Transmission Mechanisms in the Creative Economy, Fashion Design Processes and Competitiveness: The Case of Progressive Taiwanese Fashion Designers

Abstract

The creative economy’s boundaries are porous as creative ideas permeate all its subsectors. The critical element is to put in place the so-called effective transmission mechanisms for all subsectors to flourish and in turn generate viable business models and consequently wealth. In this paper, the authors take fashion practice as the unit of their discussion and attempt to explore empirically how the transmission mechanisms can be put into operation by investigating how an art avant-garde may configure mind-sets at the pre-initiatory stage of fashion design processes. Qualitative research methods are employed through the case studies of the selected five Taiwanese progressive fashion designers. The findings confirm that the transmission mechanisms from art to fashion are indeed in motion, as Taiwanese fashion designers are influenced by the art current’s fundamental tenets. Moreover, the authors identify a phase before the commencement of any formal design processes which they name noegenesis, a term borrowed from psychology. It is argued that noegenesis has the potential to provide designers with their singular vision, which simultaneously may serve as a potential differentiation advantage in markets.