case study of fashion designers

Table of Contents:

Launching a secondary line, exclusive manufacturing rights for prada leather goods, adapting and thriving in an evolving fashion market, maintaining control over labels by going public, challenging conventional notions of beauty, fondazione prada: a hub for contemporary art exhibitions, addressing diversity and inclusion in the fashion industry, expansion into emerging markets: prada’s bold moves, nurturing young talent across industries, what did miuccia prada study, why is miuccia prada so important, what is miuccia prada’s inspiration, what is a fun fact about miuccia prada, the prada-bertelli partnership: a powerhouse duo.

Journey back to the year 1978, a time of remarkable change and growth in fashion.

Miuccia Prada, the granddaughter of Prada’s founder, teamed up with Patrizio Bertelli to expand the brand beyond its original leather goods offerings. Together, they embarked on an ambitious journey that would change the fashion industry forever.

So, what did this dynamic duo achieve?

Inspired by her own nickname, Miuccia introduced Miu Miu – a secondary line that caters to younger fashion enthusiasts seeking luxury products at more accessible price points. Miuccia’s move to launch Miu Miu enabled Prada to expand its consumer base while maintaining the brand’s quality and exclusivity.

Bertelli’s expertise in manufacturing led to exclusive rights for producing all things Prada leather. This partnership proved fruitful as it allowed them both creative freedom and quality control over their products. The result? Prada became synonymous with luxury leather goods, and their reputation for quality and craftsmanship only grew stronger.

But that’s not all. The Prada-Bertelli partnership also invested over $120 million into major stores worldwide, solidifying their position as a global fashion powerhouse.

What’s truly remarkable about this partnership, however, is that they managed to maintain their personal relationship throughout their professional endeavors. Despite their different backgrounds – Miuccia was a former member of the Italian Communist Party, while Bertelli studied political science – they shared a common vision for the brand and worked tirelessly to make it a reality.

The Prada-Bertelli partnership is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation in the fashion industry. Their legacy continues to inspire and influence designers and fashion enthusiasts around the world.

Organizational Culture and Going Public: The Prada Way

Let’s talk about the secret sauce behind Prada’s success.

Their organizational culture has allowed them to adapt and thrive in an ever-changing fashion market without compromising their core values or design philosophy.

So, how did they do it?

Innovation is key when navigating a rapidly changing industry like fashion. Miuccia Prada, the creative force behind the brand, has always been ahead of her time. She pushes boundaries with unconventional designs that challenge traditional notions of beauty while still remaining desirable enough for luxury consumers.

To keep up with demand and expand globally, going public was a strategic move for this Italian powerhouse brand. The Miuccia Prada case study details how Prada’s IPO allowed them to maintain control over their labels and grow their presence in emerging markets like China.

A remarkable organizational culture, original designs and astute business decisions have allowed Prada to remain a formidable presence in the fashion industry.

Want to learn more about Miuccia Prada’s journey? Dive into this Vogue interview for an insightful look at her life and career.

Unexpected Inspirations Behind Collections

Let’s talk about Miuccia Prada’s creative process. You might be surprised to learn that her inspirations often come from unconventional sources, making her collections truly unique and groundbreaking. Curious? Let me explain:

Miuccia Prada, the founder of Miuccia Prada and Miu Miu, is known for her unconventional approach to fashion. Miuccia Prada’s creative ideas come from a range of sources, such as her studies in political science and experience being part of the Italian Communist Party.

Prada’s collections often challenge conventional notions of beauty, incorporating unexpected materials and designs. For example, her Fondazione Prada in Milan features a gold leaf-covered exterior and a bar made entirely of whale bones.

So, what can we learn from Miuccia Prada’s approach? Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to finding inspiration for your own creative projects – you never know where a seemingly unrelated idea might lead.

Artistic Endeavors Beyond Fashion Design

Did you know she founded Fondazione Prada , an institution dedicated to contemporary art exhibitions?

That’s right.

This creative powerhouse doesn’t limit herself to just designing clothes and accessories.

• Collaborating with renowned artists:

Miuccia has teamed up with artists like Carsten Holler and Theaster Gates during Art Basel Miami events, showcasing her passion for creativity in various forms.

• Innovative materials:

Remember when industrial nylon became a luxury material back in the ’80s? You can thank Miuccia for that pioneering move.

This avant-garde designer is always pushing boundaries, both within and beyond fashion circles.

Let’s delve into the importance of diversity and inclusion in the fashion industry, shall we?

In an industry where representation matters, Miuccia Prada, the founder of Miuccia Prada and Fondazione Prada, is no stranger to pushing boundaries beyond just design aesthetics.

Enter Ava Duvernay – a prominent figure who had discussions with Prada’s team on the need for more diverse representation both in front of and behind the scenes.

Incorporating a variety of perspectives is essential for Prada to stay current in today’s dynamic world.

• Fashion Factoid: Miuccia was one of the first designers to cast black models such as Naomi Campbell back in 1994 – challenging traditional beauty standards even then. (source)

Ready for more? Dive into this Vogue article on diversity in fashion here.

Miuccia Prada’s commitment to pushing boundaries goes beyond design; it encompasses creating an inclusive space within the industry itself. She was a member of the Italian Communist Party and holds a Ph.D. in political science. Her partnership with Met Patrizio Bertelli, CEO of Prada, has been instrumental in the brand’s success.

Let’s talk about adaptability.

Prada has not only made waves with its designs but also through its strategic expansion into emerging markets like Russia and India, which were often overlooked by other luxury fashion houses. This bold move allowed the brand to reach new audiences while staying ahead of the competition.

Russia and India:

The decision to enter these markets was a calculated risk that paid off handsomely for Prada. With an increasing number of affluent consumers in both countries, there was a growing demand for high-end luxury products – perfect for Miuccia Prada’s innovative creations.

Acquiring a High-End Footwear Company:

To further strengthen their presence in these regions, Prada acquired Church’s Shoes – a renowned British footwear company known for its exceptional craftsmanship. This acquisition enabled them to maintain local production while benefiting from increased productivity levels. Learn more about this strategic partnership here.

• Maintaining Local Production: By acquiring Church’s Shoes, Prada ensured that they could continue producing high-quality footwear locally without compromising on quality or design integrity.
• Innovative Collaboration: The partnership between two iconic brands opened up opportunities for creative collaborations that pushed boundaries within the industry.

In conclusion, Miuccia Prada’s ability to adapt and evolve her brand is evident not just through her designs but also through strategic expansion into emerging markets. By taking calculated risks and forging innovative partnerships, Prada continues to push the boundaries of fashion while maintaining its status as a global luxury powerhouse.

Miuccia Prada is not just a fashion icon; she’s also an advocate for nurturing young talent in various fields. Her dedication to fostering creativity goes beyond the realm of fashion design, as evidenced by her collaboration with renowned architect Rem Koolhaas .

This partnership led to the creation of Fondazione Prada – a cultural mini-village that combines repurposed distillery spaces and newly designed buildings. The unique venue hosts contemporary art exhibitions, pushing boundaries and inspiring up-and-coming artists worldwide.

But Miuccia’s passion doesn’t stop there. She dreams of opening a school dedicated specifically to training aspiring movie directors someday soon too.

• Fostering creativity: Collaboration with Rem Koolhaas on Fondazione Prada project showcases Miuccia’s commitment to nurturing young talent across industries.
• Dreaming big: Opening a film director training school is another example of how she wants to inspire future generations in different creative fields.

In today’s world where artistic expression can be stifled or limited, it’s refreshing to see influential figures like Miuccia championing new talents and ideas within various industries.

FAQs in Relation to Miuccia Prada Case Study

She also trained as a mime artist at Teatro Piccolo and performed for five years before joining her family’s luxury fashion business.

Miuccia Prada is one of the most influential designers in the fashion industry. As head designer and co-CEO of Prada Group, she has transformed the brand into an international powerhouse known for its innovative designs, unconventional materials, and artistic collaborations.

Miuccia Prada draws inspiration from various sources such as art, history, politics, and everyday life. Her collections often challenge conventional norms by combining contrasting elements like modernity with tradition or high-fashion with utilitarianism. This unique approach to design has made her stand out in the competitive world of fashion.

A lesser-known fact about Miuccia Prada is that she was once part of Italy’s Communist Party during her university days. Despite coming from a wealthy background, she engaged in activism and even sold handbags on street corners to raise funds for party activities.

Overall, the Miuccia Prada Case Study highlights the brand’s ability to adapt and thrive in an ever-changing fashion market. From launching a secondary line to expanding into emerging markets, Prada has maintained its position as a leader in the industry.

Prada’s commitment to nurturing young talent across industries through collaborations with renowned artists and architects is evident in their Fondazione Prada exhibitions. Additionally, their efforts towards addressing diversity and inclusion within the fashion industry are commendable.

In conclusion, Miuccia Prada’s innovative approach to design and business strategy has led to continued success for her eponymous brand.

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Fashion Design Management: Case Study

Updated for the 2024 admissions cycle.

How do you transform an idea into a successful fashion brand, and how do you define “success”? Fashion Design Management merges creativity, business savvy, and ethics to realize the potential of fashion products and ensure they reach the right consumers.

In the College of Human Ecology, students approach all areas of study by centering the health and well-being of people and communities. In Fashion Design Management, this means thinking about the needs and desires of consumers as well as the impact of fashion products, production, and promotion on the environment, garment workers, and society more generally. How do you learn about your consumer (i.e., “target market”) and then align your branding, communications, product lines, manufacturing, marketing, and retailing with their preferences?

The Fashion Design Management Case Study will provide an opportunity for you to answer some of these questions and showcase your creativity, analytic skills, and understanding of fashion design management. The written statements, though separate from the Case Study, will also offer a space to share your experience, background, and perspective on fashion design management.

The  Fashion Design Management Case Study  is required of all first-year and transfer applicants interested in this option of the Fashion Design Management option of the Fashion Design & Management major*.  This submission will be considered along with your required application materials (Common Application, transcripts, etc). Fashion Design Management applicants who do not submit the  Case Study  will not be considered. 

*Applicants interested in the Fashion Design option must follow separate fashion design portfolio guidelines .

Submitting your  Fashion Design Management Case Study  All Fashion Design Management Case Study components must be submitted via  SlideRoom . Mailed materials will not be accepted, reviewed, or returned.

Deadlines Your  Fashion Design Management Case Study  must be submitted to SlideRoom by the application  deadline  that corresponds with your application status. Late submissions will not be considered.

Fashion Design Management Case Study  Components The Fashion Design Management Case Study  consists of the following (2) required components and (1) optional component (see below). Applicants must complete and submit the (2) required components.

• Required — Written Statements
• Required — Case Study
• Optional — Your own creative work

All work must be original and produced by the applicant,  WITH NO ASSISTANCE FROM CONSULTANTS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ETC.  Any images or graphics that are not the work of the applicant must be properly cited (for example, a mood board of collaged images from a magazine must include attributions to the source). Submissions found to have significant similarity to work posted on the internet or from other sources will not be accepted.

Fashion design management case study instructions (2024).

Tell us more about yourself and your interest in Fashion Design Management by responding to each question/prompt below. Submit (1 – 2) pages with your responses to SlideRoom.

• Students in the College of Human Ecology approach the study of human health and well-being by considering many different scholarly perspectives, including human development, nutrition, psychology, history, economics, design, and the social and material sciences, among others. What interests you about studying Fashion Design Management in this kind of interdisciplinary educational context? (Maximum: 150 words)
• Please describe any fashion and/or business related experiences (including jobs, courses, internships, and volunteer work) in which you have participated. Share more about the creative, as well as the business, financial, and management aspects of these positions. (Maximum: 100 words)
• What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing the fashion industry today? What solutions would you recommend from the perspective of fashion design management? (Maximum: 150 words)
• Of all the places, people, and media platforms where fashion is seen, which has most informed and influenced you and why? (Maximum: 100 words)

The Fashion Design Management Case Study allows you to present your perspective on the business side of fashion and the management of design.

Prompt: Create a new fashion brand or expand/revamp an existing brand for an underserved or niche consumer. Develop a cohesive presentation of your work that you would pitch to an investor (in the case of a new fashion brand) or to upper-level management (in the case of an existing brand). Respond to each portion of the Case Study as outlined below.

• Brand identity and target market. Develop a brand identity and describe the target customer for your brand. Indicate what research and resources you used to select and understand this consumer group. Describe how your proposed brand would meet the needs and preferences of this customer. Develop a brand identity that clearly and cohesively communicates the mission, values, and personality of your brand through both visuals and written word. Submit (1 – 2) page to SlideRoom.
• Product line. Create or curate three looks that would be worn by the target customer and indicate the product category or categories that are part of the brand. For example, a brand might specialize in footwear, accessories, or a particular category of apparel, like swimwear, sleepwear, activewear, etc., whereas other brands might manufacture across a range of different product categories.  To illustrate the consumer looks, you may provide original sketches, take photos of models you have styled, or use existing images from other sources, such as catalogs, magazines, or the internet. Be sure to identify your original work and accurately credit the work that you sourced. For each look, indicate how it exemplifies your brand identity. Submit (1) page per look (maximum 3 pages) to SlideRoom.
• Brand promotion. Consider how you would advertise this new brand to your target customers. Explain why your promotional strategy will effectively reach your customers and what will make you stand out from other competing fashion brands. Think outside the box for a unique approach. You could provide a sample advertisement, social media post, or promotional video. Submit (1 – 2) pages to SlideRoom.
• Production, distribution, and retailing . Share production and/or sourcing choices you might make for the product line(s).  Identify and describe the distribution channel(s) the brand will use to reach consumers. Provide a general overview of the anticipated financial, environmental, and social considerations affecting your choices. Submit (1 – 2) pages to SlideRoom.

Submit up to three (3) additional images of your original creative work for consideration. Submissions can include photos, videos, and blog posts, as well as garments or accessories you have made.

Submit optional creative work (maximum of 3 pages) to SlideRoom.

• Think about the mission of the College of Human Ecology — Improving lives by exploring and shaping connections to the natural, social, and built environment — and consider developing a brand that articulates with this commitment to health and well-being in some way.      
• To start your research, you may want to create a list of potential brands you think would be interesting for this challenge. Visit their websites and look for “Company Information” or “About Us” information to learn more about their background and customer. 
• Explore the media platforms you use to learn about fashion and think about consumers who may be underrepresented in these spaces. How will you address both the needs and the desires of an overlooked consumer group?
• Consider identifying a target consumer who is different from you in some way and use the Case Study as an opportunity to research and learn about the needs of this consumer group. You may conduct research in the library, talk with people who identify in this consumer category, search for research reports, read journal articles, and find magazines or social media accounts targeted to this group, among many other research approaches.
• Visit a store in your area to look more closely at the merchandise and to talk to store employees.
• Be sure that if you use images, media, or styling looks with garments you did not create, that you indicate the sources owned/created by others.

Frequently Asked Questions

The fashion industry and fashion design management bridge creative and business components. The Case Study is intended to give prospective Fashion Design Management students a platform to highlight their business acumen, creativity, and consideration of social and cultural contexts. We are interested in understanding how you perceive fashion around you and the innovations, improvements, and interventions you might bring to the industry.

By creating a brand and detailing the products, consumers, branding, promotion, production, and distribution, your Case Study will show us a bit more about your perspective on fashion and your hopes for the future of the industry.

To start your research, you may create a list of potential retailers you think would be interesting for this challenge. Visit their websites and look for “Company Information” or “About Us” information to learn more about their background and customer. You can also see if there is a store in your area and take a visit to look more closely at the merchandise and talk to store employees.

Resources for images can come from print catalogs, fair use image databases, or you may take your own photographs. Be sure to appropriately credit images and photos if you use those owned by someone else.

The written statement portion of the Case Study allows you to describe your work experience. If you have visuals (images or designs) that resulted from your work experience, you can add this as your “Optional Creative Work” in SlideRoom.

Email us if you have additional questions about the design supplement.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Practice of sustainable fashion design considering customer emotions and personal tastes.

• Department of Clothing and Textiles, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea

This study aimed to determine a sustainable design practice approach that can satisfy customer emotions and personal tastes, which designers need in the early stages of the SFD process, and improve environmental performance. The research was conducted through a case study and interviews. For case studies, the specific design methods of fashion brands, which have been ranked sustainable over the last 3 years in the world’s top fashion magazines favored by the public, were researched. The results of the case studies were used to draw questions for the in-depth interviews. The results are as follows: first, the design approaches of SFBs were categorized into “eco-friendly materials,” “functional durability design,” “reuse and remanufacturing,” “emotional durability design,” and sustainable fashion technology. Each type’s specific design approach methods were organized into a checklist for the practice of SFD and then reflected in the interview questions. From the results of the interviews, it was noted that the sustainable design approaches perceived by Korean designers were “eco-friendly materials,” “reuse and remanufacturing,” and “functional durability design.” Moreover, it was mentioned that specific methods of emotional durability design and sustainable fashion technology need to be acquired. By applying the checklist to the interviewees, interview participants could conveniently and quickly recognize how to apply sustainable design through the inventory. This study is significant because it presents a checklist, an efficient tool for sustainable design approaches, and a sustainable design practice method that can satisfy customer emotions and personal tastes and improve environmental performance.

Introduction

The fashion industry is one of the industries that have contributed significantly to the growth of the global consumer goods industry for decades. Nevertheless, the environmental damage caused by water pollution and CO2 produced at each stage of the fashion supply chain is the second largest after the oil industry ( Villemain, 2019 ). Hence, the fashion industry’s responsibility for sustainable environmental development and its obligation to restore the environment are emphasized, as much as the share of the fashion industry in the global industry ( Caniato et al., 2012 ; Dissanayake and Sinha, 2015 ; Lawless and Medvedev, 2016 ; Maldini et al., 2019 ; O’Connell, 2020 ). Since the mid-2000s, industrial supply systems around the world have been affected by sustainability and have struggled to develop environmental management strategies ( Reoberto and Esposito, 2016 ). Previous studies have stated that a green supply system based on a circular economy is important in presenting a vision for sustainable manufacturing ( Zhu et al., 2011 ; Stahel, 2016 ; Geissdoerfer et al., 2017 ). H&M has regularly published public reports on sustainability activities since it launched an ethical fashion brand called “Conscious Collection” in 2011 ( Baker, 2011 ). In addition to mainstream brands such as Nike and M&S, it is considered a leader in sustainable business execution ( Kozlowski et al., 2019 ; Claxton and Kent, 2020 ). Many fashion companies, including Uniqlo, North Face, and New Balance, also recognize the importance of sustainability and supply chain management ( Shen, 2014 ). Early studies on sustainable fashion focused on eco-designs, which focused on the environmental harm during the product life cycle, from using materials to production and disposal. They were followed by studies on various tools for measuring performance in the three aspects of sustainability and strategies for sustainable fashion design (SFD) ( Pigosso et al., 2013 ; Rossi et al., 2016 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ; Karell and Niinimäki, 2020 ). Emotionally durable design aims at a circular economy as a design approach that extends the life of a product by encouraging a more durable and resilient relationship with the product through the emotional experience that occurs between the product and the consumer ( Haines-Gadd et al., 2018 ). It can be said that it is a design method that allows modern people who consume selectively and wisely to choose sustainable product design according to their sensibility and personal taste. In previous studies, consumers agreed to the practice of sustainability but rejected sustainable products that did not fit their tastes ( Karell and Niinimäki, 2020 ). Additionally, while about 80% of sustainability impacts are determined at the design stage, which is an early stage in the production process, design methods still tend to rely on the designer’s intuition ( Ramani et al., 2010 ; Ribeiro et al., 2013 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ; Keshavarz-Ghorabaee et al., 2019 ; Karell and Niinimäki, 2020 ). Designers play an essential role in sustainable environmental performance and decisively impact the future environmental effects of their products ( Boks, 2006 ; Ramani et al., 2010 ; Ribeiro et al., 2013 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ; Keshavarz-Ghorabaee et al., 2019 ; Karell and Niinimäki, 2020 ). Nevertheless, fashion designers still need to understand the complexity of sustainable fashion issues and the unpredictable future of fashion design related to diversity, rapidly changing trends, and consumers ( Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). The world’s well-known fashion magazines, such as Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar, rank and release articles on fashion products of sustainable fashion brands (SFBs). This implies that the public interest in sustainable fashion products is high. Thus, it is imperative to propose practical methods for easy-to-use SFD, in which the complexity of sustainability and the intuition and experience of designers are objectified.

The purpose of this study is to support the circular economy by satisfying customers’ sensibility and personal taste, improving environmental performance, and determining a design approach that designers can easily use in SFD.

Literature review

Sustainable fashion design.

