Managing Innovation and Creativity at Topman Essay

Managing Innovation and Creativity at Topman - Essay Example One such business is Topman the seller of men’s fashion. Topman is actually a stand-alone fashion business that was started by Peter Robinson in 1978. Topman exclusively caters to men and their stores can be found throughout the United Kingdom. The point that Topman wants to make is to â€Å"provide a new approach to menswear retailing† (Fashion Model Directory, 2011). Their main product offering is men’s fashionable clothes from formal suits to casual styles; they also carry footwear and accessories. Topman states that they have something for any fellow who is looking for something unique and different. Some of the designer clothes they carry includes items by Fred Perry, Licentious, Carolyn Massey, Material Boy, Dexter Wong Ltd. Topman is also interested in collaborating with young designers and they have worked with Markus Lupfer, Peter Jensen, Kim Jones and they have launched their own premium label called, â€Å"Topman Design.† Topman is also collabor ating with Fashion East to produce a menswear event â€Å"MAN† that takes place during London Fashion Week.... Each company creates their own corporate culture and the owners must be able to express their vision for the business to their employees and to their target market. Creativity is also a large part of advertising. The more creative a business owner is in their advertising, the easier it will be to capture the audience they want to capture. Wallas (qtd. in McLeod 2009) states that there are five stages of creativity that are quite relevant to this discussion. The five stages that Wallas described were: 1. Preparation – the individual begins to work on a particular problem and begins to think about the problem. 2. Incubation – the individual continues to think about the problem mentally but does not yet do anything physically about it. 3. Intimation – the creative individual now begins to get ideas about the problem and how they can work with it. 4. Illumination or insight – the creative individual now has some ideas to begin putting on paper or constructing to solve the problem. 5. Verification – the individual finally understands what they need to do in the problem and they begin to consciously do something about it. These five stages seem to imply that creativity is more an unconscious process that comes into consciousness for the individual. This shows how people are inspired to do great things. 1.2 Topman and Creativity Topman has worked hard to differentiate itself from other clothing designers and retailers. It is part of another business called TopShop and both stores cater to men’s fashions. Men can find reasonably proceed apparel that was created by well known designers or by new, up and coming designers.