Joanna Liu
Joanna’s research area focuses on the challenges in the field of digital communication in fashion, identifying models of cross-cultural digital fashion communication, and sustainable digital fashion communication to support companies in using digital channels to communicate with specific markets, especially exploring the differences in digital communication in China and Europe, such as how does social media work in China and Europe? How can online strategies and digital channels be used to reach local customers? How to benefit from the fast-growing digital market in China?
Katharina Sand
The research focuses on how social network mechanisms can be employed for social good in the context of fashion. Can ephemeral digital fashion content encourage sustainability by imparting a renewed sense of value upon authorship and craftsmanship in the field? The review and analysis of current Instagram fashion semiotics and engagement of slow consumption and sufficiency versus high consumption aims to allow the establishment of guidelines for generating behavioral change amongst high consumption consumers.
Charlotte Stachel
Charlotte Stachel’s Ph.D. research focuses on fashion heritage and the digitalization of a company’s archive. In particular, it explores how digital media can be orchestrated to present a company’s legacy through digital exhibitions or through the enrichment of the experience of visiting a physical collection. The research is conducted on the case of the Swiss Fashion Brand Bally and its related digital and phygital communication practices. It will cover the preservation and communication of Bally’s 171-year-old heritage at the crossroads of intangible and tangible heritage and its connection to an emerging trend within museums and academia. The Ph.D. position is funded through the Lifestyle Tech Competence Center, of which USI and Bally are founding partners. Further project partners are Hyphen, Microsoft and Moresi.