Leveraging Global Production Networks for Local Economic Development: Insights from the Fashion Industry in Bilbao's Creative and Cultural Sectors

Abstract

This paper examines how fashion firms couple place-based assets with global production networks (GPNs) in Bilbao, Spain. We analyze two contrasting cases—a sustainability-oriented brand and an emergent designers’ network—based on 12 semi-structured interviews (Jan 2021–Jan 2022). Bilbao was purposively selected for its strong cultural/institutional assets and the structural absence of local textile manufacturing, a configuration that sharpens the interplay of strategic coupling, embeddedness (territorial/societal/network) and power. Findings show that certification bodies operate as authority nodes that structure supplier choice, timelines and access to niche markets, anchoring design and branding locally while governing manufacturing extra-locally. We also show how intermediaries such as BIAAF lower search/coordination costs and provide early validation, yet it may concentrate gatekeeping power for emergent designers. Limits to territorial embeddedness constrain local value capture despite strong societal and institutional anchoring. Policy implications are presented through a field finding → mechanism → policy map, translating observed coordination problems, capability gaps and certification-driven governance into place-appropriate instruments. The contribution is mechanism-oriented: we specify how non-firm actors and place conditions shape coupling, embeddedness and power in fashion GPNs within the creative and cultural sectors.