• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.474-485
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants and elements to enhance Korean international competitiveness, employing Porter's(1998) Diamond Model. Half of the 500 leading apparel exporters that were members of the Korea Apparel Industry Association in 2003 were selected as the target of this research. From May to June of 2003, survey questionnaires were sent to executives of these 250 companies in person or by telephone, e-mail, or fax. Seventy questionnaires were used for the final data anlysis. The items used were Reliability, Categorical Regression, and Frequency, using SPSS 11.5. The results were as follows: First, as a result of analyzing the influence of international competitiveness in Korean apparel industry, the firm's strategy, structure, and rivalry was the most influential factor. Others were related and supporting industries, government, chance, demand conditions, and factor conditions. Also, the elements that affect Korean international competitiveness were listed as the level of price competition in foreign markets, the level of labor cost, export marketing capacity, and exchange fluctuation. The most important element to improve the international competitiveness of the Korean apparel industry was a demand growth rate of the overseas markets(Demand Conditions), followed by the level of the labor costs(Factor Conditions), the capability of internationalization(Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry), the change of currency(Chance), the quality and management of products(Demand Conditions), the capability of planning products(Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry), free trade from 2005(Chance), and global sourcing strategy(Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry). Korea's main rival country in apparel related and supporting industry factors is China. However, Korea has a higher level of technology development, quality, and price level than China.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.109-123
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• 2015

The object of this research is to take a bilateral look into cultural exchanges of the Netherlands and Japan through the East India Company and thereby improve the general understanding in regards to the exchanges of costume cultures between the East and the West. The study conducted qualitative analyses on features of contemporary costumes of the Netherlands and Japan from 1602 to 1799 by investigating the secondary sources, such as the histories of costumes, arts, and literature. The results are as follows; the traditional sleeves of the Japanese Kimono were basically cut out in a straight line. However due to the growing popularity of the kimono home gown in Europe, the producers of the kimono in India as well as several other European countries modified them into western-style sleeves. Regarding the costumes of the Netherlands, which were introduced to Japan, the study found that Japan imported Dutch fabrics, instead of specific clothing items. In Japan, costume controls and anti-conspicuous consumption regulations among social classes including a closed-door policy had negative effects on both developments and exchanges of costumes of the country. However, when it comes to the Jinbaori, a costume for ruling classes, Japan was open to using fabrics, patterns and designs of the West. In light of what have been discussed so far, the study confirmed that the costume exchanges between the two countries started long after their first business of the general cultural exchanges. Though it is clear that the advancements in the natural sciences that the Japanese made can be attributed to the West, Japan was one of the nations that impacted the costume cultures in Europe.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.216-230
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• 2014

The importance of the Chinese fashion market is increasing; therefore, this study investigates the possibility of implementing a Word-of-Mouth (WOM) marketing strategy among Chinese students in Korea. This study examines the effects of consumer characteristics (similarity, opinion leadership, and fashion innovativeness), awareness of Korean fashion brands, satisfaction with Korean fashion products on WOM experiences and WOM behavior (off-line as well as on-line). A total of 161 responses from Chinese students in Korea were gathered and analyzed using SPSS 20.0 for descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and regression analysis. The results show that consumer characteristics (except similarity) significantly influence WOM experiences, opinion leadership influence off-line WOM behavior, and fashion innovativeness influence online WOM behavior. However, similarity has no influence on WOM experiences and WOM behavior. Second, Korean brand awareness affect both WOM experiences and behavior; however, satisfaction with Korean fashion products only affected WOM experiences. This study showed the feasibility of conducting a WOM marketing strategy using the WOM effects of Chinese students in Korea. The study may help the Korean apparel industries establish an entry strategy for the Chinese market.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.51-68
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• 2020

In response to the South Korean government's trade diversification policy, the New Southern Policy, research is needed into the large population of Muslim fashion consumers who live there. Currently, veils worn by Muslim women are becoming a part of fashion collections as a style choice not just as a religious requirement. As such, the aim of this study is to investigate the fashion characteristics of the Southeast Asian Hijabistas. To do this we investigate the activities and the meanings of recent changes in the Southeast Asian fashion market, we also take a look at the Hijabistas who lead these changes. This is carried out as a theoretical study via literature review. In addition to this research, we selected 6 Hijabistas from Indonesia and Malaysia and analyzed 204 of their SNS photos. The results showed that the sportive image was popular; in terms of veils, hijabs and turbans were most popular; while pants and T-shirts dominated the clothing choices. Black and neutral colors were most popular but a variety of colors and tones were represented. In terms of fabric patterns, most of the choices were solid with no patterns. In terms of the types of veil used, in order of most to least popular were: hijabs covering down to the neck, turbans, and hijabs covering down to the chest. It was found that the Hijabista in Indonesia and Malaysia prefer an open, trendy fashion style. In conclusion, it was found that the Southeast Asia Muslim Fashion community are utilizing hijabs to express their identity not only as a Muslim and but also as a fashion item.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Costume Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.68-68
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• 2003