Sustainability means that businesses must address social goals such as environmental conservation, social justice, and economic development ( Yıldızbaşı et al., 2021 ). It is in the same vein as the importance of business performance measured by considering the three dimensions of sustainability in the overall green industry ( Pattnaik et al., 2021 ). SFD refers to design that considers the social, environmental, and economic impacts associated with the fashion products in the entire life cycle until the end of their life, from the raw materials to the use and disposal ( Niinimäki, 2006 ; Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). Ecological, economic, and social factors have been the basis of many studies as the triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability ( Raza et al., 2021 ). Today’s SFD has evolved into a system that plans products to suppress the occurrence of environmentally hazardous elements in the fashion product supply chain ( Ceschin and Gaziulusoy, 2016 ; Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). In the fashion industry, three out of five apparel items are discarded within a year of production ( Puspita and Chae, 2021 ). Problem-solving in sustainable fashion requires improving the complex apparel supply chain and the consumers, companies, and governments involved. Several previous studies have noted that designers are crucial to influencing changes in the sustainable design industry ( Lawless and Medvedev, 2016 ; Hur and Cassidy, 2019 ; Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). To achieve the sustainability goals of fashion products, designers should play an active role in design from the early stage of the production process by predicting the ethical behavior of fashion product production and consumption ( Ceschin and Gaziulusoy, 2016 ). For SFD, Kozlowski et al. (2019) stated that aesthetic and cultural dimensions should also be considered along with performance in three aspects: the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability. These aspects must be regarded because sustainable fashion products that have been produced so far have become another environmentally hazardous factor because they have not been chosen as consumers’ tastes are not met. Currently, various tools are used to predict the performance of sustainable fashion supply chains ( Bovea and Pérez-Belis, 2012 ; Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). However, considering that approximately 80% of the sustainability impact over the entire life cycle of fashion products are determined in the design stage ( Ribeiro et al., 2013 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ), it is necessary to explore various approaches to SFD.

Sustainable fashion brand

Fashion companies such as Zara, Nike, and H&M, including Kering, which currently has a portfolio of luxury brands, regularly publish public reports describing their sustainability activities ( Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). Most sections of the fashion industry, such as general apparel, sportswear, shoes, and underwear, are paying attention to sustainable product development in consideration of environmental, economic, and social issues. In 2010, H&M announced the first sustainable collection made from sustainable materials such as organic cotton, linen, recycled polyester, and Tencel of wood pulp fabric ( Portuguez, 2010 ). Then, in 2011, it launched a new “Conscious” collection and pledged to develop the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, an initiative devised to expand the use of organic and sustainable materials, educate cotton farmers, and measure the environment, impact, and labor practices for apparel and shoe manufacturing ( Baker, 2011 ). In 2011, Patagonia also started the “Do Not Buy This Jacket” campaign, which promotes conscious buying, upcycling, and product use changes ( Bandyopadhyay and Ray, 2020 ). Simultaneously, Patagonia operated a recycling program called the Common Threads Initiative, which focused on the “4 Rs” to enable the recycling of its products. It aims to reduce resale through eBay and recycling based on customer partnerships ( Patagonia Inc, 2011 ). One of the interests of Patagonia was in ethics for the life of workers, and Patagonia became one of the first fashion brands to take responsibility in partnership with Fair Trade USA. This movement has advocated for improved social and environmental standards since 2014 ( Teen Vogue, 2019 ; Bandyopadhyay and Ray, 2020 ). In 2014, to develop a roadmap to create a more sustainable supply chain and conserve endangered forests in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Stella McCartney, H&M, Eileen Fisher, Patagonia, and Inditex/Zara formed a group of promising forest conservation policies. The group created a shared “knowledge map” for the viscose supply chain to facilitate the removal of endangered forest fibers and pledged to support a long-term conservation solution for high-priority forest areas, such as rainforests in Indonesia and rainforests and subarctic forests in Canada. Furthermore, they have pledged to support the development of sustainable fabric alternatives made of recycled fabrics, recycled materials, and agricultural byproducts such as straw ( Sustainable brands, 2014 ). Stella McCartney is a London-based luxury brand belonging to Kering that does not use unsustainable animal materials, such as fur, leather, and feathers. It is known to operate a brand with ceaseless sustainable thinking. Their 2019 collection was rated as the most sustainable among the past collections because 75% of the collection used Econyl and recycled polyester, while the rest used organic cotton or upcycled denim. They announced Koba faux fur made from corn byproducts mixed with recycled polyester as an alternative to plastic options ( Frost, 2019 ).

In 2015, Kering announced Environmental Profit and Loss (EP and L), a sustainability statement calling for industry accountability. In 2016, EP and L were applied to all brands of Kering. Further, the EP and L demanded environmental and ethical responsibility across the supply chain from damage to environmental impacts caused by fashion products and not to evade fair-trade labor practice, carbon imprint, and energy and resource conservation ( Social Media Today, 2015 ). It started with upcycling fashion brands in 2008 and evolved as Kolon Industries, a large fashion company, launched “RE: CODE,” an upcycling fashion brand that introduced fashion products manufactured by recycling fashion products to be incinerated and automotive parts ( Park and Kim, 2014 ). RE: CODE was launched in 2012 as a sustainable brand by Kolon Industries, Inc., a large fashion company in South Korea. It creates new value based on upcycling, which refers to making new clothes by recycling deadstock and clothing waste. RE: CODE breaks fashion stereotypes, creates new uses, and encourages the world to participate in environmental and sustainable societal movements ( Kolon Industries, 2012 ). Kolon Industries has been working on the Noah Project since 2016 as a campaign to protect endangered animals and plants in South Korea. “Kolon Sports” of Kolon Industries applied 100% eco-friendly materials and techniques to all products in the collection in 2020 as part of the Noah Project ( Park, 2020 ).

As described above, the sustainable activities of fashion companies are group activities and campaigns focused on eco-friendly materials and material recycling. More and more fashion brands were putting the concept of sustainability at the forefront of their design goals.

Sustainable design approach and method

Previous studies have dealt with guides for various conceptual design tools and strategies to help apparel designers implement sustainability. Ceschin and Gaziulusoy (2016) classified sustainable design approaches and methods into “green design and eco-design,” “emotionally durable design,” “nature-inspired design,” “cradle-to-cradle design,” “biomimicry design,” “design for the base of the pyramid,” “sustainable product-service system design,” and “design for system innovations and transitions.” Rossi et al. (2016) summarized design approaches with “design for X concept” and classified them into “design for disassembly,” “design for remanufacturing,” design for material recycling, and “design for energy efficiency.” Based on some previous studies, Irwin (2015) and Sumter et al. (2020) classified design approaches by adding “design for a circular economy” to “eco-design,” “nature-inspired design,” “sustainable product-service systems,” “design for low resource settings,” “design for social innovation,” and “transition design.” De Pauw et al. (2014) conducted exploratory case studies to compare “eco-design” as an eco-friendly method to the methods of “biomimicry” and “cradle-to-cradle.” Väänänen and Pöllänen (2020) stated that the introduction of craft techniques into recycling and upcycling products makes products aesthetically pleasing and meaningful, which can be associated with the emotional durability of products that increases consumer attachment. Attachment can be one of the solutions to these problems because sustainability products in the past have not elicited empathy for respecting the individualities and tastes of consumers, compared to the increase in environmental awareness among consumers ( Karell and Niinimäki, 2020 ). Ramani et al. (2010) have classified “modular design,” “part standardization,” “take-back management,” “design for disassembly,” “design for reuse and remanufacturing,” and “design for material recovery” as design methods for improving end-of-life (EOL) management that enables multiple life cycles of “cradle-to-cradle.” Ramani et al. (2010) mentioned developing a laser-based manufacturing process to reduce material waste. Further, it involves not releasing hazardous elements during design and processes using computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided process planning (CAPP), which can affect the design in the early stage.

Figure 1 summarizes the classification of design approaches by researchers in previous studies. Based on these earlier studies on sustainable design, we classified design approaches into five categories in the early stage of sustainable design in this study. These include “eco-design,” “cradle-to-cradle,” “biomimicry,” “design for reuse and remanufacturing,” and “emotionally durable design,” which were used in the case analysis of sustainable designs in the next section. Figure 1 shows the process of deriving five sustainable design approaches based on the classifications of the five previous studies.

Figure 1. Process of classifying sustainable design approaches based on previous studies.

Methodology

The research was conducted through a case study and interviews. The research procedure is (1) classifying sustainable design approaches through a review of previous research; (2) based on this, the sustainable design approach and detailed design method for fashion designers were investigated in the world’s top fashion magazines favored by the public, (3) using the results of the case study as a tool for an in-depth interview with designers of SFB in Korea, and (4) determining design approaches that designers can easily use in the early stages of the SFD process. Figure 2 illustrates the framework of the study.

Figure 2. Framework of this study.

Regarding the research method, it analyzed the cases for the representation methods of SFBs that were ranked in the world’s top fashion magazines based on the sustainable design approaches derived through the literature review. The analysis focused on a total of 141 SFBs in nine articles searched using “the best SFB” in Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar, which are the world’s top popular fashion magazines for 3 years from 2019 to 2021. Additionally, for the analysis of the design approaches of the collected 149 SFBs, additional design methods were identified in the introduction window and product introduction of brand websites, along with the contents of the articles. Table 1 summarizes the titles of the nine articles for the top-ranking fashion brands in the analyzed fashion magazines.

Table 1. Articles on sustainable fashion brands (SFBs) selected from the world’s top popular fashion magazines.

The interviews were conducted from 14 September 2021 to 30 March 2022. The interview participants were randomly selected from among the brands selected or applied for the SFB support project of the Korean or local government. Eleven designers from sustainable fashion start-ups in Korea participated in the interviews. Each interview was conducted face-to-face or via Zoom and lasted approximately 40–50 min. Table 2 shows the contents related to the interview participants, including Sustainable Fashion Branding Experience, Fashion Designer Experience, and fashion products designed by them. Letters were assigned according to the order of the interviews to ensure anonymity.

Table 2. Interview participants.

The interviews were recorded and transcribed with the consent of the interviewees. Semi-structured questions were used for the interview, and additional questions were asked to obtain specific answers and opinions. As shown in Figure 3 , the interview questions were mainly composed of three questions. The first part concerned the launch date of SFB, the goal of sustainable development, and cognition of triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability. The second part was to identify the difference between the design approach currently used by the interviewed designers and the design method shown in the world’s best fashion magazines favored by the public, through the SFB design approach checklist based on the case study results. Finally, the third part consisted of comments and suggestions on practical tools for a sustainable design approach after the interview participants had used the checklist. Figure 3 is the frame of the interview question extraction process based on the checklist derived from the case study.

Figure 3. Interview questions on sustainable fashion brands’ (SFBs) design approach methods.

Case study of sustainable fashion brands’ design approach

A total of 149 SFBs were ranked by the world’s most popular fashion magazines for 3 years. Among them, 34 SFBs appeared twice or more, indicating that the SFB market has not yet been established stably. This may be an obvious result because it has only been approximately 10 years since fully fledged SFBs emerged. However, 35 brands were ranked only once in 2019, 19 in 2020, and 56 in 2021. Fashion brand activities were reduced in 2020 because of the SFB market shrinkage caused by COVID-19. Nevertheless, it can be seen that public interest in SFBs has increased since the number of new fashion brands in popular fashion magazines grew significantly in 2021. Thus, it is necessary to suggest a practical design approach for SFD that consumers can directly choose. Figure 4 shows the design classification process of the SFB based on the sustainable design approach classification derived from the literature review and was used as the category for the following case study.

Figure 4. Design approach classification process of sustainable fashion brand (SFB).

As a result of the case analysis based on the sustainable design approach of the previous studies, the design approaches of SFBs were categorized into: “eco-friendly materials,” “functional durability design,” “fashion for reuse and remanufacturing,” “emotionally durable design,” and “sustainable fashion technology.” Furthermore, case analysis was conducted for the specific design approaches applied in the early stage of the design process of SFB based on these categories as follows:

Eco-friendly materials

The use of eco-friendly materials is one of the metrics of sustainable fashion. Specifically, as eco-friendly materials are used, the sustainability of each product increases ( Wang and Shen, 2017 ). The environmental impact during the product life cycle can be minimized only by choosing eco-friendly materials ( Ribeiro et al., 2013 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ; Claxton and Kent, 2020 ). In particular, sustainable fashion products made of organic fabrics are fundamental to the supply chain because they contain fewer chemicals that harm the environment ( Shen, 2014 ). At the initial design stage, designers should consider using biodegradable materials that can be returned to the soil without causing additional damage to nature ( Gurova and Morozova, 2018 ).

The study of SFB product cases revealed that the selection of eco-friendly materials was required in almost all companies as a design approach. It appeared with eco-friendly materials, 100% organic cotton materials, a method tracing the origin of materials, or using vegetable materials. Additionally, it adopted a short-distance distribution to use eco-friendly materials near the production site as SFB’s design strategy to reduce CO2 emissions.

1. Certified sustainable materials using 100% organic cotton materials include Patagonia (Nagurney and Yu, 2012), H&M Conscious ( Bédat, 2019 ), Stella McCartney ( McCartney, 2020 ), Mara Hoffman ( Bédat, 2019 ), and Theory ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 ), Burberry ( Wang, 2020 ), House of Sunny ( Davis, 2021 ), BITE Studios ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ), Reformation ( Bédat, 2019 ), Baserange ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ), and Yasmina Q ( Davis, 2021 ), among others.

2. Tracing the origin of eco-friendly materials: Stella McCartney has adopted a method of tracing the origin of trees supplying viscose raw materials used strategically to help the environment by protecting endangered forests ( Davis, 2021 ) and, further, including those facilitating tracing of all eco-friendly materials on the brand’s website ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ).

3. Using vegetable materials: Vegan materials include Bleusalt’s signature fabric, an entirely vegan material with beech ( Penrose and Hearst, 2019 ). Moreover, notably, Alohas made shoes with two vegan types of leather from cactus and corn ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). VEJA’s sneakers used organic cotton for fair trade and soles made of rubber grown in the Amazon rainforest ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Additionally, Allbirds often makes soles with sugarcane and manufacture uppers using eucalyptus or natural merino wool ( Davis, 2021 ).

4. Net zero: Mulberry produces bags by developing the lowest carbon leather ( Vogue, 2021 ). Sonia Carrasco uses only organic or vegan materials for clothes and tags, labels, packaging, and papers ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Wright Le Chapelain maintained a transparent supply chain of sustainability and fabrics sourced from UK factories over short distances ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Tretorn also launched eco-friendly sneakers made of locally sourced canvases ( Davis, 2021 ).

Functional durability design

The properties and quantity of materials and the shape of the clothes used by fashion designers affect the quality and durability, which can remarkably impact the life of clothes ( Claxton and Kent, 2020 ). Connor-Crabb et al. (2016) argued that trans -seasonal, multi-functionality, modularity, alterability, and physical emotional durability are approaches to functional durability design. Further, they stated that on-demand production is included in this category. According to Rahman and Gong (2016) , functional durability design extends the physical life of durable, organic, and recyclable fabric materials from a technical perspective. Moreover, it is a method of extending aesthetic life based on the emotional durability of the product. This study separated the approaches to emotional durability and discussed them. Transformable apparel provides two or more functional or aesthetic alternative styles ( Rahman and Gong, 2016 ) and can extend the life of clothes. Modularized garment design is the task of dividing a garment into several parts based on the functional analysis of different parts. As many examples of various functions and specifications are included in each piece, user-oriented clothes can be designed quickly and flexibly ( Zhou et al., 2016 ). According to the case study, the method of functional durability design appeared to be on-demand production, quality, durability, multi-functionality, and alterability.

1. On-demand production: The House of Sunny works on only two seasonal collections per year and produces small quantities based on orders. The design team spends more time researching sustainable fabrics, manufacturing methods, and sourcing materials ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 , 2021 ; Davis, 2021 ). Further, Maison Cléo minimizes waste by selling it only once a week ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 ). Mary produces timeless limited editions based on orders without inventory ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ).

2. Quality and durability: Everlane has chosen the finest materials and manufacturing methods for timeless products, such as the highest class cashmere sweaters, Italian shoes, and Peruvian Pima t-shirts ( EVERLANE, 2021 ).

3. Alterability: Misha Nonoo’s “Easy 8” collection features eight pieces that can produce 22 changeable looks ( Davis, 2021 ). Nynne has included various styling options and is placed in a seam line across the leather skirt so that the length can be reduced if the user gets bored of the size and introduced reversible shearling jackets for two completely different looks ( Davis, 2021 ). The CAES has proposed timeless items that can be worn throughout the year by adding a premium to slow fashion with a concept that compares clothes to protective “cases” that cover our bodies ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Petit Pli designed clothes that can be worn for a long time, even if the body changes, by creating variable garments that can be increased or decreased in length depending on the wearer in a chic-pleated manner. Cho proposed varying designs with clothes that could be adjusted in size based on a detachable panel in the style of clothes manufactured using recycled plastic bottles and ethically sourced ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ).

Fashion for reuse and remanufacturing

Energy is required for designing and producing new products ( DeLong et al., 2014 ). Therefore, sustainable fashion designers should consider valuable new product design methods that facilitate multiple life cycles by reusing and reconstructing discarded products. Janigo and Wu (2015) classified design approaches for reuse and remanufacturing into repair and alteration, upcycle, downcycle, post-consumer used and secondhand clothing, post-consumer recycled clothing, and redesigned clothing. Gurova and Morozova (2018) stated that upcycling, reuse, and repurposing methods exist.

In the case study of the SFB approach, the methods of reuse and remanufacturing were sourcing sustainable yarns from waste, redesigning clothing, and repurposing.

1. Recycled yarns: Burberry heritage trench coats and lightweight classic car coats are produced using Econyl, a sustainable nylon yarn made of recycled fishing nets, fabric scraps, and industrial plastics ( Wang, 2020 ). Baum und Pferdgarten uses recycled denim and recycled polyester from plastic bottles ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ; Vogue, 2021 ). Maggie Marilyn sourced 100% of synthetic fibers discarded after consumption ( Marius, 2020 ). Prada launched Prada Re-Nylon, a line of sustainable bags and accessories made of discarded cloth and recycled plastics collected from the sea and fishing nets ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 ). JW Anderson introduced belt totes made of recycled plastic ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). PAPER London launched swimsuits produced using recycled yarns from fishing nets, which would have taken 600 years to discompose ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). The Pringle of Scotland, known as knitwear, has used 100% recycled fibers to produce limited-edition jumpers and recycled clothing tags ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ).

2. Redesigned clothing: Acne Studios has designed super-sized jackets and unique mini-skirts of modern images that the brand has as products that recycled discarded black denim and red leather ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Rave Review introduced luxurious upcycled fashions using fabrics and deadstock clothes and created tufty overcoats by upcycling vintage bedspreads ( Wang, 2020 ). Marine Serre has sourced discarded scarves, secondhand shirts, and wetsuit materials, turning them into futuristic practical wear from parkas to panel dresses ( Lim, 2019 ).

3. Repurposing: Mulberry bags aim to extend product life through repair, restoration, buyback, reselling, and repurposing ( Vogue, 2021 ). Matty Bovan sourced the fabrics and prints used in its collection by working with the Liberty Fabric Archives. In a previous collection, they recycled soccer pads to inflate the shoulders and redesigned old fur into new shapes ( Bonacic, 2020 ).

Emotionally durable design

An emotionally durable fashion design approach can extend the product life cycle based on the emotional attachment between consumers and products ( Claxton and Kent, 2020 ). Emotionally durable fashion originates from a business environment in which products connect consumers and manufacturers and provide conversation pieces that facilitate the ease of upgrades, services, and repairs ( Chapman, 2005 ). Consumers are attached to physical objects through complex interactions between cultural norms, personal preferences, and behaviors ( Connor-Crabb et al., 2016 ). Fashion customers with a taste for handcrafted and luxurious products are emotionally attracted to secondhand clothes reborn with felt, quilt, and dye and purchase them ( Janigo and Wu, 2015 ). Consumers stay attached for longer to products that elicit amazement and endless pleasure ( Armstrong et al., 2016 ). Consumers’ attachment to products that meet their personal characteristics and tastes leads to an extension of their product life. Design strategies that encourage social contact through sharing or group use may lead to attachment ( Armstrong et al., 2016 ). Upcycling designs using heirlooms or garments with strong personal attachment have emotional durability ( DeLong et al., 2014 ). Furthermore, handicrafts made by artisans have substantial value as a medium of sustainable fashion with devotion, as sustainable design reflecting local resources and culture can lead to the derivation of narratives ( Sandhu, 2020 ).

