Network Building Under Relational Constraint: How Fashion Founders Without Prior Industry Connections Build and Mobilize Networks in Early-Stage Fashion Ventures

Sammanfattning

Networks are central to entrepreneurial activity, particularly in the fashion industry, where access to suppliers, buyers, resources, and legitimacy is highly relationship-dependent. While existing research has extensively examined how entrepreneurs develop and mobilize networks within established relational contexts, less is known about how such contexts are initially accessed by founders without prior industry connections. The study adopts a qualitative and abductive research design. Empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with ten fashion founders who entered the fashion industry without pre-existing industry connections. The data was analysed using thematic analysis structured according to the Gioia methodology. The findings show that network building among outsider founders is an iterative and adaptive process through which relationships are both built and mobilized. In the early stages, founders relied on digital prospecting, weak and bridging ties, and non-industry networks to establish initial relational access, which was shaped by significant gatekeeping barriers related to legitimacy and commercial scale. These constraints were navigated through active legitimacy construction, including storytelling, professional self-presentation, and external validation, which enabled further relationship development and mobilization. Over time, these relationships evolved from transactional contacts into embedded and strategically valuable networks that shaped opportunity recognition, resource access, and venture direction. The study contributes to entrepreneurial network research by extending understanding of how networks are built and mobilized under conditions of limited initial embeddedness in highly gatekept industries.