Future of Collaboration. Why Corporations Are Looking for Independent Creators

In an era when consumers crave authenticity, major fashion houses are realizing that their corporate gloss no longer causes the same awe. According to Lyst, 68% of Generation Z representatives consider collaborations with independent designers more valuable than mainstream collections. This has led to a paradoxical trend: luxury brands are deliberately looking for "unpolished" talents, like the mysterious graphic designer whose print suddenly appeared on Dior bags. Behind this is a strategy of "controlled enthusiasm": corporations gain access to new subcultures and digital communities while retaining the right to interpret their aesthetics. The result? 300% increase in social media engagement and instant sales. In the coming years, this trend will develop into a permanent "crowdsourcing" system: brands will work not with individual creators, but with entire digital communities, where each user can become a co-author of the next hit product.

• How can local designers from emerging markets maintain authenticity by working with Western giants? Is it possible to turn such collages into a cultural export tool?
• Russian independent brands have often become "trendsetters" for the West. Is a new round of such influence possible in the current reality, and through which platforms?
• Web3 and NFT promise designers from anywhere in the world direct monetization of their ideas. When will fashion collages move from physical collections to digital collaborations in the metaverse?