An Examination of the Lithuanian Fashion Designer's Use of Marketing in Their Success
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University of Huddersfield Repository Bubnyte, Vaida An examination of the Lithuanian fashion designer's use of marketing in their success Original Citation Bubnyte, Vaida (2015) An examination of the Lithuanian fashion designer's use of marketing in their success. Masters thesis, University of Huddersfield. This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/25388/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided: • The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy; • A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and • The content is not changed in any way. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ AN EXAMINATION OF THE LITHUANIAN FASHION DESIGNERS’ USE OF MARKETING IN THEIR SUCCESS VAIDA BUBNYTE A dissertation submitted to the University of Huddersfield for the degree of Master of Arts by Research in the School of Art, Design and Architecture The University of Huddersfield March, 2015 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns any copyright in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Huddersfield the right to use such copyright for any administrative, promotional, educational and/or teaching purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts, may be made only in accordance with the regulations of the University Library. Details of these regulations may be obtained from the Librarian. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of any patents, designs, trademarks and any and all other intellectual property rights except for the Copyright (the “Intellectual Property Rights”) and any reproductions of copyright works, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property Rights and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property Rights and/or Reproductions 2 ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to provide young fashion designers in Lithuania with information on how to become recognised and successful. There is an increased interest and demand for fashion within Lithuania but limited literature regarding this developing industry, therefore comparators are drawn from available literature about the more established British fashion industry. A principal objective to this enquiry was to investigate how the Lithuanian fashion houses used marketing tools to achieve popularity and fame. Qualitative, in-depth and semi-structured interviews with three Lithuanian designers at their studios in Lithuania were conducted about how they became established and the roles of marketing, branding and PR, creativity and talent, consumer’s trust and reliance and finances. Results indicate the following helped the designer entering the industry: identifying a niche market, combining talent and creativity with business knowledge, a good preparation for the industry, finance management, appropriate funding, business partner and networking, the importance of branding, and the implications with the consumers’ addiction to famous brands. This research contributes to the existing literature on the Lithuanian fashion industry and the general scholarly debate on the importance of marketing and branding in the fashion industry. The study identifies prospects for and opportunities to improve the Lithuanian fashion industry and concludes with recommendations for the designer’s preparation for the industry, and identifies issues for further research such as: individual clients versus collections, the right time to start, consumerism, or fashion in the future. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................... 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................... 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 13 1.1. RESEARCH CONTEXT ................................................................................................................... 13 1.2. THE RESEARCH NEED .................................................................................................................. 14 1.3. DEFINING THE FASHION INDUSTRY ........................................................................................ 15 1.4. DEFINING SUCCESS ...................................................................................................................... 16 1.5. PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH. SIGNIFICANCE OF FASHION ................................................ 17 1.6. THE RESEARCH .............................................................................................................................. 19 1.6.1. RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES .................................................................................. 19 1.6.2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................ 20 1.7. THESIS STRUCTURE ..................................................................................................................... 21 1.8. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 22 CHAPTER 2. SECTOR BACKGROUND ................................................................................... 23 2.1. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................. 23 2.2. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF FASHION INDUSTRY IN LITHUANIA .................... 25 2.2.1. LITHUANIANS’ UNDERSTANDING OF FASHION ............................................................ 28 2.2.2. A POSITIVE VIEW ................................................................................................................... 30 2.3. INDUSTRY STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................... 31 2.4. INDUSTRY SIZES ........................................................................................................................... 37 2.5. INDUSTRY OFFERINGS ................................................................................................................ 37 2.5.1. INDUSTRY MEASURES .......................................................................................................... 38 2.5.1.1. UK STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................... 38 2.5.1.2. LITHUANIAN STRUCTURE ............................................................................................ 40 2.6. INDUSTRY DYNAMICS. IMPORTANCE OF THE INDUSTRY ................................................. 43 2.6.1. INDUSTRY’S DEVELOPMENT .............................................................................................. 43 2.6.2. ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE .................................................................................................. 44 2.6.2.1. ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE IN THE UK ...................................................................... 44 2.6.2.2. ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE IN LITHUANIA ............................................................... 45 2.6.3. INDUSTRY’S MANAGEMENT ISSUES ................................................................................ 46 2.7. COMPARISON OF LITHUANIAN AND UK FASHION INDUSTRIES ...................................... 48 4 2.7.1. INDUSTRIES’ DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................. 48 2.7.2. ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE .................................................................................................. 50 2.7.3. INDUSTRY OFFERINGS ......................................................................................................... 51 2.7.4. IMPORTANCE OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMERS’ HABBITS .............. 52 2.7.5. INDUSTRIES’ ISSUES ............................................................................................................. 54 2.8.QUESTIONS ARISING ....................................................................................................................