Tasha L. Lewis

Technology usage intent among apparel retail employees

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify variables important to acceptance and use of advanced technologies by apparel retail employees and to recommend management strategies for effective technology integration in retail stores. Design/methodology/approach – Current or past retail employees (N=71) were introduced to and given time to use three technologies – a 3D body scanner, product configurator, and social networking – in a laboratory setting using a within subjects design. A questionnaire measured participants’ perceptions of each technology in terms of usefulness, enjoyment, ease of use, task importance, technology self-efficacy – overall participant confidence in using new technology – and usage intent. Findings – Results showed that employees perceived usefulness of technology was a mediating influence on usage intent for all three technology types. Enjoyment also emerged as a significant mediator for 3D body scanning technology usage intent. Employees’ high self-efficacy scores corresp...

Upgrading to full‐package apparel manufacturing for small businesses in Mexico

Case studies were conducted with two small apparel businesses in Mexico to determine the physical and human resources critically influencing full‐package apparel manufacturing and export. Data analysis deductively focused on the use of local resources, the role of technology, understanding of the export market and the ability to develop a product suitable for that market, business skills needed for production and delivery, and availability of capital. Based on the results, a study guide was developed for use by individuals, small business owners, cooperatives, and communities as they promote development and job creation in Mexico through apparel production and export under NAFTA.

Slow Fashion and Fiber Farming: Nexus for Community Engagement

Abstract Agriculture and fashion become intertwined when fiber animals are used as a source of “raw materials,” including wool and mohair for clothing and textile production. This study evaluates the emerging visibility of fiber farms in the United States with sheep, alpacas, and angora goats in physical and virtual realms. This study explores twenty-first century fiber farmer discourses that contribute to Slow Fashion. Farmers have extensive expertise about their animals, fibers, and the farm landscape. The research methodology included a virtual ethnography on Facebook, and on-site visits to US fiber farms during 2013. Findings from the virtual ethnography conveyed how fiber farmers in Texas, Virginia, New York, and Illinois individualize the fiber animals with photographs, names, and descriptions of their personality characteristics. Individualizing fiber animals led to user engagement and interest in physically visiting fiber farms. Findings from on-farm visits in New York, led to deeper insight about alpaca fibers, a heritage breed of sheep, and the farmer’s role in the community. The “open” atmosphere created by fiber farmers suggests the sustained development of a local fiber industry, and opportunities for collaborations between fiber farms and the fashion industry.

Local Buttons: Sustainable Fashion and Social Entrepreneurship in Haiti

Apparel manufacturing is the largest contributor to Haiti’s export sector, employing about 30,000 people, mainly in the nation’s capital of Port-au-Prince. This number is only a fraction of those who were employed in the garment sector during its peak in the 1980s, before a trade embargo imposed by the Organization of American States devastated Haiti’s apparel industry. Factories that had supplied various brands and retailers in the United States relocated to other regions of the globe, never to reestablish operations in Haiti. Today, in a post-earthquake economy, apparel production is returning and preferential trade agreements with the United States have been implemented to encourage US businesses to select Haiti as a sourcing option. The export of newly manufactured clothing from Haiti for consumption in the marketplaces of developed economies (primarily the United States) stands in contrast to the secondhand clothing imports that are sold in Haiti’s various marketplaces for local consumption. Used clothing is often imported to Haiti from the same markets that receive its new clothing exports. Secondhand clothing is frequently redesigned to suit local taste and body types by skilled seamstresses and tailors, resulting in a secondary informal economy driven by the selling of used clothing. This article discusses a novel business model implemented by a Toronto-based fashion startup in 2010 in an effort to support Haiti’s apparel manufacturing sector and also make use of the abundant secondhand clothing found it its local markets. This model presents a potential sustainable solution to the volumes of used clothing filling the global marketplaces of developing economies, often at the expense of economic growth that would be strengthened by local consumption of domestically produced clothing.

