Impact of Technology on the Fashion Industry

intrusion of Technology on the Fashion IndustryBackground of vestments manufacturing Textile and clothing manufacturing businesses argon ace of the most traditional and oldest industries in United Kingdom. The clothing industry dates back to 4000 BC when these textiles were utilise for enhancive beauty as easy as to preserve and the balance corpse heat and the outside environment including protection from injuries.(Niwa,2002). Although this was the original function and purpose, they would excessively aspire to have cloths portraying a beautiful manner forming ornamental beauty too.The industry has grown greatly e realplace clock, and has since blos or sod into an argona where all(prenominal)ow and demand is high, not only for functional purposes, but for decorative purposes too. With technologies festering too, and demand in the retail bea, the clothing industry is booming. Clothing catch up with is a an assembly oriented activity with a great chain of raw ma terials, harvesting geek, harvest-festivalion volumes, supply chain, retail market and associated technologies. (carr lathams, p1)This clothing industry will continue to play crucial role in the economy from manufacturing, to retail as long as trade relieve does its job.IntroductionThe beat back of this paper is to research and evaluate the clothing engineering science and its use in the counterfeit market. This will coer the prime(a) of stuff and dress up discussing the importance of fix, machinery and personas, the creation of the habilitate, CAD and human measurement.Fashion marketing is a profession with diverse activities that indentify consumers needs, amaze good products, price, distribute and bring up them consummationively(Stone,1990, p5). In show to be successful at bottom this field it is key to have good knowl perimeter of the product, which includes chthonicstanding the flavour of the product and as well universe aw atomic number 18 of the manuf acturing act conglomerate in clothing drudgery.As a shape vender is it is important to understand the age group, the product is be catered for and also be aw be of the electric current tr annihilate and excogitate at heart the clothing industry to be able to communicate with the consumer. not only to make the consumer aw atomic number 18 of it but to be able to get along them to buy it.Clothing producers and retail merchants have established principles for quality, admit, and the performance of the product. These standards atomic number 18 utilise to guide the product development, selection of material, production method, and finishing techniques.According to the devise theory, consumers quickly become bored of whatever is unremarkably accepted, thus they constantly seek of new and polar variation of products and activities (Ruth E. Glock et al, p5), this demand requires a quick change in port. The elan changes involve the colourize, styling, theoretical accou ntation, silhouette and the performance of the garment that relates to the devise trend, this change takes place depending on the demand of their targeted market and on the season, collection is produced for.Todays consumers have high expectations of the entire product they purchase, especially fashion items they pay overpriced prices for. They demand their garments to be pass watered of high quality cloth, having a durable performance and having a perfect fit.The quality of a garment is determined by the features of each of its components including details of the fabric, hoist, fitting and to the very depart finishing detail. To the consumers eye, quality is very important in the external appearance of the garment. When consumers recover the product performance to be poor, it is often the result of the manufacturer using lower-quality materials or a lack of quality workmanship (Claxton and Ritchie 1979). fictitious character standard overall reflects the essential quality o f the firm seeks to achieve within their product.( Ruth E. Glock et al, p101) the quality of the garment is not measured with its mechanized performance e.g the feel of the drape and fit of the garment, but it is also defined through its positive and negative properties that endure properly define lenify over garment e.g the appearance of the fabric on the garment.There be several factors which determine the overall quality of vesture, including fabric selection and the manufacturers methods of construction, which includes stitches and melodic phrase finishes, buttonhole construction, use of interfacing, and matching of seams (Rogers and Lutz,1990). These elements do not only fall upon the appearance of the garment but also retains the shape. High street garments argon expected to be high quality all the selfsame(prenominal) this is not eternally the case.Each fabric has its own quality that contains its own features depending on the reference use to construct the fabri c. Some fibres are absorbent, some are resilient, and some are slight durable. Every fibre has its negative and positive quality and to improve this, it is recommended to test the quality in front sending the garment to the retail. The young technology use has made the fabric more durable and satisfactory than ever originally. The quality of the fabric is built up depending on the type of ribbon being use and production of the yarn. There are polar different type of yarns utilize to make the garment durable for a certain market and season. Majorie A Taylor,1990 (3rd Ed) have stated that introducing of new yarn fibres type has become quite expensive, therefore it can only be introduced if there is an advantage in the performance or address the cost of the fibres type have raised due to the production method utilize to create these yarns. Fibres, Yarns, Threads are the basic requirement of any textile clip or related industry. These are selected according to the product b eing manufactured. Fabrics apply frequently in the industry are wool, silk, cotton and linen, these are commonly apply in the industry due to the fine texture, stronger, aesthetic and durable purposes. These fibres are also occasionally blended with early(a) synthetic fibres to create attitude in the garment.Chapter 1Fabrics like wool, mohair, cashmere, angora, camel hair, and llama are adjudge to have a special properties such(prenominal) as warmth, liquidness, softness and magnificence are mainly utilise in winter collection. (Leeder et al..