The field of fashion production in Milan: A theoretical discussion and an empirical investigation

•Bourdieu's concept of field of cultural production is proposed to explore strategies of fashion entrepreneurs.•A theoretical discussion shows that this concept is complementary to that of networks or Becker's world of art.•Empirically the concept is applied to emerging fashion designers in Milan.•The notion of field enriches our understanding of local organisation of fashion entrepreneurs.

The paper looks at the fashion industry in Milan, where, as in other cultural industries, entrepreneurs and professionals rely on their networks for the exchange of information, the building of reputation, accessing critical resources and many other crucial activities. Recently, research has been done about how actors access networks, emphasising the role of social and cultural capital, stressing how inequalities are reproduced and highlighting dynamics of exclusion. What is less explored are actors' strategies to exploit the potential of networking. With this aim, the paper investigates the dynamic positioning of fashion professionals in the fashion system of Milan by using Bourdieu's concept of field of cultural production. Key questions concern actors' strategy in using and combining their social, cultural and economic capital in order to gain better positioning in the system and therefore gain success. In depth interviews and histories of professional life of fashion designers constitute the basis of the empirical investigation. Empirical results show that the notion of field enriches our understanding of local organisation of creative workers.