Radical Fashion and Radical Fashion Innovation

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국마케팅과학회
· 수록지 정보 : Journal of Global Fashion Marketing / 1권 / 4호 / 195 ~ 205페이지
· 저자명 : Dan Zhang, C. Anthony Di Benedetto

초록

This is a study of the related concepts of radical fashionand radical fashion innovation. Radical fashions are definedhere as those that may never enter the market at all, and existprimarily on runway shows, in exhibitions and in publicity; bycontrast, radical fashion innovations may be very successful inthe marketplace. Radical fashions represent a clear break fromthe old designs, as opposed to incremental fashions, which aredefined as an extension or evolution of the old designs.
Using this definition, radical fashion seems to be at oddswith the definition of marketable fashion. Nevertheless, whilemost radical fashions do not enter the market at all and liveonly in runway shows, exhibitions, and museums, there aremany examples of radical fashion innovations successful in themarket. Accordingly, a series of questions rise: What is radicalfashion? What is radical fashion innovation? What are the differencesand similarities between these, and how are they connected?This study seeks to address these questions, using afoundation developed in the radical product innovationliterature.
Fashion innovations may be in terms form or function, orstyle, and can be radical (involving the breaking down of oldideas) or incremental (involving the evolution of new ideasfrom old ideas). We draw from the radical product innovationliterature to build two related models. The first is a model ofradical fashion and radical fashion innovation that illustratesthe components of both concepts. The second is a model ofradical fashion innovation diffusion, drawn from the generalproduct innovation diffusion literature, which explores the evolutionof and the connections between these two concepts fromthe beginning (i.e., the radical fashion) to the end (i.e., successin the mass market).
Radical fashion may result in designs that are more suitablefor the runway, catalogues, or even museum display, than foractual wear. Radical fashion has sometimes been called “newideas before their marketing phase.” Radical fashion may successfullyenter the market, however, and gain wide acceptanceamong consumers. The transition from radical fashion to radi-cal fashion innovation is not too different from the transitionfrom invention to innovation, which is familiar to researchersin product innovation.
Notable in this transition process is the fact that, for manyproduct innovations, what drives the first customers to purchase(the “Visionaries,” to use Moore’s terminology in his“crossing the chasm” model of innovation diffusion) may bevery different from what drives the rest of the market (the“Pragmatists.”). If this “chasm” or divide between the twomarket segments is not recognized, the innovating firm mayfind that their product stalls during the diffusion process andnever effectively reaches the mass market. In the case of fashionproducts, visionaries (such as celebrities and the fashionpress) prime the market and create favorable word of mouth;yet, at the same time, less-radical, wearable designs may beseen on the runway, or may be manufactured for the massmarket and sold through department stores, specialty clothingstores, or even discounters. The most successful worldwide designersinstinctively know this, and can continuously produceradically innovative fashion which also usually transitions tothe mass market successfully. They recognize the need toreach the visionaries successfully to generate sufficient publicityand word of mouth, and also to use product design, promotion,and distribution strategies, as well as appropriate pricelining policies, to reach the mass market (the pragmatists)effectively.
We conclude with generalized findings and managerial implicationsfor firms in the fashion industry. We attempt tobring the radical innovation literature, and its understanding ofthe process of radical innovation diffusion in the marketplace,to the expanding discussion of fashion marketing success strategicdevelopment.

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