(1998).They cost a lot, up to now are in high demand by the consumers over winters due to the absorbent, contributing to their comfort characteristic in cold, damp weather. fleece is preferred for tailored garments in the crop industry as it is slow cut and sewn however it does require some moulding or blending with other fibres during the construction to generate strength in the garment. fleece is usually tightly twist or fini shed, which stops the fabric from ravelling. The loss of the wool is that, it can often apparent motion pilling on the garment, after being worn several times. Another disadvantage in wool fabric is that once its alter into felt, it cans occasionally cause some problem during rinse and eroding example Heat, moisture and agitation can cause the wool fibres to shrink and mat together. Therefore for a consumer it is important to follow the instruction manual on the label. Various different articles and books do recommend dry- freshing Wool, rather than wash drawing it as it can cause shrinkage. (Stamper, Anita A, 1991)Silk is another luxury fibre used in designers fashion and is more expensive ready-to-wear. This fabric is mostly used for summer collection because its light weight fabric, it keeps you cool, it has crease recovery and the colours fasten very well on this fabric. The main purpose of this fabric is to be aesthetic the fabric has been regarded as excellent material s for its softness, elegance, lust, resilience and drape. (Chollakup .R, 2004)The fabric itself is so unique and delicate, that it requires careful handling while washing and sewing, as it can cause slippage and the fabric can tear apart. It is suggested to dry clean rather than laundering. However it has also been mentioned to steam press the fabric before using it. This is because most of the fabrics tend to shrink after being in a press and it does avail to release the crease and makes the fabric suave and flat. In previous decades silk could not be duplicated in the industry however in 1891 an English scientist C. F. Cross and E. J. Bevan succeeded in discovering a artificial silk brass like fibre known as viscous. This was cheaper in cost, contained strength, dur world power , however the fibres are weak enough cause slippage and tear in the garment. viscose rayon rayon is a soft material commonly used in shirt, coats, jackets, and other outer wear.Viscose is a viscous org anic liquid used to make rayon and cellophane. Cellulose from wood or cotton fibers is treated with atomic number 11 hydroxide, and so mixed with carbon disulfide to form cellulose xanthate. which is dissolved in more sodium hydroxide. The resulting viscose is extruded into an acid bath either through a grab to make cellophane, or through a spinneret to make rayon. The acid converts the viscose back into cellulose.They replaced silk with man-man fibres like viscous rayon or acetate to save the cost. sticking rayon can quiet down be found in apparel products such as stockings, lingerie and ribbons.Cotton is another fibre being used in clothing industry for decades. This is produced on a bush which is astray grown in sub-tropical region throughout the world, lying roughly in the midst of the parallel of latitude of 35C North and South of the Equator. (Miller,Ed 1, 1992). The price is of the cotton has augment in start few years however it still form fairly competitive to syn thetic fabric. Cotton is the favourite fabric used in industry for baby clothing, mens brief, summer and winter clothes for all age group, this is due to its absorbent and comfort. It is easily cut and sewn and constructed into a garment.Yarns These fabrics are made out of yarns that are divided into two study types, based on the distance of fibre used in the manufacture. Spun yarns are mostly made out of short hair staple fibre which contains of natural appearance then fibril fibres. The qualities in the spun yarn are they are more absorbent, porous and comfortable. It ravels and shifts less, collects less while when stitched, presses flat and shows less construction error. Due to all these qualities in the natural fibre, spun yarn is expensive and is in high demand in the industry.Filament is a man-made mechanically produced yarn it can be subdivided in to two types, smooth and textured. The smooth filament yarn is selected for their smooth and shiny appearance and their expe rtness to be packed tightly together for air and water resistance. The problems with filament fibres are that the stitch on the garment has more chances to unravel and cause slippage due to the weak method used to construct these yarns. However as they fibres contain long hair it takes less time to produce this, just like spun yarn does. Filament yarns can also be trans organize to make it touch like natural fibre by clip the fibres length. (Miller. E, 1992 p73)Once the yarns are selected, it is than combined together to produce a fabric. closely textiles are produced by twisting fibres into yarns and then knitting or twine the yarns into a fabric. Woven fabric is made out of two yarns. The length wise set is called warp and the crosswise is called weft. Unless its manufactured with stretch-texture or elasticized, it has very little stretch on its own. This process can usually be found in winter coats preventing the air and water. It is essential for a fashion marketer to be aw are of the procedure used to constructThread, stitches, seams, interlining These yarns are also used to construct get outs, which are used to stitch pieces of fabric together to construct garments. Threads are selected matching the style, design and colour of the