In the study of SFBs, emotionally durable fashion designs appeared to collaborate with artisans and artists in the production area, handwoven material sourcing, and emotional design concepts.

1. Collaboration with artisans: Bite Studios creates sustainable fashion products by collaborating with emerging and existing artists in various works, such as natural dyeing techniques, printmaking, and handmade jewelry ( Vogue, 2021 ). Chopova Lowena ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ) pursues uniqueness with vibrant combinations of Bulgarian folk handcraft materials made through craftsmanship and English tailoring ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 ; BROWNS FASHION, 2021 ). Hereu’s bags and shoes are products made by local artisans at the home of the founding designer of Spanish nationality ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Ballen Pellettiere accessories commemorate Colombian fashion and artisans’ crafts, and playful embroidery paired with a unique shape is a trademark of their handmade bags ( Penrose and Hearst, 2019 ).

2. Handwoven material sourcing: Bethany Williams’ recycled tents and handwoven denim ensembles reflect their signature multicolor patchwork and streetwear sentiments ( Lim, 2019 ), while wooden buttons handcrafted by carving are discarded birches that reflect consumers’ individualities and preferences ( Bonačić, 2021 ). Bodes are brands that use recycled vintage cloth as materials and have unique handcrafted works containing stories of quilting, mending, and appliances by sourcing fabrics from all over the world, including Victorian quilts and 100-year-old linens ( BODE, 2021 ). Brother Vellies’ shoes and handbags are handmade in South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Morocco, combining the expertise of local artisans.

3. Personal design concept: Nynne approaches sustainable fashion consumer sentiment with a unique design concept named “Diana” dress as the brand’s signature work ( Davis, 2021 ).

Sustainable fashion technology

Digital tools can be used to find new behaviors in existing materials by modifying their structures, and a new understanding based on this can expand the possibilities provided to designers. By extensively using 3D design software, designers can design complex woven clothing, even if they have little understanding of weaving or weaving software ( Chapman, 2005 ). Sustainable fashion technology is related to creative pattern cutting, which can reduce environmental impact. Zero-waste pattern cutting is making fabric using the predetermined width and length to minimize the fabric’s loss in the cutting stage ( Townsend and Mills, 2013 ). Zero-waste fashion can show new expressions while reducing or eliminating waste in product production by mixing creative design practices and zero-waste pattern cutting ( McQuillan, 2019 ). Applying this method requires intuition and experience. However, in recent years, innovative designs and technological progress have made it easier to adopt creative practices. Software such as CLO enables fast initial design creation and facilitates the development of highly innovative woven shapes by visualizing 2D patterns, 3D shapes, and waste generated during garment design ( McQuillan, 2019 ).

In this study, the zero-waste fashion approach also included cases in which technologies that did not affect a sustainable environment were utilized.

1. 3D technique: PRISM Squared swimwear, sportswear, underwear, and shapewear produced by a seamless 3D knitting technique are created with almost no loss of fabrics during the production process (Elle team, 2020).

2. Digital printing: Hoffman performs digital printing directly on finished sweaters to ensure that the loss of fabric caused by pattern matching will not occur ( Marius, 2020 ; Offman, 2021 ).

3. Lasers and robotics: Levis produced jeans in a way that is better for the environment by combining lasers and robotics ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 ; Davis, 2021 ).

Checklist from the result of the case study

Figure 5 shows a summary of the specific methods for each design approach category, which can be applied in practical design in the early design phase of SFBs based on the experimental techniques derived from the case studies for each SFD approach category.

Figure 5. Representation methods by sustainable fashion brand (SFB) design approach category.

The interview was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, questions were about fashion designers and SFB practical experience, cognitions related to TBL of sustainability, and whether and how TBL performance was applied to the company. In the second stage, an interview was conducted to find out the current practical approach of the interviewees using the SFD approach checklist derived from the SFBs case study results that appeared in the world’s top popular fashion magazines. The third stage was an interview on whether the checklist can be used as a practical tool for a sustainable design approach. Eleven brands participated in interviews.

Experience related to running a sustainable fashion brand and triple bottom line of sustainability

Designers can have a significant impact on the environment by intervening early in the sustainable fashion industry supply chain. With this in mind, the first question was about knowledge of TBL and designer experience. The brands participating in the interviews ranged from micro-sized companies with one person to small- and medium-sized companies with fewer than ten employees. The duration of the SFB operation of the interviewees was between 2 and 12 years. Some of the interviewers were aware of the value and performance of the TBL of sustainability and able to properly explain the application cases in practice. The others could explain corporate SDGs, but misunderstood the TBL of sustainability. That is, most interviewees were aware of environmental values, whereas some had difficulty approaching economic and social values. In particular, they misunderstood the economic value of sustainable environmental development as the economic performance of the company. This is consistent with previous studies in which designers discussed inadequate knowledge about sustainability and the lack of time to acquire it ( Knight and Jenkins, 2009 ; Bovea and Pérez-Belis, 2012 ). The results support that tools for a sustainable design approach should be designed as effective learning mechanisms.

“From the social aspect of TBL, we actively hire women who have lost their careers to provide jobs for women who can be marginalized. From an environmental point of view, the use of recycled plastic bottles was actively introduced in all of the brand’s products, design, manufacturing method, and packing. We strive to reduce the impact of the environment through disposal, end-of-life treatment, which also contributes to sustainable environmental development and economic performance.” (Interviewee A)

This interviewee’s case was characteristic in that it aimed to expand the use of recycled plastic bottles. On the other hand, Interviewee D argued “to minimize the environmental impact, even plastic should not be used.”

Interviewee A and D had opposite views of sustainable development. In the report “Synthetics Anonymous” released by the Changing Markets Foundation (2021) , it is noted that downcycling plastic made from recycled plastic bottles, that is, clothing using recycled polyester, will eventually end up in landfill or incineration rather than circulating fashion. The use of PET bottles as a material for recycling is expected to be controversial in the future.

The role of designers is to create an opportunity to increase the sustainability of fashion design. Further, it is a critical change agent in sustainable fashion ( Niinimäki and Hassi, 2011 ). Most interviewees were aware of the importance of the designer’s role in attaining the value of sustainability. Interviewees A, B, C, D, and E discussed the importance of designers in reaching the value of sustainability because designers influence the life cycle of fashion products, and the design process is organically intertwined with all other areas. Interviewee I explained that a designer’s sense of design determined customers’ product selection and utilization. Moreover, they discussed the importance of design considering customer emotions and personal tastes to induce consumption of sustainable fashion products. Interviewees F and K stated that the role of designers is to convey the importance of sustainability to customers or boost sustainability in customer emotions and personal tastes. Through the interview results, designers can reflect on customer emotions and personal preferences in sustainable fashion products and exert influence throughout the design process to achieve sustainable goals. Designers can effectively implement sustainable fashion if there are tools that make the sustainable design approach more specific, practical, and easy to use.

Design approaches of sustainable fashion brands in Korea through the checklist

The interview on SFB’s approach to sustainable design practice in Korea was conducted by presenting a checklist derived from the case analysis results in the previous chapter. As a result of participating in the checklist, the SFD approach of the brands which participated in the interview mainly utilized “eco-friendly materials,” “functional durability design,” and “fashion for reuse and remanufacturing.” Some brands were new to or unfamiliar with the detailed expression methods of “emotionally durable design” and “sustainable fashion technology.” However, it is thought that it will be helpful for the expansion of sustainable design approaches in the future by realizing that the design process that is currently being implemented for customizing consumer tastes and the design inspired by their own culture belong to this area during the interview. The “eco-friendly materials” design approach is the design approach that most interviewees used, and there were various design expression methods. For example, Interviewee B used leather from the mulberry bark or cactus. Conversely, Interviewee D used sustainable materials, such as organic linen produced even on land unsuitable for grain production with low water consumption and pollution, and GOTS-certified organic cotton. Most of the brands interviewed chose green materials as a sustainable design approach, similar to a case study of SFB products presented by the world’s leading fashion magazines that are popular with the public. However, there was no mention of a method of tracing the origin of eco-friendly materials or tracking the use of eco-friendly materials at a short distance, which is a specific design approach shown in the results of the case study.

In the case study of fashion magazines, “functional durability design” presented specific design methods such as a pre-order method without stock, quality and design that can be worn over time, high-quality sewing, and a manual showing various styling with the few fashion items. Similarly, SFBs in Korea used manual finishing and preorder on-demand methods to ensure the robustness of their products and taught them various styling methods and easy repairs.

”As a company that produces sustainable bags and clothing, it enhances the solid finish with high-quality sewing using hand-sewn in the final finishing process.” (Interviewee B)

”We are adopting the slow business model as a seasonal, non-fashionable design method.” (Interviewee C)

“By connecting the small-volume production method of preorder with brand membership, we create a customer group with high loyalty to the brand. This avoids unnecessary production, resulting in environmental and economic performance. It gives advice to consumers on styling when they cannot use the purchased product and provides customers with information on laundry and care. Buying well-made products from good materials will extend the lifespan of your clothes.” (Interviewee K)

In the case study, “fashion for reuse and remanufacturing” was shown to be resourcing sustainable yarns from waste, or redesigning and repurposing. That is, recycled fishing nets, pieces of cloth, fabrics resourcing from plastic bottles, vintage clothing, outworn bedding, etc., were recycled and redesigned, and the original use of the material was changed. Similarly, in Korea’s SFB interviews, “fashion for reuse and remanufacturing” was found to use resourced materials from waste plastic bottles, use scrap or stock fabrics, or recycle discarded clothing. Among the design expression methods shown in the case study results, most expression methods were used by the brands participating in the interviews, except for recycling waste generated in the agro-food industry as a material.

“In Korea, the domestic waste plastic bottle market is active and has been developed using various materials. So, companies who want to use it can easily purchase it.” (Interviewee A)

“Among the clothes purchased from our brand, we collected the clothes the customer wanted to discard and upcycled it in the direction the customer wanted. The customer liked it very much.” (Interviewee K)

“We are producing hand-knitted handbags by collecting materials thrown away during the clothing-making process.” (Interviewee G)

“The main item is a fabric book cover, and the direction of our brand is to collect discarded scraps and waste subsidiary materials and recreate them as marketable products using handicraft techniques.” (Interviewee I)

“We produce and provide digital patterns that are used to remodel used clothing and provide tutorials for redesigning used clothes into clothing and accessories.” (Interviewer J)

In some cases, wastes with poor function for sports or leisure were recycled and developed into clothing.

”Leisure sports materials such as paragliding, glamping, tents, sails which have been destroyed for safety reasons, but have no problem in actual use, are collected, dismantled, washed, and recycled through a series of processes such as cutting and sewing.” (Interviewer H)

As mentioned above, the approaches of “emotionally durable design” and “sustainable fashion technology” were utilized in conjunction with “functional durability design” or “fashion for reuse and remanufacturing.”

“Emotionally durable design” was a method recognized and applied by only a small number of brands participating in the interview. Interviewee E understood that this design approach is sustainable after checking the design approach of “emotionally durable design” in the checklist.

The specific method of “emotionally durable design” shown in the case study was collaboration with local craftspeople and artisans, folklore handcrafted touches, handwoven material sourcing, personal design concept focusing on the user’s personality and taste, and brand signature pieces.

In Korea’s SFB interviews, “emotionally durable design” appeared as an inspirational approach to handicrafts such as knitting, quilting, and traditional elements of Korea.

“Through work that mixes handicraft with everyday products, we want to appeal to consumers’ sensibility and emphasize to consumers that everything from cutting to finishing is done manually.” (Interviewer I)

“Because we produce products using the preorder method of “Saekdong,” a traditional Korean element, as our brand signature item, we can reflect the individuality and taste of consumers.” (Interviewer E)

“Sustainable fashion technology” is the design approach adopted the least by the brands that participated in the interview. Although it was recognized as a sustainable design approach, designers faced barriers. This was consistent with a previous study, establishing that designers are limited in their adoption of tools for sustainable design or are unable to use them because they are unaware of their existence ( Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). Among the brands that participated in the interview, Interviewees A and B, whose company size was large, actively used seamless 3D knitting techniques, digital printing, and laser cutting technology for finished fashion products but did not mention robotic technology.

“We know that digital printing technology is a sustainable fashion technology, but it is economically burdensome for our head office to have digital printers.” (Interviewee F)

“Our brand also produces knits and jerseys; thus, we know 3D knitting is a comfortable and sustainable way to wear it, but do not know how to approach it.” (Interviewee G)

“Sustainable fashion technology” had a high barrier for interview participants to approach. This is because the size of the brands participating in the interview was small. Notwithstanding, considering that the scale of SFBs is small- and medium-sized, sustainable fashion technology is a sustainable design approach that requires active support or investment from the government.

Opinion on practical tools for sustainable fashion design approach

After using the suggested checklist, interviewees were asked for their opinions and suggestions on the checklist as a practical tool. Regarding the advantages of using the inventory, the interviewees stated that the checklist, a valuable tool for a sustainable design approach, can help clarify a brand’s strategy and easily learn sustainable design approaches. This is considered a tool that can overcome the barriers and limitations of the sustainable design approach. Additionally, they stated that the direction of the sustainability concept could be identified more clearly if the checklist was used when establishing a sustainable brand strategy or planning a new product that pursues sustainability.

“The checklist provides guidelines for SFD. I thought it existed only in theory, but if I checked it when making a product, one could address the missing parts. Furthermore, sustainable brands pursue different goals. It is helpful to think about which side we focus on and value more.” (Interviewee C)

“It is an opportunity to check the brand design direction once more while checking the checklist.” (Interviewee F)

“I think I can check the brand concept by looking at this checklist when doing a new project.” (Interviewee H)

They said learning new sustainable design expression methods is also an advantage.

“While going over the checklist, I thought sustainability could be expressed this way. If we focus on what we are doing in practice, there would be insufficient time to review other things. Thus, the checklist can enable easy and quick understanding.” (Interviewee B)

“I was worried about not practicing it or overlooking it because of ignorance. If there is a tool that is easily accessible like this, I believe it would be convenient to practice.” (Interviewee G)

The advantage of the checklist mentioned by the interviewees is that it enables them to recognize the goals of sustainable development and clarify the design approach according to the concept of the brand. Moreover, the checklist is a tool for effectively learning the design approach to sustainability.

As suggestions for the checklist as a practical tool, constant updates, quantification for objective verification, and more in-depth details were mentioned.

“It seems that new ways to express design that pursue sustainability are emerging as time passes. New methods are proposed yearly for ease of recycling and economy, such as using single-component materials, design, and manufacturing that are easy to repair, reward policy, and lightweight to reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, new methods must be updated over time.” (Interviewee A)

“When it comes to dyeing, the abuse of water becomes a problem. I have encountered a dry dyeing technique that saves approximately 90% of water use, but it is not on the checklist. It would be good if new methods are constantly updated.” (Interviewee F)

Brand A participating in the interview presented numerical values for objective verification.

“Among famous overseas sustainable brands, there are brands that numerically represent sustainability. There is an objective feeling that numbers give. It shows the depth of our participation in sustainability together.”

“The checklist is easy to understand and accessible, but I wish it were detailed. The consideration of sustainable design expressions is controversial. For example, in the case of plant leather, natural materials are raw materials, but in some cases, the surface is plasticized to resemble leather during processing. It is said to be an effort toward sustainable development, but I think it may be risky.” (Interviewee D)

Suppose the constant update of design expression methods and numerical values for objective verification are supplemented. In that case, the checklist can be a practical method for designers to innovate or change sustainably. Furthermore, it can provide designers with in-depth sustainable knowledge if additional data on items that require discussion are provided.

This study identified a sustainable design practice method to satisfy customer sensibility and individual taste that designers need in the early stage of the SFD process. The SFB design approach was categorized through a literature review. Through the SFB case study, specific design expression methods for each category of the SFB design approach considering customer sensibility and personal taste were derived. The contents derived from this process were made into a checklist, and the design approach of Korean SFBs was confirmed through an interview.

It has been about 10 years since global brands in the fashion industry started to develop sustainability initiatives for a circular economy. As a result of case studies, 149 SFBs appeared in articles ranking the SFBs of the world’s top popular fashion magazines. In total, 35 brands emerged in the articles in 2019, 19 brands in 2020, and 56 brands in 2021. Although there was a market contraction due to Corona 19, the number of fashion brands increased significantly in 2021 is considered to be related to increased consumer interest in SFD. Given the weight of the impact of the fashion industry on the environment and the design method of a fashion designer can have an influence of 80% on the environment ( Ribeiro et al., 2013 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ), a specific SFD method considering the circular economy of products selected by consumers is required. In the sustainable fashion sector, the environmental impact is divided into the manufacturing phase of textile and apparel production and the transportation, product use, and end-of-life phases. In the end, the environmental impact depends on the lifespan of the product and the behavior of consumers, and it can be said that it is essentially caused by the production process in which the product is manufactured and the stage of use ( Benkirane et al., 2022 ). From this point of view, this study focused on the sustainable design method of fashion products preferred by consumers. In other words, a design approach that meets the sensibility and taste of consumers is also related to product life extension, remanufacturing, and recycling, thereby forming a virtuous cycle structure of a circular economy.

In this study, in order to find a sustainable design method that consumers can like, a case study of specific design methods of SFBs appearing in the world’s top fashion magazines with many subscribers was conducted. Here, it was confirmed that various design approaches are used for each category proposed in previous studies as a design method for a sustainable circular economy.

In the “eco-friendly materials” design approach to maintain a sustainable raw material supply, “using certified sustainable materials,” “highly traceable and non-toxic material,” “dyeing process of green peace-certified,” “local or nearby materials,” and “using packages of organic materials” was applied in a specific way. “Functional durability design” that can reduce consumption, which is the ultimate goal of achieving a circular economy, was oriented toward slow manufacturing by “the quality and durability,” “on-demand production,” and “changeable design.” “Fashion for reuse and remanufacturing,” which aims to realize a sustainable circular economy through a virtuous cycle of resources, is the most well-known SFD approach. “Use recycled materials,” “sourcing 100% of synthetic fibers waste,” “upcycled waste clothing,” “repurposing,” and “repair and restoration” emerged as specific methods. A specific method that was impressive in the case study was “recycling of plastic bottles into yarn and fabric.” Recycling plastic bottles are being recycled in terms of circular economy theory and practice ( Qu et al., 2019 ). Nevertheless, there are still negative views. In the report “Synthetics Anonymous ( Changing Markets Foundation, 2021 )” published by the Changing Markets Foundation (2021) , downcycling plastic made from recycled plastic bottles, that is, clothes using recycled polyester, will eventually end up in landfill or incineration instead of circulating fashion. However, from the perspective of the circular economy, it is considered necessary to recycle the waste. Alternatives should be provided in the sense that today’s consumers’ product selection is determined by their sensibility and taste. Emotionally durable design is a design strategy that makes it possible to extend the life of a product by “strengthening the user-product relationship” ( Norman, 2007 ; Chapman, 2009 ; Cooper, 2016 ). In particular, emotionally durable design has been proposed as an important principle of circular design by some scholars, but the concrete details of how emotional attachment and trust can be achieved in practice are not sufficiently presented ( Haines-Gadd et al., 2018 ).

In the case analysis of this study, “emotionally durable design” appeared as “collaboration with local artisans,” “folklore handcrafted touches,” “handwoven material sourcing,” “personal design concept,” and “brand signature pieces.”

In an interview survey of SFBs in Korea, the approach of “emotionally durable design” was applied by only a few brands as a sustainable design method. Some of the participants even understood that this design approach was a sustainable design approach, after checking the checklist for a specific design approach of “emotionally durable design.” Compared to other design approaches, “emotionally durable design” is composed of abstract keywords, so it is considered that it is not well recognized according to individual characteristics.

Sustainable fashion technology, which reduces fabric loss, “seamless garment technology,” “digital printing to reduce water use,” and “combined laser robotics” appeared as SFD-specific approaches relatively few compared to other design approaches. The checklist of this study is meaningful in that it can be a tool for designers to easily reach the SFD approach in design practice. However, it is a limitation of the study that we were unable to include a large number of interviewees by conducting interviews with SFBs supported by the Korean government.

This study aimed to identify a sustainable design practice. Based on an empirical case study with a theoretical background, a checklist was developed as a tool for sustainable fashion design methods. The inventory for the sustainable design approach suggested as a result of the case study is expected to provide an efficient design method by lowering barriers to practitioners who have had difficulty accessing the concept and design method of sustainable design.

