Fashion Places, Spaces, and Actors in Two Major Polish Cities. Taking a Closer Look at the Fashion Ecosystem at the Local Level
摘要
Taking into account the key elements in the fashion ecosystem mentioned in earlier chapters (e.g. larger fast fashion firms, independent firms and designers, education institutions, museums, organisers of fashion fairs) and other, particularly newer, independent types of fashion-related actors and spaces linked with fashion education, design, production, and consumption, the aim of this chapter is to take a closer look at the urban fashion ecosystem at the city level. Exploring the presence of fashion in two second-tier Polish cities important on today’s overall map of fashion in Poland, we have analysed the main aspects of each city’s fashion ecosystem. In order to better understand them, we have inquired into their visibility and the roles they may play in urban space, particularly in their inner cities and historic quarters, moving beyond strictly commercial to include other benefits of the ecosystem (e.g. image-related and social). Drawing on information obtained during interviews with diverse actors and the results of comprehensive field mapping of historic quarters in both cities, we have examined the location and clusters of fashion places and spaces in the historic city centres of Kraków and Poznań as well as their links with the changing character and image of particular parts of both cities and their overall character as fashion cities.