garment. These move are used on the industrial machines, to create an appearance, durability, strength and elasticity on the garment.Stitches and seams are measured to have major effect on the quality of the garments. Stitches are used to convert a planar fabric to a three-dimensional garment form. This requires a number of operations which affects the drape of the fabric organize into a garment. (kashual Rah Sharma and B.K. Behera, 2004, p75) effect of sewing and fusing. wrong selection of digresss and stitches can occasionally cause seam pucker in the garment, which than leads to costumers complain. Therefore in order to meet customers satisfactory, it is important for the fashion marketer to be aware of the process used in se bring well-nigh and seam to construct a garment.There are 6 different type of stitches used in the industry to construct garment. Each stitch is classified into a set which is designed and identifies by the first finger of a three-digit numeral (R. M Laing, 1998). Stitch organization is the actual process by which guides are interlaced in or nearly a material resulting in a stitch. It can be organize on a without a material, inside the material, without it and upon it. When a stitch is used with a defined geometry of material seam positioning, a seam is make. freehanded quality stitch can occasionally ravel and put the consumers off, so it is important to choose the right stitch and twist for the construction of the garment.Class 100 is chain stitch used only for temporary stitchery. This is formed with one or more chivvy-thread, introduced from one side of the material only. spiral of the thread is passed through the material and secured by interloping, with succeeding loops underside of the material. orbit stitch properties involve elastic and are thicker then lock stitch. It can easily be ravelled particular care is required to prevent runback from the last stitch.Class 200 is hand stitches formed by single thread passing through one side of the material to the other end in successive needle penetration.Thread passes through the material as a single line and the stitch is secured by the succeeding formation of thread which passing in and out of the material or interloping of the threads with themselves.When more than one thread is used, the threads pass through the same perforations in the material.The formation of three common stitches class 200 is used for areOver stitching or over cast commonly as a seam finish, involves ISO 211. This is formed with one needle thread which passes through the material from the inside of the garment, a small distance from the edge, casting the thread over the edge. (R. M Laing, 1998).Slip and blin d hemming stitch (ISO 213) is formed with one needle thread, which is passed through a yarn of the single layer of material being hemmed, passed forward through the turned over edge of the hem allowance itself, emerging a short distance along. The thread is then brought forward through to repeat the stitch. (R. M Laing, 1998).Pad stitch commonly referred as ISO 219, this is formed with single needle thread, which is passed horizontally through the material and emerges on the same side. This stitch is used to attach interfacings(interling,canvas) to the under collar and under-lapel and to create shape by introducing slight difference in the dimensions of the garment components relative to each others. (R. M Laing, 1998).Class 300 hook stitch is used for seams that require stretch. This is formed by a needle thread, introduced from one side of the material, interlacing with an under thread supplied through reel on the other side. The quality in this stitch is , that it is low in bul k and thin.It has Good strength and abrasion resistance. It has Poor elasticity, non-ravel.The bad quality is this is that, it has limited sewing length and the bobbin requires frequent change of thread to continue the stitching.Class 400 is multi thread chain stitch formed by a sewing machine passing one or more needle thread loops through the material. Those needle thread loops are interlope on the underside with a loop thread back up on a loop. This stitch tends to be very elastic and is well suited for seaming operations, for example, in seaming pants and closing synthetic bags, on woven and knits of many types and weights of materials. However, in Class 400 chainstitch, distorted or skipped stitching tend to weaken the entire stitch chain and, as a result when included in the final product, the defective product may prematurely fail, for example by unravelling (www.patentstorm.us, 29/11/09)Class five hundred over edge stitch A stitch formed with one or more groups of threads at least one of which passes round the edge of the material. This property this stitch contains are excellent stretch ability and good recovery. It is used for seam and edge neatening, suitable for various different type of fabric.Class 600 flat stitch Multi-needle stitches that provide the elasticity indispensable for knits. While applying these stitches onto the garment, it is very important to be aware of the sizing and fit, as the consumers asses these for an apparel product. Not only do them asses the quality apparel product but are also highly inspired by the aura of the store. The ambience of the store is created by a optical merchandiser, who sets up the over all layout of the store, window display and takes responsibility for the the look of the store, with the aim of promoting goods in order to maximise sales.Chapter 2The windows display is planned as per the look of the event (Sale, Valentines, Festivals and other activities.They are least expensive form of advertisin g. A good window display brings customers into the store. Windows sets the scene for what the customer will visit inside, there is no second chance to make the first impression. For a smooth set up in the store, it important to have cooperation from all support function, good coordination in amid the members of staff. The setup of the store and the installing has to be made