Making Creativity, Not Innovation. Lessons from the Field of Fashion¹

Abstract

Conceptualizing creativity as an ascription made by external audiences, this paper sheds light on the organized making of creativity, a process we label creativization. Creativitization is based on specific forms of knowledge and communication. By means of empirical illustrations from the field of fashion, we first view the utilization of knowledge in the form of materializations (in technologies), repertoires (of routines), and pooling (in projects). Second, we shed light on the significance of communication and demonstrate that communication in the form of themes, narratives, and storytelling not only serves external purposes of staging, but also fulfills internal functions of developing novelties. Third, we consider the (often lose) couplings between knowledge utilization and communication in the making of creativity. Finally, because manifest and highly institutionalized creativity expectations absorb resources and attention, we view creativization as an innovation barrier or even a substitute for innovations rather than its base.

The 5W+1H of Second-Generation Activism: Narratives from Below

“…Also, the "logic of bearing witness" is considered useful in the promotion of cultural and identity issues: it is used as an imaginative tool in order to express the wish for national belonging through "acts of cultural performance" (Hawthorne, 2021: 189), such as artistic performances. The creativity of young people in collective actions has an extraordinary nature: it aims to produce elements of surprise through unexpected cultural and material configurations (Godart et al 2020;Hasse and Nyfeler, 2021). The creativity of #ItalianiSenzaCittadinanza is ascribed to the products, processes and people involved in the action (Hasse and Nyfeler, 2021) and concerns the creation of messages to be expressed to wider communities as a symbol of identity and crucial issues of dissent (Daher et al, 2022).…”

“…The creativity of young people in collective actions has an extraordinary nature: it aims to produce elements of surprise through unexpected cultural and material configurations (Godart et al 2020;Hasse and Nyfeler, 2021). The creativity of #ItalianiSenzaCittadinanza is ascribed to the products, processes and people involved in the action (Hasse and Nyfeler, 2021) and concerns the creation of messages to be expressed to wider communities as a symbol of identity and crucial issues of dissent (Daher et al, 2022).…”