In the sustainable design approach, some items need discussion according to the producer’s values. Concerns have been raised about the sustainability of fashion brands as a marketing tool in this regard. Accordingly, designers’ acquisition of sustainable knowledge is essential. Furthermore, it improves the emotional durability of fashion products, reflecting customer emotions and personal tastes, thereby increasing the sustainability of fashion products. Therefore, the designer’s active role is required. This study is significant in that it presents a checklist, an easy and efficient tool to address designers’ inadequate knowledge and lack of awareness of sustainability, and a sustainable design practice method that can satisfy customer emotions and personal tastes and improve environmental performance.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. Written informed consent from the patients/participants or patients/participants legal guardian/next of kin was not required to participate in this study in accordance with the national legislation and the institutional requirements.

Author contributions

YY contributed to the conception and design of the study. SK performed the interview and wrote sections of the manuscript. Both authors contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords : sustainable fashion, sustainable design approach, sustainability, SFB, emotional durability

Citation: Kam S and Yoo Y (2022) Practice of sustainable fashion design considering customer emotions and personal tastes. Front. Psychol. 13:976471. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.976471

Received: 23 June 2022; Accepted: 09 September 2022; Published: 04 October 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Kam and Yoo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Youngsun Yoo, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Case Studies: Teaching with Bloomsbury Fashion Central

Discover how the interdisciplinary content within Bloomsbury Fashion Central has directly supported academics and students across the visual arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Case study with Hanna Akalu, SOAS, University of London

Formerly london college of fashion, university of the arts london.

"Overall, using the case studies has been a brilliant experience, as it enhanced my knowledge and complemented my teaching style, (…) by encouraging myself and my students to be self-reflective, socially responsible, actively participate and critique knowledge, and develop a conscious voice."

Helping students to address topical and important real-life issues

The Bloomsbury fashion business case studies have been an invaluable digital resource for my teaching last year (as Associate Lecturer at London College of Fashion, UAL) allowing my BSc Psychology of Fashion undergraduates to critically appraise current fashion business problems and solutions in an engaging and innovative way. During my classes on the future of fashion, students would read, discuss, and attempt to skilfully address a wide range of business case studies on topical and important real-life issues, including ethics, sustainability, and diversity in fashion. They were then asked to apply strategic thinking to develop feasible solutions, based on research, knowledge, and creativity, to develop a more ethical and sustainable fashion industry.

Lively discussions and debates in the classroom

My students found the activities highly engaging as well as challenging at times, and these would often generate interesting and lively discussions and debates in the classroom. The case studies have been incredibly useful for students to enhance their critical analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as to encourage their creativity and their skills in thinking outside the box.

Exciting and well-written cases

There is also an abundance of exciting and well-written case studies to select from exploring ' How Lack of inclusivity lost Victoria's Secret its Lingerie Crown ', to Patagonia's ' Creative Sustainability Strategy ', and other complex issues around identity, cultural appropriation, green-washing, and transparency in fashion.

Ease of use and tailoring to students’ needs

Some particular favourite features of mine are the ease of use and range of case studies available (which are neatly organised into different sub-topics!) and detailed suggestions within each case study for potential classroom-based activities depending on your preference. The case studies are also helpfully organized into levels of expertise, ranging from 'introductory' 'intermediate' up to the more 'advanced' level of case studies, meaning that I was able to tailor the case studies according to my students' needs. I did this by starting the course using some of the more straightforward introductory case studies and as students demonstrated the ability to develop convincing solutions, well-rounded arguments, and to make, justify, and communicate their decisions, I then gradually introduced more complex case studies which generated more nuanced discussions and solutions.

Students taking on the roles of fashion business practitioners

It was also important to remind students that there is never any 'perfect solution', but the key is trying to work out which is the most feasible by considering the challenges each solution presents and the implications for the future. Depending on the dilemma presented, students might take on the role of a small business owner, CEO, marketing director, or consumer, and engage in brainstorming and developing solutions using a range of communication methods, such as in-class group presentations and designing individual press releases and social media campaigns.

Activities for teachers – flexibility in teaching styles

Another excellent feature of presenting a range of different activities for teachers is that it provides flexibility in teaching styles and the option to introduce different ways for students to present solutions in class. I also found it useful that there were different time-length activities that could be conducted over a 1-hour seminar or over the course of several lessons, keeping the activities interesting and engaging every week. Overall, using the case studies has been a brilliant experience, as it enhanced my knowledge and complemented my teaching style, (which draws on critical pedagogy) by encouraging myself and my students to be self-reflective and socially responsible, to actively participate and critique knowledge, and to develop a conscious voice.

Case Study with Nadya Wang, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore

Nadya oversees Cultural and Contextual Studies in Fashion in the BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Textiles and BA (Hons) Fashion Media and Industries programmes, where she lectures fashion history and theories, and teaches academic reading and writing. She also runs Creative Industries and Opportunities, which prepares all BA (Hons) Fashion students for work in the fashion industry.

Context of Use

At LASALLE College of the Arts, students take compulsory modules in Cultural and Contextual Studies in Fashion throughout their three years in the BA(Hons) Fashion Design Textiles and BA(Hons) Fashion Media and Industries programmes within the School of Fashion, which I oversee. These modules provide the historical background and theoretical framework for their work in the studio.

Over four semesters in the first two years, the students learn modern fashion history; appreciate fashion as both visual and material culture; explore identities expressed through dress, such as gender and religion; as well as analyse interdisciplinary approaches to fashion, including its connections with art, music, film and architecture. In their third and final year, the students write a dissertation under supervision.

Usefulness of Resources to Meet Challenges

There are a few challenges in teaching students to research and write about fashion in an academic context. Firstly, many students who decide to study fashion are not instinctively comfortable with research and academic writing. The reliable information available on Berg Fashion Library is provided in accessible language and at manageable lengths, and makes the endeavour less daunting and thus more attractive for them to stay on course. It is one of the first tools that the students are introduced to when they begin their studies.

In the first semester, when they learn to identify iconic garments, pioneering designers and cultural forces that have shaped fashion history, the Berg Fashion Library’s images, biographical articles and longer essays that contextualise fashion in particular time periods and specific societies have complemented lectures and tutorials, and given the students confidence to complete their assignments with the knowledge that the platform provides.

Secondly, students rely heavily on the internet for information to complete their assignments, and Berg Fashion Library allows them to find precisely what they require for their work in the School of Fashion quite quickly. The “search” and “advanced search” options are great for the students to quickly zoom into their research areas. The “browse” option has helped the students to explore further, especially when they are looking for their dissertation topics in the third year. And “related content” has allowed them to stumble onto more information that they would otherwise not have known about, and provided information that add value to their work.

The Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion is a particularly incredible endeavour and resource. There is not much academic writing in the area of Southeast Asian fashion history, so Volume 4: South Asia and Southeast Asia , is particularly useful for the students, especially since the lecturers in the School of Fashion have been collectively pushing them to become more curious about their region to inform their work.

In the same vein, the other volumes are illuminating for students to understand what more could be researched and written about in Southeast Asia, and for them to draw parallels and distinctions between what is happening in fashion landscapes elsewhere and in their own region. Volume 10: Global Perspectives is particularly eye-opening for the students in this regard.

The exhibition archive is also very helpful to us at the School of Fashion at LASALLE as we have a significant curating component in our curriculum, with all Level 2 students from both programmes working together towards putting up an exhibition as their studio project. Extensive research needs to be carried out not only in terms of content matter, but the curation process too, and Berg Fashion Library is a one-stop shop for both.

In addition, with the modules’ emphasis on visual analysis, the images available through partnerships with museum archives such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York means that the students are able to access detailed images directly and download them for use in their assignments, without having to look for them on multiple websites, helping them save time, and often leading to finds that they might have otherwise missed.

A service that Berg Fashion Library offers is providing citations from its articles in the required referencing style for the students’ assignments. This ensures that the citations are done well, which is welcome by both students and tutors.

Concluding Remarks

All in all, Berg Fashion Library is an excellent platform that continues to grow and improve to provide relevant and interesting information about historical and contemporary fashion to its users. It is equally useful for more targeted use and for encouraging exploration, and has proven to be an indispensable research tool for both lecturers and students in the School of Fashion at LASALLE College of the Arts. We are positive that we will continue to learn from it, and hopefully also contribute to it in the years to come.

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Article Contents

1. introduction, 2. what is ‘digital fashion’, 4. ‘authorship’ in copyright v ‘authorship’ in fashion, 5. digital fashion designers, authorship and originality, 6. conclusions.

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Copyright and digital fashion designers: the democratization of authorship?

This research has been partly funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Fulbright Finland and the Intimacy in Data-Driven Culture (IDA) project, which was funded by the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland (funding decision no. 327391). Härkönen worked in the IDA consortium as a senior researcher in 2021–2022 and Särmäkari since 2019. We are grateful to Dr Tuomas Mattila and Dr Mikko Antikainen for their valuable comments on the early draft of this article. We thank the audience of the European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP) 2022 conference for their feedback on this research.

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Heidi Härkönen, Natalia Särmäkari, Copyright and digital fashion designers: the democratization of authorship?, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice , Volume 18, Issue 1, January 2023, Pages 42–57, https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpac115

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Heidi Härkönen (LL.D., trained on the bench) is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Turku Faculty of Law, with a focus on multidisciplinary and sustainable IP law research. Natalia Särmäkari (D.A.) is a postdoctoral researcher in fashion studies and design research at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, specifically focused on digital fashion and the profession of fashion designer.

‘Digital fashion’ has been widely recognized by the fashion media and increasingly embraced by companies and institutions. This article gives a multidisciplinary perspective on copyright protection of digital fashion designs. It places particular focus on the concepts of ‘authorship’ and ‘originality’.

Authorship conventions of the traditional, physical fashion industry differ significantly from those of copyright law. In fashion, generally, authorship is hierarchic and includes many ‘gatekeepers’. However, in digital fashion specifically, authorship is more democratic and resembles its legal definition. This democratizes the authorship practices of fashion, bringing the concept of ‘author’ in fashion closer to the legal meaning of authorship. Moreover, certain practices of digital fashion designers suggest that it might be easier for digital fashion to comply with European Union copyright law.

The digital leap that the fashion industry is taking deserves to be recognized from an IP law perspective. The diverging meanings of authorship between law and fashion must be inspected to avoid various legal risks related to the ownership of fashion designs.

Copyright protection of fashion designs has been a popular topic of discussion within IP law, especially over the past two decades. This discussion has primarily focused on physical garments and accessories. However, fashion is now taking a digital leap. An increasing number of garments are designed using fashion-specific 3D software, producing digital 3D prototypes and samples for physical collections or digital-only clothing. Digital-only clothes can be worn in photographs or videos and in various virtual spaces. The rise of ‘digital fashion’ has been boosted by the global COVID-19 pandemic and the development of blockchain technology for creative industries. Lockdowns and restrictions have virtualized our lives, creating demand and opening new markets for digital(-only) fashion designs. 1

Although technological change is rapid and disruptive, the current regulatory framework is still somewhat built on the assumption of physical fashion products made by humans using traditional tools. 2 This article explores a few outstanding questions of IP law regarding the regulation of digital fashion designs and builds a bridge between legal research and the research that investigates data-driven fashion design. Generally, the principal method of protecting digital fashion designs is copyright. 3 This will also form the focal perspective of this article. ‘Digital fashion designers’ and their works are analysed from the following copyright viewpoints: (i) how the concept of ‘authorship’ is formed in fashion, and how it is related to authorship conventions in copyright law; (ii) the extent to which the author practices of digital fashion designers comply with the European Union (EU) standard of originality and (iii) the effects that authorship practices in digital fashion can have on fashion authorship in general and how the democratization discourse impacts fashion designers’ authorship from a copyright perspective. 4

The above-described viewpoints of ‘authorship’ and ‘originality’ were chosen as the focus of this article for the following reasons. Given that ‘digital fashion’ is not only a tool but also a novel fashion culture linked to digital culture, 5 the open-source attitude that characterizes the values of digital fashion designers 6 impacts their views of themselves as authors. This has an intriguing link to copyright: the research findings suggest that digital fashion designers’ perceptions of authorship are reminiscent of how authorship is understood in copyright, whereas the same cannot be said about authorship conventions in physical fashion design. In this article, the concept of authorship is viewed from two different angles: the terms ‘fashion authorship’ and ‘fashion author’ are used when referring to the understanding of authorship in the fashion industry, and the terms ‘copyright authorship’ and ‘copyright author’ when viewed from a legal perspective.

In addition to the issue of authorship, the emergence of digital fashion requires reconsideration of how the copyright law concept of ‘originality’ is viewed in the context of fashion. This is important, as originality is the only criterion for an identifiable subject matter to be protected under EU copyright, including the InfoSoc Directive. 7 Although, as recently ascertained, fashion designs only require the same level of originality as any other works to be protected under the InfoSoc Directive, 8 one cannot conclude that the door to copyright protection would always be open for (physical) fashion designs. One major reason for this is the functionality of physical fashion designs, which may occasionally undermine their originality. Nonetheless, when the result of a creative process is merely digital, the same copyright law arguments to which we are accustomed in the context of physical fashion may not apply.

This article provides a multidisciplinary approach to digital fashion design, combining the doctrinal study of law with fashion studies and design research. The focus of the doctrinal analysis is EU copyright law. Legal analysis is supported by a qualitative online survey of 42 ‘digital fashion designers’ and three ethnographically researched case studies. First, this article will introduce ‘digital fashion’ from an IP perspective in Section 2 . The methods and empirical research material used are outlined in  Section 3 . Section 4 elaborates on the meaning of fashion design ‘authorship’, in the realms of both physical and digital fashions, and compares fashion authorship to copyright authorship. In  Section 5 , the manner in which the evolution of authorship practices in (digital) fashion may affect the copyright protection of their creative efforts is assessed. Section 6 concludes the article.

Digital apparel has long existed in games and virtual reality (VR) platforms, where fashion choices are as social, expressive and economically vibrant practice as in the real world. 9 Lately, the use of designer-friendly digital 3D software and the design of virtual or ‘digital-only’ garments have increasingly gained ground in the fashion industry. 10 According to the proponents, practitioners and researchers of digital fashion, designing in and for the virtual realm, or the ‘Metaverse’ and ‘Web 3.0’, 11 enables unlimited creative experimentation, minimization of resources, participation of large communities in fashion production, an inclusive approach to bodies and identities and learning about garment construction as well as global accessibility of digitized archival fashion. 12 Although wearing digital-only clothing today remains a niche phenomenon, the use of the digital fashion paradigm in design and production processes is becoming normalized. 13 It is even anticipated that digital garments will replace perfumes and bags as the main revenue of luxury brands and become a new medium for designers to express their ideas without social limitations or economic boundaries. 14 Furthermore, blockchain technologies can turn virtual garments into unique pieces, investments and collectables. 15 The revolution of digital fashion can be further exemplified in the recent inclusion of digital 3D design in the curricula of numerous fashion schools, including Parsons School of Design. 16

When designing in and for the virtual space, designers create quantified representations and simulations of garments that are 3D files often containing the same material and shape data as the real garments. 17 Digital fashion designs are graphically represented and projected, normally through a display unit, such as a smartphone or a computer screen, in 2D form. 18 Digital garments can be worn in VR and augmented reality environments, games, online stores and museums, virtual fitting rooms and smart mirrors, providing ‘phygital’ experiences, merging physical and digital realms. 19 The physical studio turns into a virtual 3D software working space where avatars can be used as instruments instead of a mannequin or a fitting model. The avatars can also be the ultimate targets, the only bodies wearing the designs in simulations of real or surreal environments. The digital design includes prototyping and sampling phases, and in theory, the products can be sold before physical production, bridging the gap between design and consumption, as well as design and production.

If a digital design passes the threshold of originality, it can be considered an artistic work, warranting protection under the InfoSoc Directive, rather than the Directive on the Legal Protection of Computer Programs (2009/24/EC, Software Directive 20 ). 21 It is important to note that digital fashion designers typically do not create the code themselves, but rather use fashion-specific 3D software, such as CLO3D. The choice of software used for designing a digital garment has minimum, if any, effect on the copyright status of the resulting design. This is because the possibilities for designing generally depend on the designer’s skills to use such software, but not from the software itself. Copyright-wise, the situation does not differ much from an event where a designer is choosing tools to create physical garments. Therefore, the authorship/ownership of the code is a rather marginal issue when evaluating copyright protection of digital fashion designs. In the sphere of artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted ‘fashion design’, however, issues related to the authorship of the code become more relevant, as the designer might write the code and create the method for co-designing with computer and data. For the reasons described previously, assessing authorship of the software or code used for digital fashion design is excluded from this article.

Another factor to highlight in the context of digital fashion and copyright is that although digital fashion designs can be worn in various digital platforms, they are generally not created in these platforms. Instead, digital fashion designs are created by using fashion-specific 3D software, outside of these platforms. Correspondingly, the terms and conditions of digital platforms do not affect the designer’s status as an author, nor the protection status of the design. 22 Wearing digital fashion designs in social media platforms does not differ much from a scenario where a physical, copyright-protected garment is worn in a photograph or a video, which is then uploaded to a platform. It is also worth noting that the practitioners of digital fashion pursue ‘interoperability’, meaning that the same asset can be worn on different platforms, including social media, games and VR spaces.

In digital fashion design, copyright is increasingly relevant, as copyright protects creations (and indirectly, designers) from copying and piracy. Digital fashion significantly raises the possibilities for fashion piracy, as the copying of digital creations is generally much easier than that of physical fashion designs.

3.1 Overview

This article is partly based on a qualitative survey of 42 digital fashion designers and three case studies. The doctrinal study of law is applied to analyse these data, combined with relevant legal sources, from a copyright perspective.

The qualitative online survey was conducted between 30 January and 28 February 2020. A total of 207 digital fashion designers were approached through the online community Clollab 23 (105), Instagram and snowballing. A Google Forms survey included seven broad open questions, one anonymity question and three optional questions. The return rate was rather high, with 42 respondents. The majority (28/42) did not desire anonymity. The detailed information regarding the research project was presented in the introduction at the beginning of the survey, and informed consent was given by answering the survey. The original research material was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. 24

The research material on the case studies was collected during 2018–2021. The cases are a Swedish company, Atacac; an Amsterdam-based Dutch-Finnish company, The Fabricant and a New York-based company, Superficial. The empirical research material comprises primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observation on-site and content produced by the cases, including talks, reports, plans, social media posts, streaming sessions and blog posts. The secondary data comprise media publications on the cases.

3.2 About the qualitative online survey

For many of the respondents, virtual fashion is a path to practice fashion design without physical requirements (studio, storage, machines, production facilities, etc.) and expertise in making clothes. Most have fashion design education, and some have lengthy experience in the fashion industry.

The survey findings reveal that digital fashion designers value the creative and organizational independence of their work. When designing digital-only garments, designers are not constrained by functional, material, financial, social or geographical requirements. As it will be illustrated further later, some of the values of digital fashion designers connect to the likelihood of their creations receiving copyright protection. Regardless of the immaterial nature of digital fashion, most designers emphasize the importance of physical fashion design and pattern-making knowledge as forming the basis of their work. Some designers juggle between the workability of the garments in the physical world and the visualization quality in the virtual world, which sometimes conflicts with physical detail requirements. Constituting a diverse group of fashion professionals, computer-generated imagery artists and amateurs, respondents do risk a gimmicky outcome if lacking refined digital craftsmanship and time. Many of the digital designers feel liberated in the digital design environment. As one of the participants described their work:

[…] [I]n my case physical body is completely forgotten. […] Within a virtual experience I would wear something I would never wear in real life, in digital fields people choose by emotion. In real life we are always constricted and limited in some way by our social environment. Again, the sense of freedom is what drives me.

Much like several other participants of the survey, the above-cited participant highlights the aspect of freedom of such design work. From a copyright perspective, this is interesting, as the creative freedom of the designer—both factual and experienced freedom—is an essential step for fulfilling the originality requirement and thus for protectability. 25 Moreover, the non-hierarchic nature of digital fashion design compared with the physical fashion design contributes not only to the freedom of design but also to the status of digital fashion designers as authors. Lastly, the authorship of digital fashion designers resembles the authorial role of artisans who originate the idea, design the structure and visual elements of the artefact and realize it themselves, using cultural knowledge and hands-on know-how. For example, one digital fashion designer described the authorial process in the following way:

[D]igital design […] combines imagination with sewing techniques and incorporates the production process into the design. This strengthens the link between design and production.