Recently, street fashion has been regularly introduced in many fashion media because both consumers and marketers began to recognize the importance of street fashion as a meaningful and objective fashion information source. As the globalization proceeds in fashion field,' the street fashion informations in major cities which has led world fashion trends become more influential on domestic fashion, but little concern has been paid on it. This study classified women's street fashion in 4 major world fashion cities such as Paris, London, New York, Tokyo and identified style characteristics of each group. For data collection, 795 front-view photos were selected from the two fashion trade publication 'STREET' and 'VIEW' which has introduced street fashion photos in those cities from 1996. Classification process went on three stages: sorting, naming and grouping. 49 undergraduate students were divided into 12 teams and about 80 photos were given to each team to sort into several sub-groups by overall images or common style characteristics. Then each sub-group was named according to common images or characteristics. Final groups came out after grouping each sub-group with a similar or same title together. For each group, common style characteristics were analyzed.

• 한국생활과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.172-173
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• 2010

• 한국생활과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.174-175
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• 2010

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.127-144
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to clarify the phenomenon and characteristics of fashion in before Orientalism by examining the environmental changes and factors of East - West cultural exchange from the 16th century to the 18th century. To this end, this study examines the development of political and diplomatic relations, the growth of economy and trade, the investment of culture and arts, and the development of industry and technology. The research method used was the analysis of previous literature research and visual data. The result were as follows; the characteristics and phenomena in fashion in before Orientalism were symbolism as a privileged whole, applying to special clothing area, variety and splendor of fabrics, change of costume design, and a trend of exotic taste. Before Orientalism, the perspective of Orient in Europe can be seen as having the positive aspects cause of developing fashion and a negative aspect coming from an incorrect understanding and a bias.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1915-1926
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• 2008

Although we know that images of a country or an industry are influential factors in product evaluation, there has been little discussion about the channels through which consumers form a country or an industry image. Guided by the assumption that the image of the Korean fashion industry conveyed through U.S. media will likely affect the evaluation of Korean fashion products, we decided to examine articles published between January 1998 and June 2008 in Woman's Wear Daily(WWD), a prestigious U.S. daily trade newspaper covering all aspects of the national and international fashion business. By using the "Korean", we found 329 relevant articles. Through content analysis, we identified the aspects of the Korean fashion industry that have been considered salient to U.S. fashion media professionals. We set up categories based on the contents of the articles that discussed segments of the supply chain of the fashion industry. We found more comments on the Korean fashion industry as fiber and fabrics supplier or apparel manufacturer than in any other categories, which reflects that South Korea has been traditionally one of the most attractive sourcing countries for the U.S. fashion business. We identified significantly less coverage on the designing, branding, marketing, and retailing aspects of the Korean fashion industry. Due to economic boom in Korea, the country's fashion industry is recognized as having a highly fashion-conscious market that can afford the world's premium brands. However, the industry is viewed as being rather vulnerable to changes in the macro economic environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.959-967
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• 2008

The body measurement ratios and indices used in this study are all 3D female measurement data of the two countries were obtained from Size Korea Project and SizeUSA Project. The purpose of the study is to compare and analyze body measurement data between two countries. The results of this research are helpful for the clothing manufacturer and company to trade with America. The samples were 1,988 Korean and 6,306 American females. Thirty-five body measurement ratios and indices were chosen as the principal measurements in making garments. The conclusion of this research was as follow; First, U.S. females have measurements that exceed Korean women, except for crotch length total and shoulder slope. Second, the correlation coefficients of height and weight are relatively higher than other measurements in the two countries' body measurements. Finally, American women's height ratios are significantly bigger than Korean women's in most height ratios. On the other hand, Korean are significantly bigger than American in weight ratios. The drop values of Korean females are also smaller than those of American. It was recognized that American women are much bigger, wider and more obese than Korean according to the results by utilizing the girth ratios. BMI, Rohrer and Vervaeck index.