• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.46 no.6
• /
• pp.1039-1057
• /
• 2022

The fashion system has been criticized for relying on a linear economy to reduce short-term costs and increase profits. Meanwhile, the circular economy strives to expand the value chain through a closed loop for companies, society, and the environment by separating consumption from resources. This study aims to elucidate the strategic characteristics of the technological measures that fashion companies and brands are trying to innovate into a sustainable fashion system on the basis of the circular economy concept. Thus, we conducted case studies by dividing the value chain of the fashion system into design, production, and consumption to identify the technological development of the circular fashion system from a technologization perspective that incorporates technological values. First, design appeared to strengthen emotional durability, design and process with circulation in mind, and fashion product digitalization. Second, production manifested itself as material development for the new fiber economy, improvement of non-environmental processes, and customization of demand-driven, responsive production. Third, consumption was the spread of the environmental consumption culture through the sharing economy platform, the realization of a virtual wearing experience to prevent rapid disposal, and the provision of information on sustainable consumption.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.15-28
• /
• 2022

In the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, with its accelerating radical changes and innovation, fashion is rapidly advancing to sustain social changes introduced by technological convergence. In light of this, the study investigates the social and cultural characteristics of technologizing fashion products: creative modifications emerge from technological convergence with fashion products and result in a realm separate from technology. By focusing on the nature of fashion, this study analyzes the technologization of fashion products for added value creation in the fashion system. Based on the findings, it interprets different attitudes toward technologizing that changes fashion products. Accordingly, this study reviews previous literature and qualitatively examines empirical cases based on inductive reasoning. In particular, it analyzes commercialized cases of fashion-technology convergence in fashion products found on online fashion media outlets between January 2007 and May 2021, a central period in intellectual and technological innovation. The characteristics of technologized fashion products are identified as follows: expansion of physical functions and categories, interaction with emotional sensibilities, artistry through combination with technologies, and computer-generated imagery(CGI) fashion as digital goods. Therefore, this study analyzes the characteristics of technologization, focusing on the social and cultural properties of fashion products. The findings provide opportunities to understand the paradigm shift of these products that was catalyzed by technologizing.