The creation and mass distribution of cultural works.
Published in Chapter:
Etnika: A Model for the Cultural and Creative Identity of Ecuadorian Footwear
Sandra C. Varela (Technical University of Ambato, Ecuador), Marcelo Pilamunga (Technical University of Ambato, Ecuador), and Jorge L. Santamaría (Technical University of Ambato, Ecuador)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 22
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1859-5.ch010
Abstract
Currently, the Ecuadorian footwear industry faces competitiveness problems with products that enter the country with advantages in terms of quality, design, and price, factors that have captured the preference of local consumers. The purpose of this work is to highlight the value of design in the footwear industry in Ecuador, contributing with a proposal focused on ethnic fashion, using typical and traditional Ecuadorian elements and forms as a strategy of differentiation in the generation of products with identity, which allow competitiveness within the national market and subsequently international. For this purpose, Etnika was born, a brand of traditional Ecuadorian women's casual footwear, that proposes the application of a business model focused on “slow fashion” based on a specific market study, which has shown preference in aspects that involve factors such as new materials, design ethics, eco-friendly manufacturing processes, fair trade, quality, and added value.