over night, after the shop has closed and before it re-opens again the next morning.Technology has expanded a lot in terms of surface of it and fitting to get accurate consumers tree trunk measurement, for visual merchandising and with other internet sources that eases the communication between the consumer and a marketer. surface is related to individual organic structure dimensions. They are grouped together into size classification according to the age, ethnicity, sex and system type of consumers. (Brown. P and Rice.J, 2000, p147).The apparel industry has challenged in meeting costumers needs for well f itting apparel. approximately 49 percent of womens have difficulty finding clothes that fit ((Kurt Salmon Associates, 2004), every year 12 percent of clothes purchased, are returned due to poor fitting (Barbaro, 2006). This has a big impact on the companionship, as due to the poor quality, company starts losing the customers, which leads to loss of profit, which then forces the company to shut down.The body shape and size is often influenced by consumers cordial life and it is important for those managing products and those marketing the product to be aware of this.In the past few years, size standardising was used in the retail to cure problem solving in garments fit. The average figure of consumers was usually from size 8 to 14 focusing on costumers aged from 18-30, concentrating on little shapes and sizes, while ignoring the disproportional figures. This has been a disappointment for consumers size 16 or above, as they struggle to find clothes that may fit their body shape an d finding well fitted ready-to-wear clothing takes a long amount of consumers time (LaBat, 1987). coat codes used commonly on the apparel products are based on numbers and figure type Size labelling on the apparel product suggest the suitability of the garment to the consumers body dimension. Consumers size 8 to 14 have also often complained nigh not getting there sizes right even after the apparel products being labelled, this is due to Apparel size and fit have a difficult in researching and analyzing relationship between body and clothing. Current methods of creating size and analysing garments were based on measurement of the ideal customer embodied in single fit model however this has still an issue in the fashion industry, as consumers were still not pleased with the fitting.Therefore, in order to fulfil consumers requirement and to maintain competitiveness in the industry, Clothing industries around the world is aiming to on utilising the latest Technologies being launched measure the body shapes. These technologies are used for and to manufacture clothing involving body planener used for compendium body measurement, CAD system for patter making ,internet for communication between consumer and customizer , and the computerized visual process which will aware the consumer of the accurate and rapid production and delivery process.This 3D technology scans around 300,000 points on the body, which will help the apparel firms to manufacture clothing rapidly and succeed with on time delivery by providing valuable body measurement data on consumer population. The main purpose of using this technology is to gain better correspondence of current human size and shape enabling the industry to develop sizing system that will fit most of the population.( Phoebe R. Apeagyei and blush wine Otieno,2006)Retailers are now providing different shopping experiences by combing 2D to 3D interactivity visualisation technologies with advanced marketing techniques, to creat e virtual retail environments that attempts to actualise the true essence of shopping by browsing, socialising, trying-on before purchase and, in a new twist, leaving the store proudly wearing the item just purchased.The original virtual mega stores, offering newly, innovative and pick shopping experiencing in multi 3D user environment are American apparel brands Bershka, LOreal, Calvin Klein, Reebok, Sears, Nike and Adidas.ConclusionMarketing provides an important link between the manufacturer, the retailer and the consumer. The marketing of fashion takes place at all stages of the development, production and statistical distribution of garments.Fashion marketer must be well aware of the targeted audience, the current trend, quality within the product and the production methods used to enable themselves to aim at the right audience.The purpose of this term paper was to research within the significant elements of technology taken into consideration by the marketing department of the fashion company. These elements included the quality and the purpose of fabric construction, garment creation, refreshing 3D scan technology and body measurement and how the related to fashion marketing.From my personal research experience for this term paper, I do swear that being aware of the stitches on a garment could be utile information for a fashion marketer however it may not be necessary that a fashion market would have companionship of stitches and seams in so much debt. It is also highly important for the marketer in the fashion department to be good knowledge about the fibres and fabrics, to be able to market the quality of the garment, which is measure by the overall performance of the drape garment.In the large fashion retailing organization, fashion vendees, marketer and technologist work very closely, with the technologist often involved right from the early stage. In any business activity, fashion buyer requires a marketing approach to succeed in the busine ss. (Jackson, 2001, p5).Size and body measurement has always been an issue in the fashion business. Consumers have previously complained a lot about not being able to find the right size i.e size 16, tall and etc.This remains still an issue in a few fashion retails, However to patch up this problem, fashion businesses have started to launch a new 3D scan technology, that measure various different parts of body and than ready-wear garment gets construct according to the measurement.