Exposing the public and buyers to brands in fashion

Unlike many other European cities, there are few

high-profile public actors in this cultural industry

branding channel; high-profile mayors throughout

Europe have enthusiastically attempted to add their

voices to the use of cultural industries in urban branding.

Though public actors may dedicate resources to

branding the city in terms of fashion and design, they

have not the media access, profiles, or budgets to

compete with local fashion and design spokespeople.

However, whilst public actors might not be frontline

spokespeople, they have been important patrons of

branding of Milan and its individual fashion and

design districts. Public actors have been central in

enabling, organizing, and promoting major urban redevelopment

plans that play on associations with fashion

and those that aim to creative districts supportive of

fashion and design industries,Sheath wedding gowns ,

  for instance, the Citta`

della Moda (Fashion City) development. Equally, local

authorities become tacit patrons of the art of fashion

branding by allowing the proliferation of signage

abundant around the city and on Milan’s most iconic

buildings, by lauding areas as fashion and design districts,

and by linking with and supporting the various

local retail networks and associations. Obviously, local

and regional public actors do understand the importance

and potential of both investments in the infrastructure

as well as the symbolic expression of the city

Global City Brand Channels in the Fashion and Design Industries 897

and have implicitly and explicitly supported fashion and

design narratives.

In summary, a group of primarily private-sector

spokespersons and patrons have consciously spoken for

and invested in Milan’s status. They are not, however,

an organized roster of city boosters,Japanese school uniforms .

group of globally recognized spokespersons, driven by

different motivations (from civic pride to selfpromotion)

that actively publicize the city for their

own purposes and in their own images. Cumulatively,

this disparate group of actors, agendas, strategies, and

stories does create a coherent meta-narrative that has

been well placed in global media and other channels;

the Milan brand is likely deepened and authenticated

by the multiplicity of actors willing to invest their

own name and money in it.

Flagships and showrooms

Exposing the public and buyers to brands in fashion is

not something that can be communicated by media

vehicles and spokespeople alone. Feeling fabrics,

fitting cloths, and experiencing the context in which

garments are sold has a powerful effect on opinionmakers

and consumers (POWER and JANSSON, 2008).

Parallel to the main fashion events and media, a constant

stream of trade visitors and early adopters are channelled

through Milan’s abundant smaller or more targeted

showings and demonstration spaces. Fashion, design

and interiors firms invest heavily in showrooms where

buyers, opinion-makers, and profile/lead-users can

experience new collections. In addition, they invest

enormous sums in (slightly) less exclusive flagship

stores aimed at showcasing their brand on the right

street to the right consumers.

Showrooms and ateliers are important promotional

spaces for high-end fashion designers. Such spaces are

vital to maintaining the image of artistic creativity and

exclusivity that haute couture customers demand and to

which others aspire. The nature of the spaces they

present is an important part of their efforts to  differentiate

themselves from competitors (LEVITT, 1981).