Through the lens of the fashion industry Iva Petkova explores not only how institutionalized
organizations react and adapt to the rise of start-up outsiders but also how these outside
disruptors seek to cultivate legitimacy and win influence. In so doing she reflects upon a
longstanding question in the sociology of organizations and neo-institutional theory: How do
institutionalized organizations in creative industries resolve the inherent conflict between
art and commerce particularly in a changing institutional environment? Engineering Legitimacy
outlines the processes through which e-commerce and social commerce companies in fashion
disturb and reconstruct the industry crosscutting their technical field of expertise and
looking to legitimize their innovative practice in the institutionally elaborated field of
fashion. Through an analysis of the emerging culture of innovation collectively created by
start-up outsider disruptors this book contemplates how fashion-technology companies transform
their moral narratives into acceptable commercial practice legitimating a model of profound
institutional change over the digital operations of fashion companies.
