A systematic review of zero waste fashion construction techniques

There are a number of techniques, strategies, alternative processes and approaches to sustainable design products having a low environmental impact and positive social purpose in fashion. However, this study is only focused on the zero waste fashion construction techniques globally addressed as one of the sustainable design to give rise to the attention of fashion designers and garment manufactures

Application Research of 3D Printing Technology on Dress Forms

Abstract— Dress form is an essential tool in the clothing-making process for pattern block development, draping and quality inspection. However, it is noted that a single dress form is not applicable for a large variety body shapes. There are adjustable dress forms and custom-made dress forms to attempt to make up for the insufficiency of conventional dress forms. However, such types of dress forms are rather costly and their effectiveness is debatable. With this is mind, a customised adjustable kit for the dress form was developed, with the aim to cover different sizes and shapes more precisely. The kit adopts 3D printing technology which enables generating and changing the shape of components efficiently

An Institutional Approach to Sustainable Fashion: A Case Study of Zero Waste Fashion

The apparel brands and retailers are taking more responsibilities for their environmental impacts for sustainable fashion. According to the rise in demand, the more fashion schools, colleges and universities are reacting to these changes and educate students to have more awareness of sustainability to take forward into changing the industry. Zero waste is one of the sustainable approaches to facilitate material efficiency by minimising fabric waste, and it can be applied to the design stage, the pattern cutting, fabric cutting, and production stages. This study is focused on evaluating the zero waste design module in BA Fashion Design course in UK high education. The teaching approach, materials, and structure of the designed module were analysed using action research as well as questionnaire conducted by students. The assignments of students based on the practice-based learning were evaluated, and reflections from students were also analysed. The results were interpreted as a guideline for a new focus on optimised curricula about the technical practice of zero waste

Comparative analysis of sizing in children's wear between the UK and Korea

The body shapes and sizes of children are distinctive and continually developing into adults' shapes. The sizing system for children's garments is not standardised between clothing companies and countries because to follow the national standard sizing system and to use the data of a national sizing survey is not compulsory for clothing companies. These factors bring about difficulties for garment makers for manufacturing appropriate sizes of clothing as well as for consumers while choosing the size of clothes in the global fashion market. For these reasons, a better understanding of body size and shape of children including their current sizing system and size charts is required. This research is based on in-depth empirical research comparing selected cases which are the UK and Korea. The aim was to provide a systematic technical guideline for garment makers by gaining a knowledge of current children’s body sizes and shapes and consequently providing an alternative set of data for the UK and Korea. Firstly, the main body shapes and sizes characteristics of infants and children including their growth rate, age classification, and gender differences were considered. Next, data of national sizing surveys and national sizing standards including the current brand size charts of infants and children’s clothing brands in the UK and Korea were compared and analysed by mixed methods. Also, consumer surveys were conducted and analysed to be aware of the difficulties in choosing sizes and purchasing tendencies of consumers. It was found that national sizing surveys and national sizing systems in the UK and Korea did not correspond significantly and it was referred that understanding of this contrasting designation and body measurement methods should be considered to explore each countries’ market. The different size chart constructing methods and body measurements between the two countries’ brand size charts also should be reflected for developing new size charts. It was also found that the considerably different consumer behaviour in the two countries should be recognised by garment manufacturer

A Study of the Current Infant and Children’s Clothing Size Charts in the UK

Abstract: The body size and shape of infants and children who have distinctive physical characteristics changes constantly up to adulthood. In this sense, it cannot be emphasised enough that the size charts which can be representative of infants and children’s body size and shape precisely are required. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current size charts of the infant and children’s clothing brands in the UK. A total of 52 of infants and children targeted brands in the UK were collected by random sampling online and the characteristics of selected size charts were examined, evaluated, and also compared with the Shape GB (National size survey). According to the results, the average size measurements from the selected size charts were smaller than the Shape GB but the fit form made by the Shape GB data had similar size with the average sizes. The considerable number of brands provided the body measurements of ‘Height, Chest, waist,and Hip’ with additional weight measurement at the infant targeted brands. The size charts were more classified by age, gender, clothing type, and fitting but those were different from all size charts and it can be suggested that united size charts should be suggested

A Comparative Study of National Standard and Sizing Survey between the UK and South Korea

