Yoon Kyung Lee

American and Korean Youths’ Attachment to Handcraft Apparel and Its Relation to Sustainability

This research explored teenagers’ use of handcraft apparel in the United States and South Korea. Teenagers were selected for a cross national comparison of youth and their emotional attachment to handcraft apparel in terms of: use of handcraft items compared with purchased products; the relationship between the craft user and creator; and the influence of emotional attachment to handcrafts on the friendship and self-esteem of youths. Responses of US and Korean high school and middle school students acknowledged the value of handcrafts. Handcraft items offer a measure of sustainability not offered by clothing destined for the fast-fashion cycle. Items handcrafted by friends and family have considerable value as objects of everyone design as well as emotional value. In this study, we also conclude that the value of handcraft apparel and crafts in everyday creativity may have a positive influence on peer relationships and self-esteem among youth in the two countries. Comparing the two youth groups in this study, we found that US teenagers have a greater tendency to use handcrafted items compared with their Korean counterparts that may be attributed to the wider popularity of handcrafting in US society. US participants reported a significantly longer period of actual use of handcraft items. Although handcraft items are increasingly overlooked in favor of mass-produced fashion products, handcraft apparel can be expected to endure as an alternative product with recognized sustainability, given the perceived importance of handmade craft and apparel made by loved ones.

Re-Birth Product Development for Sustainable Apparel Design Practice in a Design Studio Class

Abstract A continuous collaborative design process is explored within an educational–industry partnership involving critique, redesign and refinement, in which unsold products were upcycled and reconsidered for their appropriateness to brand esthetics and consumer use. Such collaborative partnerships help to prevent the wasteful disposal of unsold products. Students who experience the collaborative and iterative process early in their education may learn to accommodate a more sustainable set of constraints within their designs. The focus of study was a process that outlined the basic steps to involve students in a meaningful partnership for product redevelopment.

Education for apparel sustainability from perspectives of design students from differing cultural contexts

ABSTRACT The focus of this paper is how design students think about sustainable practices and design solutions. A survey distributed to American and Korean design students asked how important sustainability was to them as a user and as a professional in training. How the two groups of students understand sustainability in apparel was considered through their identification of sustainable strategies and practicing of sustainable behaviours. In analysis regarding practices throughout the clothing lifespan, the most significant sustainable factor for American students was ‘purchase’ and for Korean students it was ‘use’. This comparison provides valuable insights regarding how cultural factors shape and influence perspectives on sustainability and how this information pertains to design education.

Re-birthed fashion handbags as a collaborative design project

The term ‘re-birth’ refers to the redesign of stock items originally released through the distribution route for sale to consumers but returned to headquarters as unsold stock. As a sustainable fashion practice, products are analysed and redeveloped by designers for resale as new products. During this 4-month project, a South Korean handbag company partnered with senior apparel design students in Seoul to execute a re-birth collaboration for fashion handbags. This study addresses some of the issues that arose in the process of interpretation and application of this re-birth exercise, including the relationship between the university and company, the roles of the student designer and company design team, characteristics of the product selected, and the communication required to implement the project. The concept of re-birth was introduced to the students, followed by a collaborative design exercise. Finally, 2 of the 50 re-birth designs were selected by company designers and altered for resale.

A Tendency of Appearance Management Behavior and Pursuing Ideal Age -Focused on the 20`s and the 30`s Korean-

This study has examined the 20`s and the 30`s Korean who have a desire, `to be getting younger` and how to relate what appearance management-behavior they follow. The methodology of this study used both theoretical and quantitative research for an empirical study. First, a theoretical study researched a big stream of the 20`s and the 30`s Koreans` to be getting younger` on articles based on the social and cultural background of the past 30 years that defined various concepts of age through previous research. Data was also collected via SMS for five months (August to December 2014) and 96 Korean participants in their 20`s and the 30`s who have lived in and around Seoul. The results of the survey analysis showed that the desire of `to be getting younger` irrelevant to the age among Korean young people. In addition, this tendency to be the ideal age as being younger is realized by appearance management sort of skin care or clothing styling among 20`s and the 30`s Korean. This study suggested a phenomenon, `to be getting younger` in Korean society would lead to an alternative sort of age that targets individual taste rather than the chronological age in the apparel market.

A Men's Following Up Image Change and the Aspect of Ideal Appearance Type of Korean and Chinese Men -Focused on Men in Their 20s to Their 40s-

This research studies socio-cultural hegemony change focused on male society through contemporary ideal masculine images of Asian men (especially Korean and Chinese men). Participants were: South Korean men in and around Seoul and Chinese men in Beijing and Shanghai. The youngest survey participants in their 20``s and the oldest in their 40``s were asked about their present men``s appearance images and masculinity as well as asked to evaluate satisfaction with their own style, and interest in fashion trends on a 5-point Likert scale. In this research, an ideal masculinity was tested by 6 characters (traditional masculinity, macho masculinity, androgynous masculinity, adolescent masculinity, trendy masculinity, and general masculinity) as male avatars. Asian men``s consciousness of an ideal masculinity image has moved gradually from traditional masculinity to trendy masculinity, leading to new roles in a socio-cultural agenda. Korean and Chinese men are more interested in appearance and notice fashionable styles to be trendy that follow the latest fashion because most other Asian men reflect a traditional masculinity as an ideal appearance image.