Textile and Apparel Industries

The State of Fashion Entrepreneurship: Innovating Beyond Fashion Capitals

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Abstract

Entrepreneurship plays a critical role in driving innovation and employment within the fashion industry. This study provides a macro-level, longitudinal analysis of 71,910 global fashion start-ups to evaluate the influence of fashion capitals—London, Milan, New York City, and Paris—on entrepreneurial outcomes. Using descriptive statistics, Sentence-BERT text analysis, and Spearman’s rank correlation, we assess material and social support across fashion start-ups. Findings show that most fashion start-ups remain small, product-focused, and operate with limited funding. Although fashion capitals are traditionally viewed as hubs of resources and legitimacy, our results reveal no material advantage in company size, but a weak positive association with access to funding. These insights challenge assumptions about the centrality of fashion capitals and highlight the need for policy and support structures that better serve diverse and geographically dispersed fashion entrepreneurs.

Keywords: Fashion Entrepreneurship, Fashion Capitals, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

How to Cite:

Chenn, A. & Cho, E., (2025) “The State of Fashion Entrepreneurship: Innovating Beyond Fashion Capitals”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 82(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.21620