In the infant and childrenswear market, some unsolved issues exist such as unsatisfactory fitting, size discordance, growing rate of return at the online markets despite the various trials and research from garment manufacturers, governments, and academia. Studies about national standards and sizing surveys for childrenswear also have been presented but these data are modified, revised and altered when they are adjusted into rapidly changing body sizes. In this sense, an updated sizing study using the recent data is required. The comparative approach in this study has been used in a cross-national comparison to achieve a variety of objectives. The UK and South Korea being Western and Eastern countries are selected due to their distinctive differences of ethnic, anthropometric and geographic aspects. The comparative materials of the UK and South Korea were their national industrial standards (British Standards and Korean Industrial Standards) and national sizing surveys for children (6th SizeKorea and Shape GB) which were collected electronically from their official websites. A systematic descriptive study of the industrial standards and sizing surveys in the UK and South Korea was conducted at the first stage. Next, new empirical works were presented from the existing collected materials and the comparison data was provided as textual data as well as tables and graphs. Children and young adults aged 7 to 17 were selected to identify conditions of the anthropometric comparison. It was found that national standards for infants and childrenswear in the UK and South Korea have distinctive differences with regard to terminology, size designation of clothes, body measurements, and specification of dimension and sizing intervals. In comparing the sizing surveys, the 6th SizeKorea survey measured more subjects than the Shape GB survey and it also provides raw data of result with more body measurements. Some measurement terminology and methods of both countries did not correspond with their national standards and also differ between the two countries distinctively. It is expected that this study will help to develop an improved sizing system with the potential to cross continents and the development of an international sizing standard as to further assist global garment manufacturers and international consumers

Colour application comparison between luxurious and retail brand’s window displays

Window display is a useful tool in visual merchandising and an important method for fashion marketing. Designers spend time thinking, conceptualising, and selecting elements to be shown in the brand's store window display; and nowadays big department stores and global fashion brands hire experienced designers and design teams to create visually attractive stores interiors and window displays. The two main purposes, usually, for displaying products in windows are grabbing attentions as a marketing tool, and showing what the brand offers for the consumer. Luxury fashion brands and luxurious department stores spend time and big amounts of money from the brands’ budgets to arrange visually attractive window displays, international fashion retail brands sometimes does that too. In this study we will look at several design elements in some luxurious fashion brands and retail fashion windows for four brands in UK and Saudi Arabia. Case studies and observations are used as the main research method, and sampling is conducted in three cities for the brands’ 2017S/S seasons, London, Leeds in UK and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; collecting photographs of each window display is arranged for each brand. Firstly, we will be analysing each window by its own using a guiding summary table, and a focused study into colour will be conducted with comparative colour analysis that will be carried out between the four chosen luxury and retail brands in both countries

Elevated intracellular cAMP exacerbates vulnerability to oxidative stress in optic nerve head astrocytes.

Glaucoma is characterized by a progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells and their axons, but the underlying biological basis for the accompanying neurodegeneration is not known. Accumulating evidence indicates that structural and functional abnormalities of astrocytes within the optic nerve head (ONH) have a role. However, whether the activation of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) signaling pathway is associated with astrocyte dysfunction in the ONH remains unknown. We report here that the cAMP/protein kinase A (PKA) pathway is critical to ONH astrocyte dysfunction, leading to caspase-3 activation and cell death via the AKT/Bim/Bax signaling pathway. Furthermore, elevated intracellular cAMP exacerbates vulnerability to oxidative stress in ONH astrocytes, and this may contribute to axonal damage in glaucomatous neurodegeneration. Inhibition of intracellular cAMP/PKA signaling activation protects ONH astrocytes by increasing AKT phosphorylation against oxidative stress. These results strongly indicate that activation of cAMP/PKA pathway has an important role in astrocyte dysfunction, and suggest that modulating cAMP/PKA pathway has therapeutic potential for glaucomatous ONH degeneration

Application Research of 3D Printing Technology on Dress Form

Abstract—Dress form is an essential tool in the clothing-making process for pattern block development, draping and quality inspection. However, it is noted that a single dress form is not applicable for a large variety body shapes. There are adjustable dress forms and custom-made dress forms to attempt to make up for the insufficiency of conventional dress forms. However, such types of dress forms are rather costly and their effectiveness is debatable. With this is mind, a customised adjustable kit for the dress form was developed, with the aim to cover different sizes and shapes more precisely. The kit adopts 3D printing technology which enables generating and changing the shape of components efficiently