The experience of young people in the Maltese fashion industry

Abstract

This study looked was aimed to look into the experiences of young people working in the Maltese fashion industry. This study was centred around seven main research questions which were: What role does fashion play for Maltese youth interested in fashion? What importance does fashion have on young people’s lives who are involved in the fashion scene in Malta? What are the most prevalent fashion styles in Malta? What are the different milestones of the career trajectory in the fashion sector (onset of involvement, maintenance, and escalation)? What are the pressures on the systems that involve the fashion sector? What are the different and prevalent fashion styles in Malta at play? Does the fashion scene in Malta have subcultural elements? Secondary research was done, and fashion was defined as artistic, expressive, political and economic (Venkatasamy, 2015). Primary data was collected via six semi-structured interviews with young people who work in the fashion industry. The various limitations and opportunities of the Maltese fashion industry were discussed. It was uncovered that the main opportunities in Malta are entrepreneurship, Malta Fashion Week, and education. People also look for more opportunities abroad as there is a more accepting mentality than in Malta and more opportunities. Maltese people in the modelling and fashion industry show biases towards people with certain body images. The main fashion styles mentioned were the “ħamalli” style, and casual and athleisure style. The effects of the covid-19 pandemic on fashion styles were discussed. The main milestones of working in the fashion industry were recognition, taking part in Malta Fashion Week, education, networking and their career. The main influencers that affect people regarding fashion are social media, family and magazines.