• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.64 no.5
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• pp.125-140
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• 2014

This study aims to investigate the effects of ethical consumption consciousness on the attitude of consumers toward purchasing recycled apparel and suggest guidelines to improve awareness and induce purchase on recycled and eco-friendly apparel. The following steps were taken: 1) examination of the status of consumer consciousness on recycled apparel and their usage 2) investigation of how ethical consumption consciousness affects purchase attitude of recycled apparel 3) finding out whether purchase experience of recycled apparel makes a difference in ethical consumption consciousness and purchase attitude. 311 males and females living in the Daegu region were used as subjects. Questionnaires were distributed for around 2 weeks for data collection. A total of 298 surveys were used for analysis due to the other thirteen being excluded for not having quality responses. Collected data were used to perform frequency analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, descriptive, regression analysis by using SPSS 18.0 Korean version. Results are as follows: First, regarding the status of consumer consciousness on recycled apparel and their usage, respondents considered convenience as an important factor. On the contrary, factors such as usage, participation intention and positive attitude on recycled apparel were relatively high. Second, regarding how ethical consumption consciousness affects purchase attitude on recycled apparel, the analysis result showed that having consciousness for environmental protection and volunteering significantly affected purchase attitude toward recycled apparel whereas business ethics did not affect it. Third, the responses from the consumers with purchase experience of recycled apparel and consumers without it showed that being conscious of environmental protection significantly affected both groups.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.687-696
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• 2016

As consumers' interest in social responsibility (SR) has greatly increased in the last two decades, a growing body of academic research has examined the influence of consumers' environmental consciousness on their attitudes and purchase intentions toward environment-friendly apparel products. Use of environment-friendly shopping bags (EFSB; recycled and reusable bags) is an example of how apparel retailers engage in SR. However, little research has examined consumers' perceptions and their responses to the use of EFSB. To fill this research gap, this study examined the impact of young consumers' perceptions of EFSB and environmental consciousness on their attitudes and purchase intentions toward apparel retailers using EFSB. An online survey was conducted for data collection. A convenience sample of 212 college students was obtained from a large mid-Southern university in the U.S. A simple linear regression analysis was conducted to test all hypotheses. Results showed that young consumers' perceptions of EFSB positively influenced their environmental consciousness and their attitudes toward apparel retailers that use EFSB, which led to purchase intentions toward the retailers. Findings confirmed that young consumers placed a great degree of importance on EFSB and, therefore, would purchase apparel from retailers that use recycled or reusable shopping bags. These findings imply that providing EFSB is important in enhancing positive attitudes and purchase intentions toward apparel retailers.

• International Journal of Costume and Fashion
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.61-71
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was first, to examine the causes for the recent acceleration in the increase of textile/apparel waste and the current practices for reducing waste in the global textile and apparel industry; and second, to explore the influence of sustainability and social responsibility on fashion trends. Extensive literature on sustainable apparel and sustainable and socially responsible practices by global textile and apparel firms was reviewed in conducting this research. First, an accelerated fashion diffosion speed due to fast fashion was focused on as a cause for the increase in textile/apparel waste whereas mass customization was focused on as a potential solution for reducing waste. Then, the influence of the social trend toward sustainability and social responsibility on fashion trends was discussed, particularly the trends toward green products and recycled fashion, the trend against using real for or leather, and minimum-fabric-waste fashion in design and product development. This study furthers consumers' understanding of sustainability and social responsibility related to fashion trends and hopefully increases their consciousness in becoming socially responsible consumers. This study will also contribute to better decision-making in apparel and textile firms to produce sustainable fashion products.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.430-437
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• 2012

This study analyzed the sensibility of eco-friendly fabrics for college students and investigated their attitude on environmental problems, trust reliability onto eco-apparel products, and their purchase state. We tested 6 eco-friendly fabrics (recycled polyester, organic cotton, green tea, charcoal, bamboo, and nettle) through a survey using the Likert scale of 12 polar sensibility words. Most fabrics showed feelings that were smooth, natural, female, and country these were followed by fashion, cheap, functional, sustainable, warm, and vintage. In addition, nettle fabric showed 'rough' feeling, and recycled polyester fabric showed an 'artificial' feeling. Correspondence analysis showed the distance and direction between fabric types and sensibility words with a 2D diagram where the X axis was named with 'Soft <-> Hard' and Y axis was with 'Environmental <-> Manmade' to represent the relationship between fabric types and the sensibility words. According to the results of the multiple regression analysis, the cognition level of the consumer for environmental problems was found to be the most influential variable on the loyalty purchase of eco-friendly products; however, the trust reliability level of consumer onto eco-friendly apparel products was found to be the most influential variable on the conditional purchase of eco-friendly apparel products.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.642-648
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• 2013

This study investigates the changes inconsumer sensibility and product preferences according to theirecofriendly productperceptions. Stimulants (released by three companies of sport casual brands)include three shirts made of recycled polyester and three made of organic cotton. A surveymethod was used to respond to the emotion and image while watching the presented pictures of the clothes. The change in the reactions was analyzed before and after the presentation of eco-friendliness information. The questionnaire consists of sensibility adjectives, open-ended questions about the associated image of eco-friendliness, color attractiveness, product favorability, price satisfaction, and reasons for an eco-friendly productpurchase. The survey was conducted on 200adult male and female participants. Two factors ('eco' and 'design')were identifiedthrough the factor analysis of image adjectives. There was a statistically significant increase in the evaluation of sensibility, color attractiveness, product favorability, and price satisfactiondue to the re-evaluation of the same products after consumers recognized the eco-friendly information of apparel products. When consumers recognize products aseco-friendly, they evaluate the products more positively than before. The result of the analysis of the increases by textile materials shows no significant difference in the sensibility changes depending on the materials. However, with regard to 'eco', the increase of sensibility change for organic cotton products was larger than for recycled polyester products.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.139-150
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• 2013