3.3 About the case studies

Atacac developed an upside-down process of designing, presenting, selling and producing garments. Inspired by the possibilities of designer-specific 3D software, Atacac primarily creates and sells their garments virtually, with minimum inventory, producing pre-ordered items on-demand in their in-house micro-factory. As Atacac produces garments for both physical and virtual worlds, their design starts from the pattern and the real human body. From the designer’s table, the 3D file takes two directions: either to the pattern-maker for production preparations or to the digital creative for visual and communicative development of images, animations and digital-only garments. Atacac believes that an open-source mindset engages their customers and facilitates growth of the Atacac community. Therefore, they share some of their patterns and 3D files in their online platform Sharewear, encouraging consumers to download them, make and modify their designs.

The Fabricant creates virtual fashion experiences entailing digital-only garments, avatars, environments and films, ranging from the hyperreal to the surreal or a combination of the two. Instead of creating tailored couture in a studio, The Fabricant can practice digital craftsmanship and eliminate waste. The Fabricant also invites their community to co-create by sharing various outfit files online for free, streaming their design processes via the gamer streaming platform Twitch and running a Discord social media group where digital fashion designers can exchange knowledge. The Fabricant has also collaborated with blockchain companies that can tokenize digital assets and thus authenticate the digital garment and ensure exclusivity. 26 This way, a digital garment seizes to be copy-pastable and instead becomes a collectable. Blockchain technology can trace all the layers of making and owning: all the contributors to the garment can be attached to the particular, unique piece, 27 helping to clarify issues related to ownership, authorship and co-creation.

Superficial, also known as Super Bureau, is a design studio that began digitizing the archives of the Museum at FIT in 2019 when the digital 3D fashion phenomenon was in its infancy. 28 Founders Andrew Kupresanin and Belinda Chen are not fashion designers but digital designers and 3D artists who provide digital design services, creating everything from digital humans to environments. Superficial aims to build a virtual fashion archive with digital 3D models of historical garments. They seek solutions to ‘bring these garments back into the poetics of motion and give a broader audience access to appreciating their extraordinary design’. 29 The virtualization project began with outfits by Issey Miyake, Thierry Mugler and Claire McCardell, proceeding beyond the Museum at FIT to a Comme des Garçons collection. In their words, the archive is ‘a new online space bringing archival fashion garments beyond the constraints of their physical form, and into the added digital dimensions of motion, interaction, and participation’. 30 Superficial founders state that they have developed a new type of process that includes documenting and reconstructing the garments digitally and simulating fabric dynamics.

4.1 About authorship conventions

The concept of ‘author’ is an essential element of copyright law, as authorship disciplines copyright. 31 Ideas of authorship have always affected the development of copyright law and justified the exclusive right of creators to their works. The need to recognize the right to literary and artistic works became crucial following the invention of the printing press, which generated the idea of an author as someone detached from making the work and someone whose original contribution should be compensated. 32 It is therefore no wonder that legal scholars have been eager to define ‘authorship’. However, it is difficult to imagine an exhaustive legal definition of authorship, as new technologies and cultural phenomena shape the humane possibilities for creative work and our understanding of it. 33 Digitalization has repeatedly challenged the traditional view of author in several instances: 34 for example, in online user-generated content 35 and in the development of AI designers and artists. 36

In the 18th century, the term ‘authorship’ in copyright law was coined solely in the context of literary works. The ‘author’ was an individual creator who was created in solitude. Since then, the concept has been expanded under copyright law and the notion of ‘author’ now includes creators from any field of art or literature. Accordingly, a fashion designer can also be a copyright author. 37 However, regardless of these developments, the idea of ‘author’ as an individual creator remains the cornerstone of copyright, 38 albeit with the caveat that two or more individual authors can share authorship (joint authorship).

Law is not the only discipline interested in authorship. 39 Both the emergence of copyright law and the notion of art as understood today have existed from approximately the mid-18th century. 40 To some extent, the legal literature on authorship discusses with the texts of literary critics. 41 Fashion studies, considered as a branch of cultural studies, art and design research and sociology, have also touched upon the debate around authorship, 42 but this has, until now, never been linked with legal analysis on authorship. The legal conventions surrounding authorship identified in fashion research connect to several doctrinal viewpoints. Perhaps, the most interesting issue is related to the intertwining of authorship with protection requirements. This means inter alia assessing whether the perception of ‘authorship’, as viewed by fashion scholars, permits the standard of originality to be fulfilled and thus for a design to merit copyright protection and whether authorship conventions in fashion follow the rights and privileges that copyright law grants to authors.

There are several differences between the disciplines concerning ideas of authorship. In literary criticism, for example, the author has even been declared ‘dead’. 43 However, in law, this is hardly the case, considering how the EU standard of originality highlights the author’s choices and personality in the establishment of originality, the fundamental requirement for protection. 44 Nor is the author deceased in fashion, which, due to the emergence of digital fashion designers, appears to be undergoing renegotiation and even ‘renaissance of authorship’. In this sense, the post-structuralist philosopher Foucault’s notion of an ‘author function’ resonates with the legal discourse on a meta-level: the context, particular time, place, society and discourse define the function of authorship, namely, for what purpose authorship is required in certain circumstances. 45

4.2 Authorship in EU copyright law: a union with the standard of originality

Resulting from rigorous harmonization efforts from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), there is now an EU-wide approach to the foundational requirements of copyright law. This is the case even for the requirement of authorship, regardless of the fact that for the time being no referral on this specific issue has reached the CJEU. 46 The EU still lacks express guidance on what makes one an author, whereas there are hints provided to the question of who may be regarded as an author. 47 Rosati anticipates that when the time comes and the CJEU is asked what constitutes authorship, it will follow the same path as in defining other fundamental concepts of copyright law, such as ‘originality’ and ‘work’: ‘authorship’ must be regarded as an autonomous concept of EU law, requiring uniform interpretation and application across the EU. 48 The current lack of such definition, however, does not prevent us from drawing some conclusions on the role of the author in EU copyright law from the existing CJEU case law. In particular, judgments concerning the standard of originality are helpful in assessing the significance of authorship in EU copyright law.

In the EU, authorship and originality form a tight union. 49 Without human authorship, there is no originality, and without originality, the issue of authorship is irrelevant. This is because in CJEU case law that establishes the EU standard of originality, the concept is tightly connected to the personality and personhood of the author. Copyright creates a personal relationship between the author and their creation, creating a special bond between the two. 50 Copyright is born as a result of the author seeking to express themselves. 51 The notion of ‘author’ is consistently repeated in the most significant judgments, especially Painer 52 and Infopaq , 53 even Brompton . 54

EU copyright law views originality as deriving from the personality of the author. It is intended as the ‘display of personality, freedom and creativity of the author’. 55 Originality is thus not ‘sweat of the brow’, nor is it ‘skill, labour and judgement’ 56 —it is its ‘author’s own intellectual creation’, as defined by the CJEU in the landmark judgment Infopaq (2009). This standard is only codified in the Software Directive (for computer programs), Database Directive (for databases) and Term Directive (for photographs), 57 but Infopaq extended it to apply to all work categories. 58 Of the other judgments, Painer (2011), in particular, highlights the intimate bond between the work and its author’s personality. In this case, the CJEU states that an intellectual creation is an author’s own if it ‘reflects the author’s personality’. 59 That is the case if the author was able to express their creative abilities in the production of the work by making ‘free and creative choices’ 60 and that way stamped the work with their ‘personal touch’. 61 Brompton (2020) strengthens this by further highlighting the importance of free and creative choices above anything else, even technical considerations. 62

When assessing these CJEU judgments that define the standard of originality and possibility for a subject matter to be protected by copyright, one can make the following observation: originality is not merely tied to the outcome and result of the artistic or literary work. It is just as much connected to the creative process itself and the activities of the author . The key elements of originality all refer to the author of a subject matter, highlighting the connection between originality and the author’s personality. Therefore, it can be concluded that ‘authorship’ and the way in which it is defined are fundamental elements of copyright protection in the EU.

In digital fashion, the issue of authorship is just as important as in physical fashion. Whether a design is digital or physical, it must meet the standard of originality to qualify for protection. However, the authorship practices in digital and physical fashion appear to differ. As presented in Subsection 4.3 , different authorship practices affect the likelihood that fashion designs will pass the threshold of originality and receive protection.

4.3 A fashion designer as an author: a legal perspective

The occupation of fashion designers was formed by the technological, societal and economic changes of the First Industrial Revolution. 63 A profession of a designer instead of a tailor or a seamstress was needed to locate the design of reproducible garments and separate high-level couture from mass-produced garments for the less wealthy. Furthermore, the guild system of artisans and merchants was disbanded after the French Revolution in 1789, giving new possibilities to practice fashion and establish businesses. 64 The fashion designer then became an artist instead of a tailor merely fulfilling the customer’s wishes, 65 and the hierarchy between front-end creative work and the behind the scenes production of clothes was established. 66 Authority of the fashion designer defines their social position in the hierarchy of fashion design. 67

For a long time, the law retained a sceptical attitude towards fashion designers as artists and the hierarchies of the fashion world for several reasons. 68 Garment-making, whether artistic or merely dictated by practical needs, has long been labelled as a ‘craft’, instead of art. 69 This connects with the history of copyright distinguishing between ‘pure art’ (fine art) and ‘applied art’, the latter referring to products, which, in addition to their aesthetics, have a functional purpose. 70 Works of applied art have been discriminated against in the copyright regime. They have not always been considered as worthy of protection on the same grounds as pure art, 71 which has affected the legal status of fashion designs. 72 Even though early fashion designers made efforts to protect their works and labels through, for example, licensing practices and social recognition, the exclusivity of haute couture creations did not convince legal entities to align fashion designers with fine artists. Distinguishing between different ‘levels’ of creativity and categorizing them based on their (alleged) ‘worthiness’ of protection reflect a certain kind of cultural elitism in copyright tradition. 73 However, especially in the contemporary European copyright framework, which appears to be embracing the unity of art, 74 such separation between art and craft, as well as between pure art and applied art, is superfluous. The art v craft dichotomy is not only a sensitive issue in copyright scholarship but also an issue that divides fashion practitioners themselves. One respondent to the survey described their artist/designer/craftsperson identity in the following way: 75

I hope to have a career not as a 3D fashion designer, but as a 3D artist who focuses on fashion. I am more interested in creating fantastical digital worlds than creating real-life samples of my clothes.

In practice, the hierarchic structures of fashion have the potential to lead to situations whereby someone is wrongly promoted to the rank of author merely due to their high status as a star designer in the fashion world. For instance, a fashion house that is named after its founder or head designer may very well name this person as the designer of all of its products, even those designed by nameless, employed or freelance designers. If these designs pass the threshold of originality, they are copyright-protected works, meaning that their authors have moral rights to them in accordance with the Berne Convention 76 Article 6 bis , such as a right to claim authorship. Specifically, if such moral rights are strictly interpreted, the above-described practice is questionable. If a fashion designer creates an original design, they have the right to claim authorship to their work—not for instance, the person after whom the fashion brand is named. The designer–creator’s position in the hierarchy of fashion is irrelevant in this legal assessment. It is also worth noting that unlike the author’s economic rights (such as reproduction, communication to the public and distribution rights), moral rights are not transferable. In other words, a fashion brand can never own its designers’ moral rights, not even if the author–designer agrees. A fashion designer can, however, choose to waive their moral rights in some jurisdictions. 77 The complex relationship between moral rights and the hierarchic fashion authorship may lead to situations where the law and fashion industry practices fundamentally conflict. When it comes to authors’ economic rights, then conflicts between fashion authorship and copyright authorship can be managed more easily, as it is possible for a designer to surrender such rights to a fashion company. This kind of contractual agreement is typical especially in employment relationships. 78

Another typical feature of fashion authorship is that designers rarely create in solitude. Instead, they tend to work closely with their team and collections are often outcomes of collective efforts. 79 Small-scale designers might be the team, whereas designers working in big companies might have a narrow task dictated by a planner. 80 The narrower the designer’s task and the more this task is dictated by anything other than the designer’s free and creative choices, the less likely it is that the designer will be considered as an author under copyright law. 81 The authority of a designer will therefore strongly contribute to the possibility of claiming copyright to their design. Also, the balance between the authority and creative input of a fashion designer and the role of a pattern-maker varies depending on the type of design that is practised: for some, the pattern-making itself is the design, whereas for some, their work is limited to image creation. 82 The fashion industry is in no way the only industry where creative outputs are typically results of teamwork. Specifically, in the field of entertainment, such as the music and film industries, the authorship of a creation is typically divided into separate ‘units’. For example, musical compositions with words are overwhelmingly co-written. An opera is often the work of a librettist and a composer. In musical genres such as jazz, rock and pop, the creative process is often collaborative in nature. 83 The songwriter, composer and performer might all be different individuals, and each of them credited as an author. In fashion, however, it is not typical to credit each designer who participated in the creation of a work, regardless of their creative input. Rather, the head designer or another person with fame and merit tends to be credited as an author, regardless of their de facto participation in the creative process of a work. 84 This reflects the ‘star culture’ of the traditional, physical fashion industry: the industry contributes to maintaining the illusion of the fashion designer as a creative genius. The star culture elevates the value of fashion brands’ products and is therefore commercially beneficial. This is how ‘stars’ in fashion become brand names. 85 This practice of elevating a single author above the rest of the authors in co-creation situations appears to conflict with the spirit of copyright in civil law jurisdictions, where the author and their personality are at the centre of everything. Failing to recognize (co)designers as (co)authors merely because of their low position in the fashion hierarchy is a grievance of the fashion world and requires a system-level change within the industry.

From a copyright viewpoint, it is also interesting that fashion designers tend to value artistic integrity over commerciality. 86 In their work, designers are expected to balance between newness and familiarity as well as creativity and branding. 87 Ruppert-Stroescu and Hawley argue that there are two types of creativities in fashion design practice: leadership creativity and adaptive creativity . 88 Leadership creativity changes the paradigms and direction of fashion, whereas adaptive creativity absorbs existing frameworks and trends. 89 When viewed through the copyright lens, acts of adaptive creativity might be more likely to face challenges in fulfilling the originality requirement than acts of leadership creativity. The more the creativity is based on something that already exists, such as pre-existing garments and trends, the less the room there is for an author to make those copyright-relevant free and creative choices. This, however, does not mean that adaptive creativity would per se exclude the possibility of copyright authorship from a designer. Even if factors other than the designer’s personality are the determining factor of the creative process, the standard of originality can be fulfilled, if, regardless of those external factors, the designer has made free and creative choices in the design process. 90 Leadership creativity has the potential to create new concepts, trends and broader directions by their design work, whereas adaptive creativity focuses on product development within these directions. However, it must be noted that an act of leadership creativity only leads to a copyright-protected result if such an act produces something concrete (eg, an identifiable garment design). This is due to the idea v expression dichotomy: copyright protects expressions, but not ideas. 91 Concepts, trends and broader directions would assimilate to ideas, leaving them without protection. 92

Traditionally, the fashion industry has valued professionalism from authors. In fashion terms, the professionalism of designers relies on creativity and their sensitive and conceptual ‘zeitgeist’ interpretation, combined with technical skills and tacit knowledge as human bodies, cultural beings, wearers and designers. 93 Copyright law, however, makes no distinction between professionals and amateurs, nor does it require any merits from authors. Literally, anyone can become an author, as long as they are a human being. 94 Unlike fashion authorship, copyright authorship is very democratic in nature. In fashion, there are thus two competing definitions of authorship: one may dictate the internal practices of the fashion world and maintain established hierarchies, while the other legally governs the ownership of fashion creations. For fashion practitioners, it is important to be aware of this competing definition of authorship, as it has a certain power that the self-determined authorship conventions in fashion do not have. As the legal definition of authorship is the only significant definition in the eyes of law, ignoring the authorship conventions of copyright while merely interpreting authorship from the perspective of the fashion industry has its risks. For example, if designers who are de facto authors but discredited from that position choose to dispute their unfavourable position, the fashion industry’s own authorship conventions are insignificant in legal evaluation. 95

To conclude, there are remarkable differences between the status of a fashion designer as an author within the fashion field itself, compared to fashion designers’ status within the copyright regime and how authorship is established in law. However, it is interesting that in many ways, the above-described view of authorship in physical fashion diverges from the ways that digital fashion designers understand authorship. The most striking differences are related to digital fashion’s lack of ‘gatekeepers’ and digital fashion’s tendency to credit the de facto author (instead of promoting someone as an author, who in copyright terms would not be an author). While the traditional view of fashion authorship in the realm of physical fashion is very hierarchic, in the sphere of digital fashion, authorship is more democratic, inclusive and within the reach of every digital fashion practitioner. 96 Digital fashion therefore has the potential to shape the conception of fashion authorship in a way that brings it closer to copyright authorship. There is, however, a threat involved: when luxury houses and other traditional fashion brands fully enter the sphere of digital fashion, they might try to push their hierarchic concept of authorship into this field of fashion as well.

5.1 Digital fashion: from ‘applied art’ to ‘pure art’?

In the qualitative online survey and case study interviews, the practice of digital fashion design was often referred to as ‘digital craftsmanship’, meaning that the artist status of fashion designer is moving closer to the pre-industrial concept of artisan. According to contemporary artisanal fashion designers, they combine traditional craftsmanship with contemporary fashion. 97 Literally stitching the garments together in virtual form, digital fashion designers translate the tacit knowledge and the physical garment construction skills of a designer as well as the situated embodied experience as a human being 98 into the virtual space.

From a copyright perspective, digital fashion designers taking a step back to craftsmanship might sound alarming considering the ‘art v crafts’ dichotomy in copyright scholarship. 99 For some, associating digital fashion design with crafts (instead of art) could suggest that they may be less likely to reach the standard of originality. However, as mentioned, the distinction between art and craft reflects a certain kind of elitism from (copyright) scholarship and can be seen as a fundamental failure in the copyright tradition. The methods and tools of manufacturing—whether they are a brush and a canvas, a needle and some fabric, or virtual tools—are not direct indications of originality and thus worthiness of protection. 100 Instead, what we must focus on is how the designer has expressed their creative vision with their chosen methods, whether digital or physical. The concerns regarding digital ‘craft’ being able to reach the standard of originality are significantly mitigated by how digital designers value their freedom of creativity, as described by this survey respondent:

I ended up doing 3D fashion looking for a sense of freedom. […] I put myself in the condition to be able to create anything I can think of.

When compared to physical garment design, digital fashion provides greater freedom: the laws of physics and requirements of functionality vanish, expanding the creative freedom of designers. 101 The only constraint is the pattern and the digital ‘sewing’ order, which must be equal to what they would be in the physical world: otherwise, the garment would fall off from the avatar. Nevertheless, the authors of digital fashion have more possibilities to make free and creative choices in design production. A digital garment is no longer a physical, functional object—the kind that copyright law has typically treated with caution. 102 It is presented in a 2D form, just like paintings, illustrations and many other works of ‘pure art’, which have never been treated with similar scepticism as products of applied art. Hence, there is no need to apply the same caution to digital fashion designs as physical fashion designs. It can even be found that (i) as digital-only fashion designs lack the element of functionality in the ‘real’ world and (ii) their design process can be guided solely by the artistic vision of their authors, these creations cannot be labelled as ‘applied art’. Instead, there seems to be no reason not to accept digital fashion among the sphere of ‘pure art’.

Although the absent need for functionality in digital fashion design somewhat diminishes some of the problems connected to protection of physical fashion designs and other works of applied art, one cannot conclude that digital designs would automatically pass the threshold of originality. Digitally depicting a fashion design that is purely utilitarian or mundane does not automatically make the design original and result in copyright protection. 103 When considering dimensional conversion, it is also worth noting that digitizing a functional 3D object does not ‘remove’ its functionality in a copyright-relevant manner: its appearance would still be determined by technical considerations, and protection could be denied on this basis. 104 If an unoriginal design is depicted digitally, it can be protected if original elements have been added during the digitization process. 105 One of the case studies provides an example in this context: Superficial is building a virtual fashion archive with digital 3D models of historical garments, featuring a new type of process that includes documenting and reconstructing the garments digitally and simulating the fabric dynamics. It might be, however, hard to view these digitized versions as protected works, if they merely duplicate a physical garment in a digital form. The digitally archived version of a physical, historical garment may be subject to copyright protection only if original elements are added during the digitization process. Digitizing a physical fashion design does not add originality to a design. The garment design might of course be protected if it is original; however, its digitalized version would not be its own independent work, but the same work in a different dimension. In that case, reproducing it in the digital realm generally requires a permission from its rightsholder. 106 Copying a design from the physical world to the digital world does not differ from a situation where someone makes a drawing of an existing painting. Changing the dimension from a physical object (3D) to a digital object (2D) does not change the situation 107 and can even be found as an infringement of copyright, as copyright’s scope of protection covers derivative use and dimensional conversion. 108 Thus, copying other designers’ work is equally risky for physical and digital fashion designers. Granting the same design equal protection in the physical and digital realms can be seen as ideal, since this promotes coherence and technological neutrality in copyright law: it would be problematic if the same work would be protected in the digital but not in the physical world. 109

The practice of digitizing historical garments also brings forth the issue of the public domain. A copyright-protected fashion design will fall into the public domain 70 years postmortem auctoris , 110 and digitizing it does not bring it back to the scope of protection. However, a digital design that builds ‘on top’ of a historical garment can be protected if some new, originality-establishing free and creative choices are made during the digitization process. The whole design would not be protected, although only the new parts of the design would receive protection, whereas the historical part would remain in the public domain. In this event, authorship of such design would be ‘layered’ and divided between the long-deceased designer and the designer adding new, original elements to the historical design. Authorship could hence be fragmented in a complex manner. However, it must be noted that such layering of authorship also occurs in the realm of physical fashion design that is inspired by earlier works. The legal reality for physical/digital fashion is thus not different, even though their customs of building ‘on top’ of earlier designs might vary.

