Consumers’ Clothing Benefits and Expectations on Smartphone Fashion Apps

More than 90 million people used smartphones in the United States in 2012 (Alexander 2012). It is estimated that the smartphone application market will experience growth of more than 1,000% between 2010 and 2014 (Petty & Goasduff, 2011). Fashion brands and companies have created smartphone apps as a new communication tool to create a strong connection with consumers and ultimately lead to continuous purchases without site and time limitations (Kim 2010). Since this field has become competitive, fashion brands need to understand consumers\u27 expectations and design more attractive apps to lead consumers to purchase them (Maceli, 2011). This study investigates what kinds of specific expectations consumer have about functions of smartphone fashion apps and how they differ from their benefit segmentations. This study will give ideas to app developers and fashion brands and/or companies when they are launching and managing fashion brand apps

Problem Based Learning: Jeanswear Design for Rare Disease Day

To raise awareness of rare diseases among members of the public as well as to help undergraduate students majoring in apparel design learn problem-solving approaches to garment design for a specific population, a problem-based learning project was created and implemented in an undergraduate design course

Golden Bee

This dress was mainly inspired by Elizabeth Taylor and the movie she starred, Cleopatra. Several techniques were used to communicate the inspiration and the techniques will give new design ideas to designers who want to create innovative design

Airy Bloom

This dress was created to increase awareness of the global air pollution issue and to emphasize our cooperative efforts to better the air quality. The abandoned air filters were recycled and rebirthed to create an elegant, romantic, and energetic dress. Just like combining people’s hopes and efforts one by one, the small pieces were connected to create a hopeful, blooming dress. The interesting textures of the air filters encompasses the airy, lightweight dress, and delivers the hopeful message. The dress was made through sustainable construction methods such as zero wastes. This design explored a new material, air filters, recreated into interesting textures. A special construction method was utilized to make the dress using the new material

Exploring Sociology of Consumption of Wedding Dress Rentals in Thailand

This study employed in-depth interview and observation methods to gain Thai consumers\u27 subjective experiences and an understanding about factors affecting renting decision processes in the wedding dress rental context. Findings demonstrate that Thai consumers\u27 five-step decision making process in renting is influenced by sociology of consumption (i.e., cultural values, institution, and norms imposed by institutions) that consumers acknowledge and comply. Shared beliefs in Thai culture affect individuals\u27 actions or use of resources to achieve their goals. This study significantly contributes to the body of literature in product renting decision-making process and extends these findings to include renting decision by proposing the use of sociology of consumption for exploring product-specific consumption in Thai culture. Future research should investigate the role of cultural differences and social norms in renting decisions among consumers in the U.S. to learn more about their societal characteristics that can possibly encourage wedding dress renting behavior

Exploring entrepreneurial processes of emerging fashion designers

This study explored emerging designers\u27 experiences and detailed accounts of how emerging designers\u27 enterprises originated including the unique routes each designer took in the process. To achieve the research purpose, eight emerging fashion designers took part in semi-structured interviews, lasting approximately one hour. The collected data was analyzed and categorized based on the entrepreneurial process comprised of the innovation stage, a triggering event, implementation, and ultimately, growth. Personal factors played a critical role in the early stages of the entrepreneurial process while environmental factors took on greater significance in the later stages of the process. The study will contribute to the literature on fashion designers\u27 entrepreneurial processes as well as support for policies and funding initiatives of start-up fashion companies

Exploring Design Factors in Designing Horticultural Garments for Older Adults

Gardening is a common leisure pursuit for many older individuals, and research indicates that older individuals who garden are in better overall health than non-gardeners. Although there are numerous health benefits of gardening activities for older adults, this subject has not been explored sufficiently in the field of apparel design. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore design factors in developing gardening garments for older adults. This study focuses particularly on the population who were born before the year 1960 because this age cohort has begun retiring and has significant buying power. Findings offer insights for designers who seek to better understand and market to this age cohort by designing relevant garments for their gardening activities

Exploring Role Power within Bridal Gown Selection Process

This study explores brides\u27 selection of the wedding gown by focusing on the power that other individuals have in different social roles during the gown decision-making process. In order to achieve the research purpose, data collection took place via Mechanical Turk. Valid responses were collected from 71 females who had worn a wedding dress in a ceremony. The survey questions consisted of 13 demographic questions, eight open-ended questions, and six 7-point Likert-scale survey questions regarding their wedding dress selection process, factors affecting the process, and possible negotiations that participants experienced. There were five main identified themes, which describe the bases of power used by the roles involved in the wedding dress selection. Findings provide managerial implications for wedding retailers (e.g. sales persons should let the shopping companions help the bride with the wedding dress decision and focus on providing guidance and support during the selling process)