The BSc (Hons) Digital Fashion programme of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has successfully completed an exciting collaboration with GOELIA, a renowned ladieswear fashion brand in China. Established in 1995, GOELIA was born with a single vision: to craft garments with sincerity that transcend borders. In the past 29 years, GOELIA has dedicated wholeheartedly to fashion using high quality fabrics, carefully designing and sewing, and offering the most reasonable pricing to customers. Since 2022, Goelia has achieved global expansion, connecting with users in over 46 countries and regions worldwide via their website www.goelia1995.com. Additionally, their flagship stores have flourished on a global scale, establishing a presence from China and Singapore to Australia and beyond. The collaboration between the Digital Fashion programme and GOELIA aims to connect PolyU students with the fashion industry in the Greater Bay Area which empowers final year undergraduates through real-world experiences and exposure to the industry in a capstone project on global branding strategies.
The capstone project, ‘Cross Boundaries’, witnessed the collaboration of 30 final year students with GOELIA in a two-phase proposal development competition. In Phase 1, the students conducted in-depth research on GOELIA and proposed innovative initial ideas for the introduction of the brand to two overseas cities, which would contribute to its global expansion plans. Among the 13 initial proposals submitted to GOELIA, 5 proposals were selected in Phase 2 to further fine tune the ideas. Teams were formed to develop more comprehensive branding strategy proposals to compete for the final prize. The selected teams were challenged to develop plans for a branding strategy by creating digital content that aims to introduce the brand to international consumers and enhance the positive image of the brand. We are grateful for the support from GOELIA for this collaboration, including a field trip to their highly digitalised manufacturing facilities at their headquarters in Guangzhou as well as their retail stores, museum and gallery. This trip gave the students the opportunity to have a first-hand understanding of the brand’s history, operations and marketing strategies. GOELIA also coached and supported the selected teams on the production of digital content for this capstone project. Last but not least, we are grateful to the generous cash prizes given to the winning teams that reward the efforts and innovative ideas of the students in this branding strategy project.
This collaboration between the BSc (Hons) Digital Fashion programme and GOELIA represents a significant milestone in linking the industry with our future talents. Integrating academic excellence with industrial expertise, this collaboration has equipped students with theoretical knowledge, practical skills and a better understanding of the fashion industry through the lens of a successful fashion brand.