Finally, the practices of digital fashion design appear to better coincide with some of the more traditional legal views of garments that can be considered original and worthy of protection. While the possibility to protect commercial, mass-produced fashion designs under the same requirements as other work categories has been frequently questioned (especially pre- Cofemel ), 111 the suggestion of unique, handmade or couture fashion designs to receive protection has never been met with such scepticism. 112 As digital designers highlight artistic craftsmanship and artisan skills in their work (instead of, eg, the commercial and functional aspects of their designs), their creations appear to better match this conservative school’s idea of the fashion that can be protected by copyright. In that sense, advocating for copyright protection for digital fashion designs is less rebellious than demanding the same for physical fashion designs.

5.2 ‘Free and creative choices’ in digital fashion

For some of the interviewed designers, designing for the virtual sphere is liberating as a creative activity. Freedom of creativity was also highlighted by digital fashion designers in response to the survey:

[I]t leaves enormous room to try out spontaneous ideas or even work with ‘digital mistakes’ that happen along the way.

For apparel, it is the fastest and cheapest way to put out ideas but more importantly to be able to create designs and let technology guide me into ideas and iterations I otherwise wouldn’t have even thought of. That creative process was mind blowing to me. I’m more exploratory by nature, so if I have an idea, there’s no way in hell that it’s going to look in the end exactly how I wanted it to in the beginning.

Software is an affordance for quick experimentation, and unlike with physical fashion, digital designers do not have to juggle between their creativity and the economic, social, functional and material constraints. The technical and software skills of the designer might limit the freedom of designer: the wider and deeper the skills, the better chances there are to play with design. This also leaves more room for the ‘free and creative choices’ required by the EU standard of originality. As one interviewee described:

[…] [A]t some point I’ll just start, and I kind of have an idea in my head what I want. And then I just throw it on the [virtual] doll and I just start working and sometimes it ends up being completely different from what I intended. But I like that as well because it’s so free. And they save like 10 different versions of the same thing. Just to be able to go back to the original, you know. And the thing is, in digital, when you cut, there’s nothing wrong because you can always click Control-Z. So, if you ever do something wrong, there’s always a way to go back into to see and try it out. It’s super playful. Well, you also have to say no sometimes just to stop because it’s also never finished.

Here, the freedom and playfulness of the process are highlighted. Another survey respondent noted that ‘[i]t is possible to explore more design ideas virtually than physically’. Furthermore, digital fashion designers also tend to design the surroundings and the whole concept of the video or image in which the outfit is presented, in the same way as fashion photographers, stylists, journalists and directors create magazine editorials and fashion films.

Many digital designs are made and used only in a digital setting, which allows designers to execute ideas that would never work physically. For example, the structure of a dress could be too fragile to exist as a physical garment or defy gravity in ways that are impossible to carry out in reality. As noted by the following survey respondent, almost anything is possible in digital fashion:

In digital, I can change colors, fabrics and patterns so easily. There is ctrl+z function and it helps me to think more creative […] We can really do almost everything in digital.

Another freedom-increasing factor is related to the basically unlimited quantities of digital ‘materials’. When designing physical products, the designer needs to consider, for example, material strength, cost, availability and sustainability thereof. 113 Digital fashion design allows ignorance of physical scarcity. 114 A digital fashion designer can, for example, use leopard fur without having to consider issues such as animal welfare, endangerment and the ethics of using such fur or consider replacing real fur with a polyester alternative, commonly also made of oil and therefore unsustainable. 115 However, it cannot be concluded that nothing would ever restrict the free and creative choices made by digital fashion designers. The creative freedom of the designer can be restricted to a certain extent by the subject matter they are depicting. 116 The restricting factors can also connect to presenting fabrics digitally. One digital fashion designer described challenges to their creative freedom in the following manner:

What affects the designs the most are the technical restrictions: Some materials and movements are impossible to render and simulate, for example […] I could not use sheer, flowy or fuzzy materials on characters. Certain types of capes, skirts or wide pants didn’t work with the tech.

The designer’s freedom could also face minor restrictions due to factors like size, contrast or the need to make the digital garment visually clear. 117 These kinds of limitations, however, are so minor that they do not pose a remarkable threat to free and creative choices. Perhaps, one of the most significant threats to designers’ free and creative choices is commercial ambition. Digital fashion that seeks wide popularity might be vulnerable to the same threats as physical fashion. The aim to be appealing to as many consumers as possible often compromises choices that are truly free and creative, leading to products that are more conventional and follow trends, ultimately often threatening originality. 118

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Case Study: Dashboard and Graphics for Service for Fashion Designers

More and more companies now turn to artificial intelligence as a way to make products for a new generation and a new level of problem-solving. Our today’s case study will unveil the one of a kind: this time we will show you the creative process for Designer AI, the service that uses artificial intelligence to help fashion designers. For this project, the Tubik team worked on branding, illustrations, and dashboard design. Welcome to check!

Creating a system with which fashion designers can make mood boards with the help of AI and get all the needed information

Designer AI is a digital service that connects fashion design to the power of artificial intelligence. It allows fashion designers and brands to communicate with the relevant consumer base, gain knowledge of their needs and preferences and create what buyers want. The design solutions had to appeal to the meticulous and aesthetics-driven target audience of fashion designers, as well as get solid and super-intuitive user interface design for users that could be of various tech-literacy levels.

Logo and Identity

The first strategic task was to agree upon the general visual stylistic concept and brand image. So, the first stage of design was devoted to logo and identity development assigned to graphic designer Arthur Avakyan.

The brand sign presents the typographic logo in which one part becomes the background for another. This way, the logo designer reaches the harmonic and artistic combination of elements that reflect the idea of fashion and technology working together. The biggest challenge was to find the perfect combination of the solid font for the “designer” word and the custom-created lettering for the AI part that would make the needed contrast.

Font and color explorations for the combination of two parts of the logo

The stages of logo design from sketching to the polished final composition

For the identity, it was agreed to take bold color contrast as a visual basis.

Business card design

Dashboard User Interface

A clear, minimalist dashboard design by Tubik UI/UX designer Anton Morozov was based on a dark theme to enhance the perception of visuals, intuitive navigation, and trendy branding.

The header contains several critical elements: an easily found search icon, the control for language choice, and the control to access the profile menu. For navigation through the functionality, the dashboard uses the sidebar giving quick access to core zones of interaction: projects, storyboards, invoices, transactions, and payments. It doesn’t hide in a hamburger menu or any other interactive element so that the users could switch between the pages quickly. What’s more, it makes the navigation super simple for users with middle and low tech-literacy levels. The currently active page is visually marked with the color prompt in the sidebar, and the icons support the titles in the menu: this way different zones of visual perception are activated, as icons set the elements quicker to see while the text helps to decode them correctly. The sans-serif font is clear and easily readable .

The Projects screen uses a simple scannable structure featuring the tabs of existing projects in the workspace and the tappable zone of creating a new project with a schematic prompt: a frame, a plus icon, and the textual explanation specify it. The tab informs the user about the project name, participants, the number of storyboards made for it, and the star icon to mark the favs or the most actual project.

Projects screen

Inside the project, users can see the storyboards giving an instant visual connection to the style with images preview that gets colored when hovered. The same visual prompt is used for the functionality of adding a new storyboard and the plus icon in the avatar-based list of participants allows for adding more of them.

A particular project screen

In creating a storyboard, the designer sets the needed requirements. Again, the outline icons organizing the options are presented with text labels for perfect clarity, while the bright and catchy CTA button has no chance to be left unnoticed. The custom icons were designed by Tubik graphic designer Yaroslava Yatsuba.

So, to sum up, the dashboard is all built around the visuals, which will be manipulated, and the convenience of usage for people with different tech-literacy levels. High readability, dark background making photos even deeper, elegant custom icons, and a well-balanced grid all help users feel it like home.

Here’s the set of interactions to let you see how it looks in action. Smooth motion for loading and feedback by our motion designer Kirill Sunny makes the interactions more dynamic and sets clear communication with the product.

Landing Page and Illustrations

Another important task was designing a beautiful and informative landing page that would support a web marketing strategy. The client wanted to amplify them with custom hero illustrations and storytelling illustrations, so that was another design task for Arthur Avakyan.

The illustration had to reflect the visual connection to fashion illustration style to set the needed emotional appeal, user the brand colors, and attract users’ attention with its aesthetic elegant style.

Neat outline illustrations with color accents reflecting different benefits and aspects of using the tool

Hero illustration for the above-the-fold area needed special attention as it was the first prominent visual to attract the target audience. It was also developed in style close to the classic fashion illustration and moved through several iterations of the creative search for a catchy and informative image.

Chalk-style outline illustration of the mannequin with a dynamic color accent

Digital sketch of the model character wearing the bright dress and visually integrating the elements of artificial intelligence involved in the design process

Two versions of the composition for the hero illustration

The landing page uses contrast color blocks for different pieces of content and charming artwork, instantly setting the theme. Above the fold, the page uses the dark theme echoing the one in the dashboard, minimalist airy composition, and solid visual hierarchy allowing the visitor to scan the page in split seconds. Outline minimalistic CTA buttons are visually highlighted with color contrast.

Here’s the structure of the whole landing page when you are scrolling it down, based on color contrast to separate the content yet giving a consistent eye-pleasing look.

With the mobile-first trend, sure, the designer also paid attention to responsive mobile design as well.

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• Interior Design

Wang Xi Fashion Studio / PaM Design Office

• Curated by 韩爽 - HAN Shuang
• Interior Designers: PaM Design Office
• Area Area of this architecture project Area:  81 m²
• Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2019
• Photographs Photographs: Zhipeng Zhou, Huijiao Wang
• Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers:   LanSen , Rui Tong Heng Lighting
• Lighting Consultant : Rui Tong Heng Lighting
• Stationary Design:  Shengnan Zhang
• Construction Manager:  Yu Qi, Chenyang Fu
• Translation:  Tiny Tina
• Client:  Wang Xi Studio
• Lead Designer:  Qiangqiang Mi
• Design Team:  Shengnan Zhang, Wei Shi, Junlong Chen
• City:  Beijing
• Country:  China
• Did you collaborate on this project?

“Wang XiSTUDIO” is an independent fashion designer brand store. The design of the space originates from “clothing”, and more importantly, the kind of curl and freedom that “fabric” brings us, and the rich touch that is hard to express with words.

The design takes "fabric" as the starting point, from form to material, in order to create consistency between space and clothing brand. Clothing is a form of self-expression. This new space may become an expression of "Wang Xi".

The whole space is divided into five parts according to the functional requirements: clothing workshop, meeting room & tea break, washroom, dressing room, and main display area.

The clothing workshop, the area where masters work, is a noisy area, therefore it is placed in the most hidden area of the space, but it is also a place for the whole studio to provide "energy". We think that it should have more "expressions" to indicate its hidden tension, and these "expressions" will form a part of the exhibition space.

As a supporting space, the toilet area is filled in the crevice, which is the "pocket" of this space.

The display area is shrouded in the "skirt of the space" to strengthen its own integrity. The lower edge of the wall is rolled up to expose the lower half of the grille. It is a girl who raises the skirt, which is also the background of the costume display.

The dressing room is facing the main entrance of the space, which is contrary to the usual practice. We believe that for independent designer brands, changing clothes is a very important part, is a sense of ritual. It carries the indispensable and irreplaceable functions of “before” and “after”, like a magic zone, which is the brand's transit station, conveying the character and attitude of the brand.

The meeting & tea break area is a semi-enclosed space, the half-height curved low wall makes it partially separated from the display area, and opened on one side, simultaneously the long window opening treatment of the wall makes the tea break maintain a visual connection with the main entrance of the space: For whom the half-curved bead curtain is, raise your glasses to  “Wang Xi”.

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Case Study: Designer AI. Dashboard and Graphics for Fashion Service

The case study on design for the service that uses artificial intelligence to help fashion designers. check branding, dashboard, custom illustrations, and landing page design..

More and more companies now turn to artificial intelligence as a way to make products for a new generation and a new level of problem-solving. Our today’s case study will unveil the one of a kind: this time, we will show you the creative process for Designer AI, the service that uses artificial intelligence to help fashion designers. For this project, the Tubik team worked on branding, illustrations, and dashboard design. Welcome to dive into design solutions.

Creating a system with which fashion designers can make mood boards with the help of AI and get all the needed information

Designer AI is a digital service that connects fashion design to the power of artificial intelligence. It allows fashion designers and brands to communicate with the relevant consumer base, gain knowledge of their needs and preferences and create what buyers want. The design solutions had to appeal to the meticulous and aesthetics-driven target audience of fashion designers, as well as get solid and super-intuitive user interface design for users that could be of various tech-literacy levels.

Logo and Identity

The first strategic task was to agree upon the general visual stylistic concept and brand image. So, the first stage of design was devoted to logo and identity development assigned to graphic designer Arthur Avakyan.

The brand sign presents the typographic logo in which one part becomes the background for another. This way, the logo designer reaches the harmonic and artistic combination of elements that reflect the idea of fashion and technology working together. The biggest challenge was to find the perfect combination of the solid font for “designer” word and the custom created lettering for AI part that would make the needed contrast.

Font and color explorations for the combination of two parts of the logo

The stages of logo design from sketching to the polished final composition

For the identity, it was agreed to take bold color contrast as a visual basis.

Business card design

Dashboard User Interface

Clear, minimalist dashboard design by Tubik UI/UX designer Anton Morozov was based on a dark theme to enhance the perception of visuals, intuitive navigation, and trendy branding.

The header contains several critical elements: easily found search icon , the control for language choice and the control to access the profile menu. For navigation through the functionality, the dashboard uses the sidebar giving quick access to core zones of interaction: projects, storyboards, invoices, transactions, and payments. It doesn’t hide into a hamburger menu or any other interactive element so that the users could switch between the pages quickly. What’s more, it makes the navigation super simple for users with middle and low tech-literacy level. The currently active page is visually marked with the color prompt in the sidebar, and the icons support the titles in the menu: this way different zones of visual perception are activated, as icons set the elements quicker to see while the text helps to decode them correctly. The sans-serif font is clear and easily readable .

The Projects screen uses a simple scannable structure featuring the tabs of existing projects in the workspace and the tappable zone of creating a new project with a schematic prompt: a frame, a plus icon, and the textual explanation specifies it. The tab informs the user about the project name, participants, the number of storyboards made for it, and the star icon to mark the favs or the most actual project.

Projects screen

Inside the project, users can see the storyboards giving an instant visual connection to the style with images preview that gets colored when hovered. The same visual prompt is used for the functionality of adding a new storyboard and the plus icon in the avatar-based list of participants allows for adding more of them.

A particular project screen

Creating a storyboard, the designer sets the needed requirements. Again, the outline icons organizing the options are presents with text labels for perfect clarity, while the bright and catchy CTA button has no chance to be left unnoticed. The custom icons were designed by Tubik graphic designer Yaroslava Yatsuba.

So, to sum up, the dashboard is all built around the visuals, which will be manipulated, and the convenience of usage for people with different tech-literacy levels. High readability, dark background making photos even deeper, elegant custom icons, and well-balanced grid all help users to feel it like home.

Here’s the set of interactions to let you see how it looks in action. Smooth motion for loading and feedback by our motion designer Kirill Sunny makes the interactions more dynamic and sets clear communication with the product.

Landing Page and Illustrations

Another important task was designing a beautiful and informative landing page that would support a web marketing strategy. The client wanted to amplify them with custom hero illustration and storytelling illustrations, so that was another design task for Arthur Avakyan.

The illustration had to reflect the visual connection to fashion illustration style to set the needed emotional appeal, user the brand colors, and attract users’ attention with its aesthetic elegant style.

Neat outline illustrations with color accents reflecting different benefits and aspects of using the tool

Hero illustration for the above-the-fold area needed special attention as it was the first prominent visual to attract the target audience. It was also developed in style close to the classic fashion illustration and moved through several iterations of the creative search for a catchy and informative image.

Chalk-style outline illustration of the mannequin with a dynamic color accent

Digital sketch of the model character wearing the bright dress and visually integrating the elements of artificial intelligence involved in the design process

Two versions of the composition for the hero illustration

The landing page uses contrast color blocks for different pieces of content and charming artwork, instantly setting the theme. Above the fold, the page uses the dark theme echoing the one in the dashboard, minimalist airy composition, and solid visual hierarchy allowing the visitor to scan the page in split seconds. Outline minimalistic CTA buttons are visually highlighted with color contrast.

Here’s the structure of all the landing page when you are scrolling it down, based on color contrast to separate the content yet giving a consistent eye-pleasing look.

With the mobile-first trend, sure, the designer also paid attention to responsive mobile design as well.

You are welcome to see more insights into the design process and details as well as animated interactions in our Behance presentation for the project.

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Case Study: LunnScape. Identity Design for a Landscape Company

A practical case study featuring the graphic design workflow for logo and corporate identity made by Tubik team for a USA-based landscape company LunnScape.

Don't Make Me Think: 20 Thoughts on Usability by Steve Krug

A new set of expert quotes on design from the book “Don’t Make Me Think ” by UX guru Steve Krug: check helpful tips on usability of web and mobile user interfaces.

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Fresh issue answering actual questions about design. This time it is focused on the role of branding elements in UI design and ways of their mutual support.

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The article presents moodboarding as a useful tool improving designers’ workflow and enhancing communication with clients: types and benefits of mood boards.

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Case Study | Fashion’s New Rules For Sports Marketing

• Daniel-Yaw Miller

Key insights

• The global sports-sponsorship market is expected to grow from $63.1 billion in 2021 to $109.1 billion by 2030, suggesting there is a huge opportunity for brands using sport to market their products to diverse fanbases.
• Many global sporting organisations are opening up to renewed commercial interest from the fashion industry, resulting in landmark deals such as LVMH’s Olympics partnership and the Skims-NBA tie-up.
• The range of companies showcased in this case study — Tag Heuer and Hugo Boss as well as start-up The Edit Ldn — offer different approaches to building high-performing sports-marketing portfolios.

When the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games kick off in July 2024, the millions of global fans watching will see far more than just athletes.

LVMH brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Berluti will provide uniforms for select teams, while the medals will be the work of its high jewellery label, Chaumet. For the first time ever, the games will feature LVMH-sponsored athletes, including world-champion swimmer Léon Marchand, European champion in artistic gymnastics Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos and Olympic gold-medalist fencer Ezno Lefort.

The “premium” partnership between LVMH and the Olympics marks the biggest indication to date of sport’s newfound importance to fashion. Until recently, sport was one of the remaining cultural arenas in which fashion, with a few exceptions, had failed to forge long-lasting and meaningful relationships. That has changed.

Fashion brands are waking up to the commercial value of sports like basketball, football, tennis and Formula 1 as they look to be part of the booming sports-sponsorship market, which is projected to grow from $63.1 billion in 2021 to $109.1 billion by 2030 , according to PwC.

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“Sport is now the only by-appointment thing to watch on TV or tune into live at that point in time — everything else is on demand,” said Clive Reeves, PwC’s UK sports leader. “To be in the conversation, you need to watch sport at that point in time, which makes it the only thing left in society that really drives a huge volume of people at specific moments, which for brands is very special and valuable.”

A New Playing Field

The scope for fashion’s ability to tap into sports has been blown wide open. Beyond competing with large corporations for traditional sponsorship on jerseys or around stadiums, brands can target niche areas where they may have a more natural impact. For example, they can partner with athletes on clothing lines, dress them for the “tunnel walk” that occurs as they enter an arena — images of which are instantly shared online by dedicated social media accounts — or even create clothing for their avatars in video games.

