion Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 65 - 83
• Main Authors: Yun, So Jung, Choo, Ho Jung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 한국복식학회 31.12.2018
• Subjects: 생활과학; Entrepreneurial Process; Designer Fashion Enterprise; Enterprise Orientation
• ISSN: 2233-9051; 2288-7490
• DOI: 10.7233/ijcf.2018.18.2.065

The purpose of this study was to explore the dynamics of the newly emerging designer fashion market and examine how startup designers reacted to the tension between creativity and business, and how they grew within such dynamics. In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 DFE entrepreneurs and 7 fashion industry experts. The grounded theory was used to analyze data and yield results. Korean new generation of DFEs, attracted by the growing online market opportunities are directly distributing through online channels, targeting the millennial consumers who are pursuing new values at new distribution channels. They show new growth pattern, start with a few key items in the middle and lower price segments, then upscale their design, quality, and price. This study further investigated designers’ enterprise orientation shift, which was explored by Mills. Some creativity-oriented designers encountered difficulties in the orientation shift, while designers who demonstrated business characteristics from the startup stage restored the balance by trying to improve both creativity and business. This study discovered a new way for the designer to enter the growth stage. This growth approach is one of the success strategies applicable to designers launching a brand on online platforms in the global market. KCI Citation Count: 0