Fast fashion companies have generated enormous amounts of clothing and large quantities of unsold or short-lived clothing end up in the landfill. As if to counter fast fashion, sustainable fashion has arisen for environmentally friendly garments at different levels from the fiber stage to production stage. However it is still fraught with uncertainty of systems in the industry. Therefore, this study proposed a system to create re-valued clothing from recycled garments for retailers. The target companies are large-sized retailers like Levi's, Polo, Gap, or J-Crew which are consistently producing basic items such as Levi's 501 or Classic Polo shirts with middle-prices. At the material stage, this study recommended additional requirements of designing a garment with a long life cycle based on criteria of an ideal garment developed by Patagonia clothing company. Then, this study explored innovative ways that retailers might connect with consumers to allow direct interaction between them in terms of the process of collecting used clothes. Using recycled clothing as a source material, this study strove to offer a process of redesign where the concept of 'waste to fashion' is developed as reconstructions where old forms are transformed into new ones.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.21-34
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to examine the main characteristics of strategies and fashion styles in fast fashion. Ultimately, this study is aimed to give useful information to develop fast fashion companies in Korean apparel industry. There are several strategies commonly applied in most fast fashion companies. First, they produce a wide range of numerous items. Second, the price is very reasonable. The primary objective of fast fashion is to quickly produce products in a cost efficient manner. Third, fast fashion companies take charge in the whole process from designing and manufacturing to distribution and sales. Forth, while almost all apparel companies invest a large amount in advertisement to promote sales, most fast fashion companies invest in VMD instead. Also, the fashion style of fast fashion were examined. First, casual style dominated a big part in composition of the entire style. Second, they use various kinds of different fabrics. For example, natural fabrics including organic and recycled fabrics, denims, newly invented high-tech fabrics, and decorative fabrics are widely used. Third, fast fashion brands produce fashion product based on the most recent fashion trends. Forth, they pursue high quality design. Retailers' understanding of the target market's wants realizes the consumer to thrive on constant change and the frequent availability of new products. Accordingly, fast fashion is presently taking an important role in fashion although it has a short history compared to the general apparel industry.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.33-39
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• 2021

As the interest and demand in the recycled yarn field has increased rapidly worldwide, domestic companies are also promoting research and development and business on recycled yarn. The chemical and thermal properties of four types of virgin and recycled PET samples from A and B company, which are the leading domestic companies in the recycled polyester yarn business, were confirmed through infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Virgin and recycled PET from two companies were compared. FT-IR spectroscopy revealed the typical spectra of PET for both companies and a different peak at 872 cm-1. DSC confirmed that the melting point and crystallization temperature of recycled PET were lower than those of virgin PET. These results indicate that small amounts of contaminants are an important parameter affecting the thermal properties of recycled PET. In the DSC results after seven repeats of the heating and cooling processes, all four samples showed that a lower melting point, crystallization temperature, and low heat flow intensity increased with increasing number of cycles. The results of melting and crystallization enthalpy also showed similar patterns.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.401-408
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• 2007

The study aims to examine consumer awareness of green fashion products and demographic characteristics by subdividing environmentally conscious consumers of such products in the current domestic fashion market. It then compares the result with the characteristics of environmentally conscious consumers studied by 1999 in order to understand the trend of the consumer group in the fashion market and to promote the use of green fashion products. Marketing strategies for green fashion products suggested by the study are as follows: First, fashion firms are required to develop and publicize shops selling recycled or second-hand clothing that environmentally conscious consumers show constant interest. For instance, clothing patterns may be developed to enable consumers to make their kids' clothing easily at home, and various garments made from recycled materials may stimulate environmentally conscious consumers' desire to buy. Particularly, advanced technologies should be developed and publicized to manufacture garments that can excel existing ones made of normal materials in their features in order to satisfy consumers' interest in clothing made from recycled PET bottles. In addition, various natural dyes should be developed to decrease water pollution. Second, it seems imperative to develop clothing made of recycled knitted apparel that attracts consumers' interest more than ever, fashionable multi-purpose clothing, and environmentally friendly materials. As the use of natural fur or leather can cause the endangerment of wild animals and the destruction of the ecosystem, synthetic fur or leather may be used to develop sophisticated products with the same texture as real ones to attract environmentally conscious consumers' interest.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 2024

This study investigated the usage and product conditions of clothing companies and online dummy companies for the development of fitting dummy for South Korean women's wear in their 50s and 60s. These women-targeted apparel companies mainly used nude-sized torso type and torso crotch type made of FRP material. The frequency of use of the dummies was high, while the user satisfaction was moderate. Users expressed dissatisfaction with the inaccurate reflection of the body shape according to the KS sizing system and the measurements such as the front and back intercye, upper arms, abdomen, crotch, and waist back length. Upon survey, 73.7% of the respondents answered that development of the dummy and the appropriate age for it is 50 to 54, and they preferred the torso crotch form. In the production of online dummy companies, the torso crotch type and torso type were most widely produced, and polyurethane, FRP, and recycled paper materials were used. The size of dummy was expressed in numerical type, and 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 44, 55, 66, 77, 88 were being produced. Even models of the same size had significant deviation, especially in the waist circumference. Also, there was no dummy reflecting 25%~75% center interval to the KS garment sizing standards of women in their 50s and 60s. Therefore, it is desperately necessary to develop a fitting dummy for KS clothing sizing system that reflect their body sizes and shapes.