Bridging the equity and entrepreneurial gaps in the Finnish fashion industry: a comparative case study of the Swedish, Danish Finnish fashion ecosystems

摘要

Objectives:The Finnish fashion industry and especially the small and micro sized companies arefacing challenges. It seems that there is strong design know-how, rising talents and a seeminglyincreasing interest for Finnish fashion, yet these companies fail to reach sufficient growth andexpand into international markets. A hindrance for this development is the existence of equity andentrepreneurial gaps, which refer to the lack of business know-how and appropriate financing.However, in Sweden and Denmark these gaps have been successfully bridged in more occasionsthan one. This study is built on the assumption that the fashion industry ecosystem in these nationsprovides a better environment for emerging fashion companies to develop.The purpose of this study is to explore the current state of the Finnish fashion ecosystem andexamine reasons for its underdevelopment from a financer’s approach. The Swedish and Danishfashion ecosystems are studied to explore the determinants of success that enable small fashioncompanies to prosper and succeed under very similar macro-economic conditions.Methodology:Qualitative case study research was selected as the research method. The empiricalpart explores three fashion ecosystems: the ecosystem cases of Sweden and Denmark provide asetting and background into the topic, whilst the case study on the Finnish fashion ecosystem ismore analytical and from an investor viewpoint. The cases were examined by using the constructedfashion entrepreneurship ecosystem model. Primary data was collected by interviewing private andpublic investors, business consultants and professionals in Finland, Sweden and Denmark.Secondary data to support the empirical findings was collected from a number of different sources,including government reports and studies, previous research, private analyses, newspapers andwebsites.Results: The finance, culture, human capital and market domains were identified to have had arelatively higher impact on the development of the fashion ecosystem in Sweden– implying on arelevance of the private sector. In Denmark, the government’s strategic support and public policieshave had a significant role in developing the nation’s fashion ecosystem.In Finland, the ecosystem is underdeveloped because there seems to be a lack of business skills andcollaboration among the fashion companies and entrepreneurs. This reflects on the finance domainas investors do not perceive the industry as a viable business case, and thus individual companiesface challenges in acquiring external capital and smart money into their companies. Furthermore,there is a very limited amount of understanding and prior knowledge about the industry dynamicsamong potential investors and a lack of public and policy level support.