Digital Fashion and the Chinese context: A Gioia Method Analysis of Identity, Technology and Industry Transformation

This thesis aims to demonstrate that digital fashion represents a new frontier for the industry, destined to revolutionize the way consumers interact with brands and experience the concept of fashion in the 21st century. This document focuses on the analysis of the growing dematerialization of the fashion system both globally and in China. Ever since the pandemic started, a revolution towards a new digital era has started. Thanks to technologies like AR, VR, Metaverse, NFT, clothing items can now be designed, tried on, purchased and worn without the need for a physical garment to exist. This paper is divided into four main sections. The first part focuses on a general view of the digital fashion phenomenon, starting with its origin during the 80s and 90s, to its rapid adoption in China. Digital fashion in China cannot be defined as a niche phenomenon, but rather as the result of a complex system in which industrial policy, technological innovation and collective culture are intertwined. In the second part the research is carried out through the Gioia methodology and the analysis of interviews with brands that have integrated digital fashion in their operations. The different steps used in collecting and elaborating data were also described. The third chapter shows the results of the analysis. The last chapter reports the conclusions, illustrating also the open points for future research.