Seeing Raw Fibers: Collaborating with Fiber Farmers to Develop Tacit Knowledge in a Fiber Sorting, Grading, and Classing Apprenticeship

Abstract In an effort to dig deeper into slow fashion in a local context, this case study research draws attention to the quality of raw fibers to inform clothing and textile design practices. A unique standardized system of sorting, grading, and classing raw fibers is developing in the United States to help fiber farmers with small flocks, and a variety of fiber animals such as sheep, alpacas, and goats. The system aims to help farmers learn about fiber quality, develop higher quality products, and earn more sustainable incomes for their farm businesses. This research is an outcome of taking Basic and Advanced Fiber Sorting, Grading, and Classing courses, and doing the Fiber Sorting, Grading, and Classing apprenticeship. It uses Actor Network theory as a framework to outline the practice-based approach that requires continuous “reflection-in-action” with a variety of natural fibers. The objectives of this study were to (1) gain hands-on experience sorting and grading raw animal fibers sourced directly from farmers, and (2) obtain feedback from a Master fiber mentor to learn from the process. This study presents results of completing approximately 30% of the apprenticeship program with over 70 alpaca, wool, and mohair fleeces from five fiber farms during Winter 2016, Spring, and Summer 2017. A majority of the fleeces, 60, were sorted in direct collaboration with a fellow fiber apprentice who is an alpaca farmer. The accuracy of sorting and grading was 73% and the process led to tacit knowledge with natural fibers. This study presents an Actor Network Theory analysis diagram to visualize the fiber apprenticeship process. Overall, this study provides deeper insight into assessing fiber quality to determine optimal clothing and textile designs for slow fashion localism.

Closing the loop: a scalable zero-waste model for apparel reuse and recycling

ABSTRACT Shortened lifecycles of apparel products resulting from today’s rapid fashion cycles generate significant amounts of post-consumer textile waste (PCTW) in the form of used or second-hand clothing (SHC). The majority of this waste is not repurposed or recycled, but rather discarded. The present study concentrated on creating an effective, sustainable, and ‘zero-waste’ solution driven by repurposing SHC using both design and production processes to achieve 100% utilisation of PCTW. The steps carried out during the year-long project demonstrated that almost 40% of used clothing waste could be repurposed as new clothing and the remaining waste could be processed further for additional use in non-apparel applications. The proposed solutions represent a closed-loop supply chain that can support new product manufacture, divert textile waste, and enable an additional stream of revenue from reclaimed apparel.

Trying on the Future: Exploring Apparel Retail Employees’ Perspectives on Advanced In-Store Technologies

Abstract Technology use in apparel retail stores is on the rise and is changing the way that employees work and customers shop. In spite of increased use, advanced technology deployed within apparel retail stores has yet to match the rapid pace of growth for technologies adopted by apparel consumers enabled by mobile devices and sophisticated digital applications. The goal of this research was to explore the perspectives of apparel retail store employees on technology use and its relationship to effectively carrying out current and future (innovative) job responsibilities. Three technologies traditionally not found within US apparel retail stores, but emerging as part of the retail store environment, were examined by apparel retail employees in a lab setting. The technologies included a 3D body scanner, product configurator software, and social media. Seven themes emerged from the analysis and reflected how employees envisioned using these advanced technologies in their work. Themes included: (1) communication and relationship building, (2) creativity, (3) customization and personalization, (4) efficiency and accuracy, (5) engagement and experience, (6) fun and interest, and (7) sizing and fit. Concluding recommendations provide insights into how these themes could benefit the employee‒customer interaction, as well as offer direct benefits to employee job satisfaction, retailer profitability, and customer loyalty.

Apparel disposal and reuse

Abstract The fate of clothing at the end of its life cycle has become increasingly burdensome and complicated with the growth of mass production and multinational retail firms enabling the rapid delivery of fashionable items on a global scale to a trend-driven industry. The imbalance of consumption and disposal often pushes the overconsumption of developed nations into the markets of lesser-developed countries. To understand the context of apparel reuse and disposal, an examination of the global supply chain for apparel production and consumption is necessary because apparel is discarded at different points along this chain. Charitable organizations such as Oxfam, Goodwill, and the Salvation Army may be the first point of collection for unwanted clothing, but other for-profit organizations have entered the market for clothing collection in an effort to meet the market demands of a global trade in used clothing. Once the used garments enter a new market with new consumers it cannot be assumed that this is a sustainable solution to end-of-life management. Consideration of the impact of the used garment once it passes on to a new market should be factored into part of its life cycle. Demand for used clothing is slowing in some developing nations due to low-cost imports of new clothing or import restrictions. Therefore, developed nations will have to generate more alternatives for reuse in their own countries in order to prevent direct disposal of used clothing into waste streams.