Out of the full group of informants, five had moved on to take on positions at already existing firms. In a majority of the cases, a main reason for this decision was to have some stability in life, mainly from a financial point of view. That being said, another main reason was that of acquiring business knowledge as a complement to the artistic knowledge accumulated during studies. Several informants expressed a dissatisfaction with their work situation, both from an artistic as well as economic perspective. Though being highly educated, my analysis gives that it is difficult for the fashion design graduates to get a position that matches their skills. Rather, most end up at positions as design assistants, meaning that the majority of the work carried out deals with corrections and alterations of already existing garments and sketches.
DS18: “I mean, it’s a bit of both, because I’m mainly sitting there being, well
I shouldn’t say grumpy, but I find it very hard to go all in with doing things if I feel it’s something I can’t support, or that goes against my values. And I don’t put that much pride into my work (…). I’m assisting this designer, and our views on how to construct a garment and sell it are very different. And seeing that this is a big firm with high profit goals (…) at the end of the day, it’s all about selling as much as possible to as many as possible. And that’s something you of course could question, but this is where I’m at, and this is what I get payed to do, so then I do it.”
The quote above illustrates well the sense of not being driven by the same value proposition in relation to the designs produced, an aspect that has been discussed extensively in the literature on entrepreneurship in creative industries (cf., e.g., Bergamini et al., 2017; Potts et al., 2008). What the analysis of the interviews from my study adds is an aspect of how this different, and to a certain degree opposing, view on value creation in itself also over time can function as a catalysing effect for a change in perceived desirability of becoming an entrepreneur, making designers who initially did not see entrepreneurship as a potential pathway post-graduation to re-evaluate their choices. Several report taking on other tasks to deal with this dissatisfaction, one way being to starting a venture in addition to having an employment at an existing fashion firm. Another observed route was that of taking on alternative or additional work tasks in addition to the main focus of one’s position as to make the work situation more interesting.
In discussing the use and impact of the creative knowledge developed during the educational years and its applicability in working in industry, a majority of the informants who have taken this route says that it to a great extent is not; the solid theoretical base with tight links to design research from their education is not valued or used.
DS19: “I was talking to a colleague the other day, and said that we were
gonna have this interview and discuss what you’re taught in school and what you then do in your professional life. And she was like “God, I basically don’t use any of that knowledge”. I mean, you have it on paper, but yeah. But then of course there are the small things, like how to sew and that you have deeper understanding for fits and patternmaking, but I mean the more advanced design courses that I took, those I don’t feel that I use at all. (…) And I mean, that feels both good and bad. But for the job that I have in fast fashion that’s not necessary. It’s more that, that it’s abundant. But if I make something for myself at home, which very rarely happens, then I like drape and stuff like that, and of course then it’s really fun to know that you can do stuff like that. But I mean, at work you mainly sit in front of the computer and make sketches.”
This generally shone through with a sense of bitterness or hopelessness in that they despite their knowledge level in a vast majority of the cases were employed at low, fairly unqualified positions. The bitterness was further strengthened by the fact that seniors within the fashion firms were lacking fashion education more or less completely; rather they had acquired their positions by climbing the internal career ladder, from working on the floor in one of the company’s stores to now finding themselves as part of, or even managing, a design team.
While the discussion so far mainly has dealt with those not feeling content with the situation of working for an already existing fashion firm, the opposite was also present in my findings. Two informants reported a sense of satisfaction with their current positions, with no immediate plans to make any changes. The reason for this satisfaction was however quite different. On the one hand, one informant was employed as design assistant within a bigger fashion firm and had been so more or less since graduation from fashion school. This was a conscious and desired decision; the stability of the position and the potential development related to this type of position were fulfilling, and the low levels of both perceived desirability and perceived feasibility of becoming an entrepreneur already reported in the first round of interviews remained stable. This can be linked to the discussions of founder characteristics for entrepreneurs and the importance of self-confidence and a will to take risks (McKelvey & Lassen, 2013). On the other hand, the data also gave an example of a relatively uncommon path, namely that of having achieved a position as chief designer for an already existing fashion firm. The informant in question had initially set out by creating a fashion firm and fashion label. When the freelance work, initially meant as a means to render funds to the own firm, gave the result of being offered a fixed position, a change mainly in perceived desirability of being an entrepreneur was observed. Though the informant held forward that the idea of having an own fashion firm still was there, albeit latent, the stimuli and opportunities connected to the role as chief designer were too big to turn down. The informant reported that the way of designing in fashion school was not the main approach in
the work as chief designer, however it became evident that the creativity and creative knowledge developed during the educational years still was seen as a major asset and help in approaching the work tasks given. This combination of creative stimuli together with the security of a fixed position and income jointly meant that the dreams of being an entrepreneur were put on hold for the foreseeable future. This falls well in line with the entrepreneurial intentions literature and the argument that a strong intention also is dependent on high levels of both perceived desirability and perceived feasibility of becoming, and in this case remaining, an entrepreneur (cf. Krueger et al., 2000; Fitzsimmons & Douglas, 2011).
Figure 9.2 visualises how entering an existing fashion firm as initial pathway post- graduation affects perceived desirability and perceived feasibility of KIE entrepreneurship as potential continued pathway.
Figure 9.2
Effects of initial pathway on perceived desirability and perceived feasibility: entering existing fashion firm
As shown in Figure 9.2, my analysis indicates that entering an existing fashion firm had impact with regards to acquired knowledge, perception of resources, and founder characteristics. For acquired knowledge, this pathway increased the fashion design graduates business knowledge and market knowledge. Furthermore, in relation to
perception of resources, having taken this pathway gave the fashion designers
insights on alternative ways to access financial resources necessary for KIE venture creation, as well as expanded the informants’ networks within fashion, leading to an overall positive change in perception of resources. Finally, I could observe effects upon founder characteristics, in that their perceived lack of creative stimuli in this pathway due to, in general, junior positions within the fashion firms, increased the fashion designers’ expressed need of creative freedom, as well as need of independence. These changes in turn gave increased self-confidence for becoming an entrepreneur. Taken together, I interpret that these three elements thereby can lead to an overall positive effect on perceived desirability and perceived feasibility of KIE entrepreneurship as a potential future pathway.
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+ DesirabilityPerceived Perceived Feasibility
Entering Existing Fashion Firm
Acquired Knowledge Business knowledge (+) Market knowledge (+) Perception of Resources Financial (+) Networks (+) Founder Characteristics
Need of creative freedom (+) Independence (+) Self-confidence (+)