Style is becoming increasingly important to companies as they recognise its influence in shaping their products as well as the means by which they can rejuvenate their product portfolios as markets approach maturity. Yet change is an innate characteristic of style and the management of style is in effect the management of change.

This paper examines the way that companies engage in search processes for style creation and selection. In order to do this, the authors study the fashion industry – the quintessential context in the creation of style, developing a semi-grounded, multiple-case analysis. Their findings show that while searching for new styles, fashion companies tend to adopt one of two approaches. For some, the search process is predominantly internal and led by an individual, the lead designer, which tends to generate incremental changes. Other companies are more sensitive towards changes in the market, and their search process is led by a team or a department instead.

These two models affect the scope and outcome of the search process. While companies driven by a lead designer tend to search more locally and specifically within the designer’s expertise, they strengthen their stylistic identity at the expense of their ability to match the trends in the market. Meanwhile, the team-led companies tend to look beyond their horizons, enabling them to produce more radical changes, but in the long run it may cause a loss of stylistic identity.

With reference to two case studies, Escada and Diesel, as well as data from a wider range of fashion companies, the paper discusses the mechanisms behind these two search styles and the opportunities and limitations they present. It concludes by drawing academic and managerial implications for companies that want to pursue a process of change driven by style.

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