“There is still so much untapped potential and uncharted territory for brands to explore across so many different sports,” said Kenny Annan-Jonathan, a sports marketing veteran and founder of London-based agency The Mailroom, who was appointed creative director of the Premier League’s Crystal Palace Football Club in August 2023. “We’re only at the outset of seeing where the world of sports can take fashion brands.”

While sportswear companies like Nike, Adidas and Puma have long since aligned their brands with fashion, this case study unpacks opportunities for non-sportswear brands and retailers. The companies profiled — German luxury brand Boss, Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer and UK-based sneaker marketplace start-up The Edit Ldn — each have placed sports marketing at the heart of their growth strategies and brand identities, either to deepen connections with existing consumers or as a means to effectively and authentically target new audiences.

Disclosure: LVMH is part of a group of investors who, together, hold a minority interest in The Business of Fashion. All investors have signed shareholders’ documentation guaranteeing BoF’s complete editorial independence.

Daniel-Yaw Miller is Senior Editorial Associate at The Business of Fashion. He is based in London and covers menswear, streetwear and sport.

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International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

• Open access
• Published: 25 October 2023

Developing an AI-based automated fashion design system: reflecting the work process of fashion designers

• Woojin Choi 1 ,
• Seyoon Jang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1033-1247 1 ,
• Ha Youn Kim 2 ,
• Yuri Lee 3 ,
• Sang-goo Lee 4 ,
• Hanbit Lee 4 &
• Sungchan Park 5  

Fashion and Textiles volume  10 , Article number:  39 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

5238 Accesses

2 Citations

Metrics details

With the recent expansion of the applicability of artificial intelligence into the creative realm, attempts are being made to use AI (artificial intelligence) in the garment development system in various ways, both in academia and the fashion business. Several IT companies have developed and possess AI-based garment design technologies that utilize StyleGAN2 for image transformation. However, they are not widely utilized in the fashion business. Since fashion brands need to create numerous designs to launch new garment products for at least two seasons per year, the adoption of AI-based garment design generation technology can be one way to increase work efficiency. Therefore, this research aims to collect and analyze existing cases of AI-based garment design tools in order to identify the similarities and differences between the garment development processes of human designers and the existing AI-based garment design tools. Based on this analysis, the research aims to develop an AI-based garment development system that takes into consideration the garment development process of human designers, incorporating fashion domain knowledge.

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the key drivers shaping the transformation of contemporary society alongside big data, virtual reality, and other technological advancements. The fashion industry is undergoing a transformation driven by technological innovations centered around AI (Carvalho et al., 2019 ; Jang & Ha, 2023 ; Market.US, 2023 ). For instance, advancements in AI technology have improved the ability to analyze big data, enabling online retailers to track consumer purchasing data and provide personalized services, thereby enhancing sales. Moreover, AI-based technologies allow for more accurate predictions of upcoming fashion trends, enabling efficient inventory management. Currently, “generative AI” technologies that generate diverse and customized outcomes are garnering significant attention. A notable example is Chat GPT; released by OpenAI, it attracted the interest of over 100 million active users in only two months. Additionally, platforms such as DALL-E2 generate over four million images daily (Xu et al., 2023 ).

However, despite the fashion industry having a shorter product lifecycle than other industries, the field of fashion design has traditionally relied on designer intuition for decision-making (Dubreuil & Lu, 2020 ; Lin & Yang, 2019 ; Takagi et al., 2017 ). As a result, although the application of AI has evolved from analytical to generative AI, it has not been widely adopted in the field of fashion design. Experts in the fashion industry recognize the importance of AI-based garment development technology (Kim et al., 2022 ). Specifically, AI-based garment development technology, incorporating the design process of human designers and fashion domain knowledge, can reduce the workload of fashion designers and product planners, thus increasing work efficiency (Dubey et al., 2020 ).

This research aims to achieve two primary objectives. First, aims to collect and analyze existing cases of AI-based garment design tools in order to identify the similarities and differences between the garment development processes of human designers and the existing AI-based garment design tools. Second, based on this analysis, the research aims to develop an AI-based garment development system that takes into consideration the garment development process of human designers, incorporating fashion domain knowledge. By developing a system that supports fashion design generation based on an understanding of the work processes of fashion designers and the domain knowledge of the fashion industry, rather than focusing exclusively on technological development, this study will enable AI-based garment development tools to become more adaptable for practical use.

The structure of this research is as follows: First, an examination of previous cases related to AI-based fashion design is conducted. This research focuses on the cases that have emerged since the active development of conceptual studies related to deep learning-based image generation techniques. Second, the garment development processes of the collected cases are analyzed by comparing them to the garment development processes of human designers to thus propose an AI-based garment development system that incorporates fashion domain knowledge. Third, an AI-based garment development system is developed using StyleGAN2, and a pilot program is developed to evaluate its satisfaction among industry designers. Finally, the research findings are discussed, highlighting their implications for industry, and some recommendations for future research are provided.

Literature Review

Garment development process and fashion domain knowledge.

The garment development process is a special problem-solving activity that comprises a series of small steps in which a designer explores a problem (Schoen, 1983 ). It is the process of designing, planning, and developing saleable products reflecting their brand identity and the relevant season’s concept for the target consumers (Clodfelter, 2015 ; Kincade, 2010 ; Lee, 2004 ). Many studies have found that the garment development process of human designers sequentially and simultaneously undergoes several stages: analysis of the brand’s internal data (i.e., sales review) and global fashion trends, concept formation and design ideation, design generation and modification, and design finalization (Evans, 2014 ; Lamb & Kallal, 1992 ; Watkins, 1998 ).

The purpose of this study is to develop an AI-aided design tool optimized for fashion brands owned by a producer or distributor. Based on previous research, the following five processes comprise the most optimized garment product development for fashion brands (Evans, 2014 ; Lamb & Kallal, 1992 ; Watkins, 1998 ): (1) analyzing internal/external data, (2) determining the concept to be the season’s direction, (3) generating garment design according to the season’s concept, (4) modifying the newly generated design, and (5) finalizing the garment design.

Fashion brands generally begin garment design development half a year or a year before the start of their product sales season (Blaazer, 2022 ; Lee, 2004 ). When developing garment products, fashion brands consider and analyze two main sources of information: internal brand data and global fashion trends (Clodfelter, 2015 ; Jackson & Shaw, 2017 ; Kincade, 2010 ). Internal brand data refer to past sales data, best-selling brand items, consumer data, or other relevant information (Testa & Karpova, 2022 ). The entire garment development team reviews the performance in previous seasons, including the previous year, to identify key trends that have contributed to profitability (Jackson & Shaw, 2017 ). Products that performed well in the previous season are likely to impact sales in the next season, making it crucial to review them (Ha-Brookshire, 2015 ; Jackson & Shaw, 2017 ; Kunz, 2010 ). Furthermore, for garment product development, global fashion trends are reviewed based on the runway collections of high-end brands. Runway collections are essential trend information and serve as significant factors in garment product development among mass fashion brands (Choi et al., 2021 ; Zhao & Min, 2019 ).

Next, it is necessary to plan the season’s concepts. This stage involves determining the overall theme and mood of the whole garment design (Caniato et al., 2015 ; Clark, 2014 ). Since a fashion brand needs to create 20–30 pieces of garments per season, establishing a concept is crucial to ensure consistent designs across any season (Clark, 2014 ; Lee & Jirousek, 2015 ). Hence, garment design involves generating and modifying garment designs that reflect the brand’s identity and seasonal concept (Caniato et al., 2015 ). This step focuses on generating a garment design and modifying the newly generated design to find an alternative design. Finally, through evaluations by merchandisers, shop managers, and other relevant stakeholders in the fashion brand, the finalization process entails selecting designs suitable for the brand's sales in the respective season (Evans, 2014 ).

Meanwhile, domain knowledge refers to the valid knowledge in a specialized field of study or industry (Choi, 2017 ). Although the development and introduction of new technologies are replacing many aspects of human factors, domain knowledge plays a critical role in setting the direction for any industry (Muralidhar et al., 2018 ). In the garment development process, this domain knowledge includes brand identity, past sales data, brand design characteristics, bestselling items and consumer information (Chen et al., 2012 ; Lee, 2004 ). In fields such as fashion, where human ‘intuition’ or ‘sense’ is highly involved, modeling domain knowledge based on human designers can enhance AI-based design processes.

AI-based garment design generation technology

Recently, AI in fashion garment design has evolved from image recognition and synthesis to image generation (Anantrasirichai & Bull, 2021 ). The beginning of research on the AI-based garment design process dates back to the early 2000s. Initially, garment design studies that incorporated AI used genetic algorithms (GA) that favor the evolution of the information of the previous generation, such as the genetic phenomenon of an organism, and pass this information on to the next generation. In other words, research was conducted to combine the design attributes of fashion products that have already been released and to suggest new styles (Khajeh et al., 2016 ; Kokol et al., 2006 ). The previous researches described garment design as a process that involves making various choices by combining different design attributes. Later, some studies found the location of fashion items in photographs using computer vision. This identification was made by improving machine learning performance (Hara et al., 2016 ; Lu et al., 2022 ), determining item categories and design attributes (Akata et al., 2013 ; An et al., 2023 ; Jang et al., 2022 ; Ji et al., 2018 ; Wang et al., 2018 ), and identifying similarities among designs (Ay et al., 2019 ; Ma et al., 2020 ; Tuinhof et al., 2018 ).

GAN has recently attracted attention in the research on AI-based garment design. The GAN model is an unsupervised deep learning method that generates or edits new fake images. A GAN is composed of two neural networks, namely, a generator and a discriminator, which compete against each other to improve the generation quality (Goodfellow et al., 2014 ). First proposed by Goodfellow et al. ( 2014 ), various derivative GAN models have since been introduced, enabling the editing and easy generation or synthesis of images. Hence, various research cases have emerged in the field of design (Raffiee & Sollami, 2021 ; Rostamzadeh et al., 2018 ).

GAN is used in the fashion industry to generate new designs or modify specific parts of the design (Liu et al., 2019 ), create graphics printed on clothing (Kim et al., 2017 ; Raffiee & Sollami, 2021 ; Rostamzadeh et al., 2018 ), and achieve a fusion of mixed semantic styles (Zhu et al., 2020 ). In addition, Disco GAN technology has been developed and advanced such that AI identifies the characteristics between different object groups and learns the relationship between the two to modify the design (Kim et al., 2017 ). For Disco GAN, if the image of a handbag is designated as the input value and the image of a shoe is designated as the output value, a new shoe design can be generated by identifying the image characteristics of the handbag and applying them to the shoe (Kim et al., 2017 ). StyleGAN and StyleGAN2 are algorithms optimized for fashion image generation. They consider image composition as a combination of styles and synthesize images by applying style information to each layer of the generative model. Models utilizing StyleGAN or StyleGAN2 can control network architecture and styles while generating clothing images, thus enabling the editing of garments for specific attributes (Lewis et al., 2021 ).

This research analyzes existing AI-based garment design tools and develops a new AI-based garment development system specifically designed for the fashion industry. As shown in Table 1 , the entire process of the research was divided into three stages:

Requirement analysis and system design

We conducted a case study by collecting examples of AI-based fashion design tools that have been utilized in practical applications. As garment design plays a significant role in the process of garment developing, we determined the need to gather and analyze cases of AI-based garment design tools to build an AI-based garment development system. Therefore, we compared the cases with the garment development process of human designers as a benchmark and derived commonalities and differences. On the basis of the analysis results, we proposed a new system that fashion designers can use in their practical work. Currently, AI-based fashion design processes are not widely used in the industry, the evaluation of the level of development varies (Kim et al., 2022 ). Thus, we concluded that qualitative research on the current state of technological development must be conducted. The research procedure for the case study is as follows.

Data collection

We explored articles and papers to extract information on IT companies with AI-based technologies for garment design generation. We collected articles published since 2018 by searching keywords, including “AI-based fashion design,” “AI fashion design tool,” and “AI fashion design process,” on the web portal ‘Google ( www.google.com )’ in English and ‘Naver ( www.naver.com )’ in Korean. Naver, the largest local search engine in South Korea, is optimized for retrieving information in Korean. We used Korean keywords for searching on Naver and English keywords for searching on Google. Additionally, we searched Google Scholar using the same keywords in both Korean and English to collect papers published since 2018 that included cases of AI-based garment design tools. As a result, we collected 13 cases from a total of 28 relevant articles and two papers, excluding duplicate articles.

Next, we excluded AI-based garment design tools that are still in the development stage or have not been commercialized. Ultimately, nine AI-based garment design tools with a history of commercial utilization were selected for analysis. The selected companies (tool names) include ETRI (AI Fashion Market Platform); Designovel (style AI), LG (AI artist Tilda); Google and Zalando (Project Muze); Amazon (Lab126); Google, H&M, and Ivyrevel (Coded Couture); Stitch Fix (Hybrid Design); YNAP (8 by Yoox); and OpenAI (Dall-E2).

Coding and data analysis

Each case was analyzed using the collected data. Four doctoral-level researchers in the field of fashion examined the original texts of the collected articles and conducted a constant comparison analysis. The five-step garment development process of human fashion designers presented in previous studies was used as a comparative criterion. Through this criterion, the commonalities and differences between AI-based design processes and human designers were explored. The researchers coded and classified the design processes of nine AI-based garment design tools. In cases where the researchers’ opinions did not align, additional search processes were conducted by setting the respective tool as a search keyword, followed by coding.

System proposal

On the basis of the analysis of the case studies, a new AI-based design system was designed. The system design involved the participation of four fashion researchers and three computer engineering researchers. Through approximately six months of continuous discussions, a user-centered (designer-centered) workflow, which could be integrated with the garment development process of human fashion designers, was designed. Then, a system consisting of four modules was proposed.

System development and implementation

An AI-based garment development system based on StyleGAN2 was developed by computer engineering researchers. The StyleGAN2 algorithm has demonstrated superior diversity and image quality in the generated outputs. In view of these findings, the researchers chose to employ the StyleGAN2 algorithm as the cornerstone for their AI-based garment development system. In particular, the system model was trained using dress and skirt images, which are well suited for exploring various silhouette variations. To train the model, a dataset of 52,000 images was collected from 168 leading fashion brands obtained from international fashion retail platforms, such as Yoox ( www.yoox.com ), Net-A-Porte ( www.net-a-porte.com ), Vogue ( www.vogue.com ) and Tagwalk ( www.tag-walk.com ). Subsequently, a model was developed to learn the distribution of the training images and generate new fashion images by adding noise and generating image variations. The trained model enabled coarse style variations in silhouette elements, such as full length, sleeve length, and neckline, in the early stages and fine style variations, such as color, pattern, and print, in the later stages.

To evaluate the developed service, a pilot test was conducted with a diverse group of 8 designers in South Korea, including women’s clothing designers from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large corporations, as well as designers from apparel vendor companies. Prior to the pilot test, a snowball sampling method was used to select designers who wished to review the service. Taking into account their expertise and company size, a final group of 8 users was chosen. They used the service for a period of 10 days in mid-December 2022. Then, the researchers conducted interviews and brief postservice surveys. The measurement items included the participants’ perception of the service quality before and after usage, evaluation of the design outcomes, and intention for continuous usage. Respondents indicated the degree to which they agreed with the statements using a five-point Likert scale (1 = “strongly disagree” to 5 = “strongly agree”).

Results and Discussion

The result of case study.

The nine AI-based garment design generation tools selected in this study are summarized in comparison with the human designers’ development process (Table 2 ). An “X” mark indicates that the tool does not include the stage of the human garment development process, and an “O” mark indicates that it includes the stage. Specific commonalities and differences are described later.

Garment designers spend extensive time in internal and external data research (Clodfelter, 2015 ; Jackson & Shaw, 2017 ; Kincade, 2010 ). The internal data analysis stage appeared in four out of nine cases. To support efficient design generation in a mass production preplanning system, the brand’s internal data must be incorporated. Most of these profiling data pertain to customers and are primarily utilized in the form of recommendation services to enhance consumer experiences. This aspect constitutes only a portion of the personalization service that “recommends” designs to consumers, thus causing difficulty in claiming that it is primarily aimed at “generating” designs for mass production. For instance, Stitch Fix’s Hybrid Design and YNAP’s 8 by Yoox analyze and incorporate customer data, such as user lifestyles, to generate personalized designs for users.

Some AI-generated design tools also provide external data research and analysis. Global fashion week data, social media fashion data, and social media influencer data can be included in external data. The AI Fashion Market Platform (ETRI), Style AI (Designovel), 8 by Yoox (YNAP), and Hybrid Design (Stitch Fix) support design generation based on external data (i.e., social media influencers` fashion data) research and analysis. The AI Fashion Market Platform (ETRI) generates garment designs in light of domestic trends reflected on social media, while YNAP’s 8 by Yoox reflects the trends by analyzing and showing clothes that social media influencers prefer (Melton, 2018 ). However, they have limitations in that they analyze and provide trends without considering the brand identity or brand concept for the season in the external data analysis.

Second, many AI-based design tools lack the stage of concept formation. The development of season concepts is reflected only in the case of Tilda. Tilda generated approximately 3000 inspiration images for the design theme presented by the human designer (LG AI Research, 2022 ). As the development of the designs is led by technology without design development knowledge, such as brand profiling, season trend analysis, and concept decisions, which affect the direction of learning and design, users may conclude that AI’s design ideation is less brand specific.

Third, models for design generation and modification were provided with a focus on image composition and text-to-image composition using GAN in half of the cases. Some technologies (e.g., Coded Couture; Dall-E2) are image-generation technologies that simply convert text into images rather than AI technologies that creatively generate garment designs (Lee, 2018 ; Oh, 2021 ). In addition, although designs that are generated on the basis of the serendipity of AI-based fashion design look creative, they remain limited because they require modification by human designers to be used as commercial designs. However, only three cases allowed modifications after the generation of garment design images. Last, not all cases included the finalization process.

In summary, compared with the garment design development of human designers, the biggest drawback of existing AI-based garment design development tools is the difficulty in accurately reflecting the designer’s intentions. Such tools that are currently being developed and used focus only on trend analysis and image generation. This limitation has led to a nonholistic view of AI-based garment design tools developed in the fashion domain and has raised the need to generate a tool that reflects knowledge in the fashion domain.

Suggestion of AI-aided design process

Garment design is a complex and cyclical process in which various thinking methods are continuously and simultaneously applied in each stage of the design process (Evans, 2014 ). However, through analyzing the cases, researchers have found that the AI-based garment design tools commercialized thus far do not cover the comprehensive process from the perspective of human designers. Therefore, this study proposes an AI-based garment development system that reflects fashion domain knowledge. We advance an AI-based garment development system that integrates the human-based design process as follows (Fig.  1 ). The system consists of four modules, integrating five stages of the garment design process. Detailed explanations for each module are provided in the following section on system development and implementation.

AI–human collaborative garment development system

Development of AI-aided design process

Module 1 and Module 2 involve the collection and analysis of internal and external data, respectively. Module 1 builds a dataset based on the brand’s internal data, while Module 2 extracts external information. In addition, Module 3 functions as a design source database, serving as a repository where users can store necessary keywords and images during the garment design process. Module 4 generates garment designs and modifies the garment designs. Considering that the garment design process is simultaneous and repetitive, the process was designed for users to organize the process freely depending on the purpose, such as changing the order of the module with key functions according to the user’s needs or removing an unnecessary module.

Module 1: building a database of the company’s internal environment

A system was designed to analyze and integrate the brand’s internal data, thus enabling the inference of brand concepts and designing intentions from the brand’s own product data. Users are prompted to upload brand-related data directly when they first start using the system. Then, users upload images related to the brand and reference images used during garment development. These images can be uploaded manually by users or automatically collected through a crawling robot by entering the website address of the shopping mall or social media platforms managed by the company. Upon uploading a product image, an automated tagging system labels the design features and automatically generates and stores product information in the database. In addition, a brief profiling survey is conducted in which users are asked to select brands similar to their own brand from domestic and global fashion brand lists. All of these processes are optional, thus allowing users to skip them without any hindrance in utilizing other modules. The collected information is utilized as a weighting factor during the generation of garment designs for user brands. Once the input of basic information regarding the brand’s internal environment is completed, the system extracts the typical design factors associated with the brand’s design and incorporates them into the garment generation process.

To implement Module 1, technology is needed to identify the design features of garment products in images and label them in text format. To accomplish this step, computer vision and natural language processing (NLP) techniques are employed to preprocess and structure internal data, encompassing extensive unstructured image and text data. Generally, internal databases contain various, large-scale, and unnormalized data, which can be obstacles to utilizing AI techniques. Before applying advanced image/text content analysis techniques, building a database can be helpful. For example, auto labeling (Cheng et al., 2018 ) techniques can extract style keywords (e.g., “casual,” “modern”) and objective attributes (e.g., “turtleneck,” “puff sleeves”) from fashion images. NLP techniques can also be utilized to process unstructured text data to reduce the incompleteness of the database.

