During the entire course, five groups of students worked on a case study on the European Fashion Heritage Association (EFHA). In the first week, Marco Rendina, managing director of EFHA, introduced the association and the challenges it faces. At the same time, students received training by Carla Gatt, senior editor at the RSM case development centre, on the nature of case studies and their teaching notes, along with how to write them. Each group of students chose a specific challenge faced by the EFHA as the focus of their analysis for the entire course. The following challenges have been introduced:
- Devise a plan to identify, measure, assess and manage the far-reaching types of impact (not only economic) of the EFHA and its activities (Change Pathway Canvas, Strategic perspectives, Value lenses)
- Propose a viable business model for the EFHA (Business model canvas generation)
- Define strategies to engage different stakeholders (GLAMs, brands, students/scholars, archives, etc.) in the EFHA (including value proposition design: how to create value for this kind of customers)
- Propose ways of creating and/or diversifying curatorial activities of the EFHA (new platforms, new ways of communicating, engaging new providers of editorial content)
Students worked together toward writing a case study, teaching notes and final presentation on this subject which stimulates students’ analytical skills and creative thinking. Eventually, two groups of students were chosen to publish their cases.
The abstracts of the cases are presented below and through the links you will find the case studies full text.
EFHA: Connecting Academia with Fashion Heritage
Wing So, Efim Shapiro, Tamara Hofman, Darko Stanisljevic, Mint Sirijindaphan, Carla Gatt, Mariangela Lavanga, Ben Wubs (2020). EFHA: Connecting Academia with Fashion Heritage. RSM Case Development Centre. The case is featured in The Case Centre and in the RSM-Rotterdam School of Management Case Catalogue. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/131115
Abstract
The European Fashion Heritage Association (the EFHA) aims to help fashion GLAMS and brands to get better value from their cultural heritage assets by connecting them with new audiences. While doing research for a paper for her economics of fashion class, Carlijn, a master’s student, discovered the EFHA and the digital archive they offer. After navigating through the archive and using the material for her paper, she wanted to get more involved with the EFHA. She emailed Marco Rendina, the managing director of the EFHA to inquire about the possibilities. Her inquiry resonated with Marco, who was keen on improving the student and scholar stakeholder engagement with the EFHA. The EFHA had engaged with students through Wikipedia edit-a-thons and with scholars through their annual conferences. However, with the launch of Google Cultural Institute’s digital fashion heritage project, We Wear Culture, the need to improve this stakeholder engagement had become one of the opportunities the EFHA could take to distinguish itself from its new giant competitor. The case study also identified some of the main challenges the EFHA faced, such as; engaging students and scholars, the ambiguity of stakeholder groups, difficult user- experience accessing digital archives, unclear partnership statuses, and external competitors like Google’s Art and Culture project.
Keywords: European Fashion Heritage Association, GLAMs, Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums, Online Archive, Platform, Partnerships. Students, Researchers, Stakeholders
You are what you (co)curate: A participatory approach to fashion curation in the digital world
Shih-Po Weng, Joyce Stefanova, Fraser White, Ting Fang Yu, Mariangela Lavanga, Carla Gatt, Ben Wubs (2020). You are what you (co)curate: A participatory approach to fashion curation in the digital world. RSM Case Development Centre. The case is featured in The Case Centre and in the RSM-Rotterdam School of Management Case Catalogue. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/131112
Abstract
The digitisation of cultural heritage started more than 20 years ago and brought about a few changes in the way culture is being produced, consumed, and perceived. Initially, this process aimed at taking out the cultural artefacts, which were stuck in the dusty galleries, libraries, archives, museums, and bringing them closer to both professionals from the creative industries and non-professionals. Nevertheless, this approach is rather difficult because even though there is a huge amount of already digitised cultural heritage, those resources are not used that much, especially in the segment of fashion heritage. What is the importance and the relevance of a digitised cultural heritage? How can both the organisation and its users benefit from it?
Keywords: European Fashion Heritage Association, GLAMs- Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums. Digitised Cultural heritage, Artefacts, Online Platform, stakeholder engagement, curation, partnerships, networks
Besides, these students are invited to pilot the case in the Minor Fashion Industry in September/October. For more information about EFHA check out the interview with Marco Rendina.
