Open Innovation in Italian High-end Fashion: An Analysis of Network Tie Formation by New Ventures

Using a multiple case study of Italian high-end fashion, we analyze how new ventures pursue an open innovation by forming network ties to facilitate symbolic value propositions. We identify three strategies to form these ties: leverage of extant ties, Product exposure, and Entrepreneur exposure. Discussing the specificity of our empirical setting, we find that the identified strategies accommodate an industry context where market value is socially constructed and uncertainty is high. As a result, rather than being set by entrepreneurs, symbolic value propositions result from a mix of multiple diverse network ties. New high-end fashion ventures form these ties by applying strategies facilitating flexibility through open-ended search.