RAI - FTA Internship (1/3)

Hey guys,

hope you are all doing well !

For my field study project, I have been selected to take part in the Fashion-Tech Alliance (FTA) residency Internship. The FTA is an academic-industry program, where companies are collaborating with universities, to facilitate the exchange and flow of knowledge within the Fashion-Tech field. The Project is co-founded by the European Unions’s Erasmus+ Program and is supported by several companies from fashion and technology branches. As participants from the Swedish school of textiles, we are placed with the Swedish consulting agency WLY, with which we plan, carry out and draft our research project.

Over the last weeks we have been proposing our research ideas and discussing possible research directions, where an observation would be interesting. Over this time the initial idea has changed a lot and through the consultation of WLY we have received valuable assistance on the relevance of the research.

For my research I decided for the growing interest in renting schemes within the fashion industry. Several companies in different industries have already implemented rentals, but in fashion there are still only few companies who offer this business model to customers. Scholars therefore analysed barriers and drivers of renting schemes in fashion and also examined the real sustainable effect of a rental business in fashion.

I want to take a step back with my research and question rental business models in general. Sure companies are implementing this business model and probably more are even thinking about doing so, but is it really the future of fashion consumption ? My research should analyse how serious companies are about the implementation and change of their business model or do they see just a nice little marketing story which can increase their green image ?

In the next weeks I will be interviewing several companies and try to understand more about their real motives with rental schemes in fashion.

So... If you are as excited about the outcome as I am, then stay tuned for the following next Blogspot entry. :)

Wish you all a nice field study period.

regards,

Fabian