Internationalisation of Swedish Fashion : A Study of Small Sized Fashion Design Companies

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Swedish fashion export has increased by eight percent during the year 2005 and the industry turnover of 7.8 billion SEK is higher than ever. Swedish design is thereby securing its position as a future upholder of Swedish economy. During the last two years a number of new fashion design companies have entered the market, however only a few of them are so far earning profits from their creations. The purpose of entering the international market is not only to improve the image of young designer brands, it is in many cases the only, vital opportunity for these companies to increase volumes and profitability. The purpose of the thesis is to define important elements in the internationalisation process of small fashion design companies within the fashion retail industry and based on that conclusion construct an internationalisation model, to be used when planning the companies’ internationalisation process. The authors have performed an empirical study of five of the seven fashion designers that participated in the Dutch fashion fair: Modefabriek, in Amsterdam in January 2006. The reason for this choice is that participation in fashion fairs have shown to be the first step towards international expansion for a small fashion design company. A selection of theories concerning characteristics of small sized companies and internationalisation has also been used since they are applicable on the selected companies in the empirical study. The general conclusion of the study is that a limited domestic market is the main reason for expanding abroad. The authors would like to emphasise that a wish to expand should not have to include a change in the company image. The authors perceive direct export as the preferred entry mode for small sized companies in the fashion industry due to that this entry mode does not require any substantial commitment of financial resources, which implies low risk. The biggest risk and the most important ele...