Module 2: global runway trend extraction

Module 2 was designed to analyze fashion trends based on runway collections and provide trend keywords associated with specific seasons or design attributes. This module visualizes prominent design keywords in ready-to-wear (RTW) and haute couture based on runway shows held twice a year: Spring/Summer (S/S) and Fall/Winter (F/W). The design features of a particular runway brand serve as important design references for mass-market fashion brands (Jang et al., 2022 ). Therefore, rankings must be derived on the basis of seasons and major keywords.

Runway data can be automatically collected using the brand name on TAGWALK ( www.tag-walk.com ) or the official US website of Vogue ( www.vogue.com ). Then, the data can be saved on the trend database. The saved images are turned into labeled data with major design features through the computer vision technology mentioned in Module 1. In addition to the frequency of extracted keywords, comparisons with the same season in the previous year and the last season are provided. Keywords with high interest can be moved to the design source of Module 3. Again, global runway trend keywords are stored together with relevant images.

Module 3: design source database

The design source database is a function that can save and manage keywords and images selected by users. All keywords and images directly entered by the user in Module 1 are also stored in Module 3. Then, users can use them as needed. The users can freely organize the dashboard by season, item, or design features depending on the purpose. Moreover, the users’ convenience can be increased by separately storing the sources required for future design generation. Module 3 must further implement a feature to search associated images by selecting one or more design keywords. In addition, a user interface must be implemented to facilitate the retrieval of information (keyword or image) stored by the user according to the user’s purpose. This module allows users to gather keywords and images stored in the database on the basis of their needs. As a result, the module serves as a mood board in the garment design process and facilitates the establishment of season concepts.

Module 4: design feature combination and GAN-based garment design generation

In Module 4, users can not only upload or retrieve new images from the design source library (Module 3) to generate a new garment design but also modify their own designs or the generated designs within the available options presented by the system. Users can modify various design features, such as color, silhouette (fit, length), pattern and prints, and detail features.

Furthermore, users can repeat this process as many times as they want until they are satisfied. Then, they can obtain new inspiration from the AI-generated images. They can also use the design as it is or transform the details or colors for a better design. Moreover, users can generate or transform images by uploading their own brand in Module 1 to ensure that they obtain results that reflect their input. Among the generated images, an image selected by the user can be included in Module 3. Even when the image is not selected, the system can ask users why they did not store the image, thereby recording enhanced personalized preference results. The accumulated personalized data may be associated with the elaboration of the image generation result. The images finally generated can be shared with users and people with registered accounts related to the brands for evaluation. This step corresponds to the finalization stage of the human design process.

To implement Module 4, an image generation model, namely the GAN model called StyleGAN2, was employed (Karras et al., 2019 , 2020 , 2021 ). Once the image generation model is trained with a large set of training images, the model can generate a wide range of synthetic but photorealistic fashion images. Furthermore, the design features of the generated garment images can be finely modified, including the silhouette, color, patterns, and prints (Patashnik et al., 2021 ; Shen et al., 2020 ; Wu et al., 2021 ). Figure  2 presents an overview of the AI-based garment design framework, which utilizes the StyleGan2 model. As shown in Fig.  2 , the recent image editing technique can support various user-specified cues, such as silhouette (length), pattern, and colors. Furthermore, Fig.  3 shows an example of images generated using the AI techniques mentioned in Fig.  2 .

AI techniques for image generation and editing (all images are generated by artificial intelligence)

The example of fashion image generation and editing Note. top-left image: From Look 3 [Photography], by Jil Sander, 2022, Vogue (https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/resort-2022/jil-sander/slideshow/collection#3). Note. top-left image: From Look 48 [Photography], by Daniele Oberrauch, 2022, Vogue (https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2022-ready-to-wear/sergio-hudson/slideshow/collection#48). Note. bottom-left image: From Look 44 [Photography], by Gucci, 2022, Vogue (https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2022-ready-to-wear/gucci/slideshow/collection#44. Accessed 2 August 2022)

Pilot test of AI-based garment development system

The research team created a front-end program to enable fashion designers to evaluate both quantitative and qualitative performance through access to the AI-based garment development system. As a result of the quantitative performance indicators of the design generation system, the inception score (IS) was 7.40, image reality score was 3.76, response time of the design generation was 1.02 s/req, and processing rate of the design generation was 58.4 req/min. Next, following Nielsen’s usability test guidelines (Nielsen, 2012 ), a pilot test was qualitatively conducted with 8 fashion designers in this study. The results showed that the participants’ expectations for the quality of the AI-generated garment design images were rated at 2.44 before using the AI-based garment development system. However, after using the system, the satisfaction with the AI-generated outcomes increased to 3.81, thus indicating that the final design results demonstrated high completeness and exceeded the participants’ expectations.

Conclusions

Garment design undergoes the comprehensive process of building the season concept by considering both global fashion trends and brand merchandising knowledge, going through design ideation based on the above, concretizing, and ultimately creating the design (Evans, 2014 ; Lamb & Kallar, 1992 ). If even one of these processes is omitted, a design with commerciality and brand identity can be difficult to develop. Although nine AI-based design generation solutions have been advanced thus far, they have focused only on the advancement of fashion trend analysis and automatic fashion image generation technology. The lack of intermediate stages in the garment development process leads to the absence of a holistic view of garment design (Kim et al., 2022 ). Thus, this study attempted to develop and propose an ideal AI-based garment development system by comparing the design process of human designers with the AI design process. The research on developing an AI design system that reflects the perspective of fashion designers is particularly relevant and timely, given the rapidly growing importance placed on advancing generative AI technologies (Market.US, 2023 ). Furthermore, by surveying the satisfaction of fashion designers, the potential usability of the proposed system has been confirmed. On this basis, the academic and practical implications of this study are as follows.

First, in this study, computer science and fashion fields were efficiently integrated, thus leading to the implementation of an AI-based garment development system that can yield highly effective results. To ensure the practical application of technology in the industry, the technology must be closely aligned with industry-standard processes (Caruelle et al., 2022 ; Jarek et al., 2019 ). While AI cannot fully comprehend the intuition of human designers, AI design tools can assist human designers by learning domain knowledge and being designed according to the design processes commonly followed by human designers (Dubey et al., 2020 ; Song et al., 2022 ). In this way, AI systems can be incorporated into the work environment and support human designers effectively. In this sense, this study holds academic and practical significance because it analyzed existing cases of AI-based garment design tools and developed an AI-based garment development system that incorporates fashion domain knowledge. Most research in the fashion field related to AI technology has remained at the stage of case analysis. However, the current study stands out by collaborating with computer science researchers to design a new system and implement it at a practical level, thus demonstrating its academic importance. Furthermore, generative AI has currently gained significant attention. Generative AI can produce images or music that reflects the user’s intent with simple prompts (Hsu & Ching, 2023 ; McCormack et al., 2023 ). The significance of the developed system in this study lies in its ability to generate results that incorporate the user’s intent. Finally, by allowing real fashion designers to use the system and evaluating its usability, this study confirms the practical significance of the developed system and its potential for practical application.

The following limitations exist in this study, and we would like to suggest further research to supplement them. First, we developed an AI-based fashion design system using Style GAN2 as the main algorithm. However, since we did not compare and analyze image generation performance because we focused on the algorithm development process, subsequent studies need to supplement this. Second, while GAN model is a crucial technology for image generation and has been actively used in garment design generation, Rostamzadeh et al. ( 2018 ) explained that the quality of the dataset affects design image generation when creating garment designs using GAN. Therefore, the data source must be obtained in such a way that designs of various conditions can be learned. Third, the AI-based garment development system developed in this study has a limited image resolution. This limitation poses challenges for fashion designers in manipulating and utilizing the images. However, recent advancements in diffusion models have significantly improved (Li et al., 2022 ), enabling the transformation of low-resolution images into high-resolution images. By incorporating such neural networks, the system’s utility can be enhanced. Fourth, the current system focuses only on dresses and skirts. In the future, expanding the training set to include a wider range of item categories (e.g., outer, pants, etc.) will allow for the broader application of the AI-based garment development system.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the first author on reasonable request.

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This work was supported by the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) full name funded by the Korean Government (2021-0-00302, AI Fashion Designer: Mega-Trend and Merchandizing Knowledge Aware AI Fashion Designer Solution).

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Choi, W., Jang, S., Kim, H.Y. et al. Developing an AI-based automated fashion design system: reflecting the work process of fashion designers. Fash Text 10 , 39 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-023-00360-w

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Title: beacon: bayesian experimental design acceleration with conditional normalizing flows $-$ a case study in optimal monitor well placement for co$_2$ sequestration.

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Learning Experience Design: Stress First Aid for Healthcare Workers

In the heart of challenges lies the seed of opportunity—a philosophy embraced by the Duke School of Nursing and our Learning Experience (LX) design team. We’re excited to announce a new self-paced, online course, Stress First Aid for Healthcare Workers: A Peer Support Tool , now available on Coursera. This course stands as a beacon of support and understanding for healthcare workers and students by offering more than just academic knowledge and professional skills training. Using a trauma-informed approach to learning, this course delves into the emotional and psychological aspects of healthcare work, equipping participants with the tools they need for self-care and peer support in a demanding field.

What is Stress First Aid?

The Stress First Aid (SFA) model is a flexible and practical framework designed to provide support and recovery to individuals experiencing stress. Imagine it as a first aid kit, but instead of bandages and antiseptics for physical wounds, it’s equipped with strategies and techniques to help manage emotional and psychological stress. The model outlines clear steps to identify stress signs, offering both self-help and community support options. It emphasizes immediate care through simple actions like ensuring safety, providing comfort, and promoting calm. Then, it guides individuals through a process of recovery, encouraging connection, efficiency, and eventually, a return to normal functioning or learning to adapt to changes.

The past years have highlighted the critical need for support within the healthcare community, prompting the Duke University School of Nursing , in collaboration with the Duke Health Interprofessional Education and Care Center and North Carolina Central University (NCCU) , to develop a positive psychology-informed Stress First Aid training program . Aimed at reducing stress and burnout among health professions students, faculty, and staff at Duke and NCCU, this peer-to-peer training empowers participants to assess and respond to psychological injuries, emphasizing life preservation, harm prevention, and recovery promotion.

After providing live SFA training to 451 individuals at Duke and NCCU, feedback highlighted the need for more practical SFA applications and better access for remote learners. Addressing this, the SFA team launched virtual Booster sessions and initiated the development of an online, self-paced Coursera course with LILE’s LX design team.

This strategic expansion into online offerings represents a significant step forward in making Stress First Aid training accessible to a wider audience of healthcare professionals and students. By offering this course on Coursera, we open up new avenues for learning and support, allowing participants to engage with the material at their own pace and on their own terms. This move not only broadens the availability of essential stress management and peer support tools but also affirms our commitment to fostering a culture of care and well-being across the healthcare sector.

What Sets This Course Apart?

At the core of our course is the commitment to a trauma-informed approach , recognizing the profound impact stress and trauma have on healthcare professionals. This guiding principle influenced every aspect of the course’s development, from content selection to presentation, ensuring that learners find a safe, supportive, and empathetic learning environment. This approach is particularly important given the course’s focus on potentially distressing topics related to stress and trauma in healthcare settings.

Real-World Application through Case Studies

Using a trauma-informed approach, we leverage real-world examples to deepen understanding and application of critical care principles. In Week 2 of the course, the instructional team developed example case studies to show learners how to apply the full Stress First Aid model in real world settings. The story of Jared, an acute care nurse practitioner navigating the complexities of stress and isolation in a healthcare setting, serves as a foundational case study in this course. Before introducing Jared’s experience, learners receive clear content warnings, enabling them to emotionally prepare or choose to engage with the material when they feel ready. This approach ensures a respectful and safe learning environment, acknowledging the diverse backgrounds and sensitivities of our audience.

Navigating the Stress Continuum

Case studies like Jared’s are strategically embedded throughout the course to offer learners a comprehensive understanding of the stress continuum. Jared’s experience is an illustration of the stress continuum (see the graphic below), showcasing his shift from a state of well-being and engagement (the “Green Zone”) to experiencing significant stress and isolation (the “Orange Zone”). Through Jared’s story, learners explore SFA techniques, such as “Check and Coordinate” for fostering self-awareness and cultivating community support, alongside “Cover and Calm” for alleviating immediate distress.

Case studies serve not just as examples of how stress and trauma manifest but also as opportunities for learners to actively engage with the SFA model. By navigating through these case studies, learners are empowered to skillfully manage stress and support mental well-being, both in their personal lives and within professional healthcare contexts, armed with a comprehensive toolkit for addressing the nuances of stress and trauma using the SFA model as a guide.

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• Dr. Sean Convoy, DNP, PMHNP-BC , is an Associate Professor at Duke University leading its Psychiatric – Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program
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• Chanel Copeland, PA-C, MHS , is an Orthopedic Physician Assistant with Duke Health
• Undi Hoffler, PhD , is Director, Research Compliance & Technology Transfer for North Carolina Central University
• Bryan Sexton, PhD , is the Director of the Duke Center for Healthcare Safety and Quality

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• Megan Lancaster , Senior Learning Experience Designer
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As we celebrate the launch of “Stress First Aid for Healthcare Workers: A Peer Support Tool,” we invite you to join us in this important conversation. Together, we can create a healthier, more supportive environment for those who dedicate their lives to caring for others.

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Practice of sustainable fashion design considering customer emotions and personal tastes

Associated data.

The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

This study aimed to determine a sustainable design practice approach that can satisfy customer emotions and personal tastes, which designers need in the early stages of the SFD process, and improve environmental performance. The research was conducted through a case study and interviews. For case studies, the specific design methods of fashion brands, which have been ranked sustainable over the last 3 years in the world’s top fashion magazines favored by the public, were researched. The results of the case studies were used to draw questions for the in-depth interviews. The results are as follows: first, the design approaches of SFBs were categorized into “eco-friendly materials,” “functional durability design,” “reuse and remanufacturing,” “emotional durability design,” and sustainable fashion technology. Each type’s specific design approach methods were organized into a checklist for the practice of SFD and then reflected in the interview questions. From the results of the interviews, it was noted that the sustainable design approaches perceived by Korean designers were “eco-friendly materials,” “reuse and remanufacturing,” and “functional durability design.” Moreover, it was mentioned that specific methods of emotional durability design and sustainable fashion technology need to be acquired. By applying the checklist to the interviewees, interview participants could conveniently and quickly recognize how to apply sustainable design through the inventory. This study is significant because it presents a checklist, an efficient tool for sustainable design approaches, and a sustainable design practice method that can satisfy customer emotions and personal tastes and improve environmental performance.

Introduction

The fashion industry is one of the industries that have contributed significantly to the growth of the global consumer goods industry for decades. Nevertheless, the environmental damage caused by water pollution and CO2 produced at each stage of the fashion supply chain is the second largest after the oil industry ( Villemain, 2019 ). Hence, the fashion industry’s responsibility for sustainable environmental development and its obligation to restore the environment are emphasized, as much as the share of the fashion industry in the global industry ( Caniato et al., 2012 ; Dissanayake and Sinha, 2015 ; Lawless and Medvedev, 2016 ; Maldini et al., 2019 ; O’Connell, 2020 ). Since the mid-2000s, industrial supply systems around the world have been affected by sustainability and have struggled to develop environmental management strategies ( Reoberto and Esposito, 2016 ). Previous studies have stated that a green supply system based on a circular economy is important in presenting a vision for sustainable manufacturing ( Zhu et al., 2011 ; Stahel, 2016 ; Geissdoerfer et al., 2017 ). H&M has regularly published public reports on sustainability activities since it launched an ethical fashion brand called “Conscious Collection” in 2011 ( Baker, 2011 ). In addition to mainstream brands such as Nike and M&S, it is considered a leader in sustainable business execution ( Kozlowski et al., 2019 ; Claxton and Kent, 2020 ). Many fashion companies, including Uniqlo, North Face, and New Balance, also recognize the importance of sustainability and supply chain management ( Shen, 2014 ). Early studies on sustainable fashion focused on eco-designs, which focused on the environmental harm during the product life cycle, from using materials to production and disposal. They were followed by studies on various tools for measuring performance in the three aspects of sustainability and strategies for sustainable fashion design (SFD) ( Pigosso et al., 2013 ; Rossi et al., 2016 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ; Karell and Niinimäki, 2020 ). Emotionally durable design aims at a circular economy as a design approach that extends the life of a product by encouraging a more durable and resilient relationship with the product through the emotional experience that occurs between the product and the consumer ( Haines-Gadd et al., 2018 ). It can be said that it is a design method that allows modern people who consume selectively and wisely to choose sustainable product design according to their sensibility and personal taste. In previous studies, consumers agreed to the practice of sustainability but rejected sustainable products that did not fit their tastes ( Karell and Niinimäki, 2020 ). Additionally, while about 80% of sustainability impacts are determined at the design stage, which is an early stage in the production process, design methods still tend to rely on the designer’s intuition ( Ramani et al., 2010 ; Ribeiro et al., 2013 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ; Keshavarz-Ghorabaee et al., 2019 ; Karell and Niinimäki, 2020 ). Designers play an essential role in sustainable environmental performance and decisively impact the future environmental effects of their products ( Boks, 2006 ; Ramani et al., 2010 ; Ribeiro et al., 2013 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ; Keshavarz-Ghorabaee et al., 2019 ; Karell and Niinimäki, 2020 ). Nevertheless, fashion designers still need to understand the complexity of sustainable fashion issues and the unpredictable future of fashion design related to diversity, rapidly changing trends, and consumers ( Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). The world’s well-known fashion magazines, such as Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar, rank and release articles on fashion products of sustainable fashion brands (SFBs). This implies that the public interest in sustainable fashion products is high. Thus, it is imperative to propose practical methods for easy-to-use SFD, in which the complexity of sustainability and the intuition and experience of designers are objectified.

The purpose of this study is to support the circular economy by satisfying customers’ sensibility and personal taste, improving environmental performance, and determining a design approach that designers can easily use in SFD.

Literature review

Sustainable fashion design.

Sustainability means that businesses must address social goals such as environmental conservation, social justice, and economic development ( Yıldızbaşı et al., 2021 ). It is in the same vein as the importance of business performance measured by considering the three dimensions of sustainability in the overall green industry ( Pattnaik et al., 2021 ). SFD refers to design that considers the social, environmental, and economic impacts associated with the fashion products in the entire life cycle until the end of their life, from the raw materials to the use and disposal ( Niinimäki, 2006 ; Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). Ecological, economic, and social factors have been the basis of many studies as the triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability ( Raza et al., 2021 ). Today’s SFD has evolved into a system that plans products to suppress the occurrence of environmentally hazardous elements in the fashion product supply chain ( Ceschin and Gaziulusoy, 2016 ; Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). In the fashion industry, three out of five apparel items are discarded within a year of production ( Puspita and Chae, 2021 ). Problem-solving in sustainable fashion requires improving the complex apparel supply chain and the consumers, companies, and governments involved. Several previous studies have noted that designers are crucial to influencing changes in the sustainable design industry ( Lawless and Medvedev, 2016 ; Hur and Cassidy, 2019 ; Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). To achieve the sustainability goals of fashion products, designers should play an active role in design from the early stage of the production process by predicting the ethical behavior of fashion product production and consumption ( Ceschin and Gaziulusoy, 2016 ). For SFD, Kozlowski et al. (2019) stated that aesthetic and cultural dimensions should also be considered along with performance in three aspects: the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability. These aspects must be regarded because sustainable fashion products that have been produced so far have become another environmentally hazardous factor because they have not been chosen as consumers’ tastes are not met. Currently, various tools are used to predict the performance of sustainable fashion supply chains ( Bovea and Pérez-Belis, 2012 ; Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). However, considering that approximately 80% of the sustainability impact over the entire life cycle of fashion products are determined in the design stage ( Ribeiro et al., 2013 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ), it is necessary to explore various approaches to SFD.

Sustainable fashion brand

Fashion companies such as Zara, Nike, and H&M, including Kering, which currently has a portfolio of luxury brands, regularly publish public reports describing their sustainability activities ( Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). Most sections of the fashion industry, such as general apparel, sportswear, shoes, and underwear, are paying attention to sustainable product development in consideration of environmental, economic, and social issues. In 2010, H&M announced the first sustainable collection made from sustainable materials such as organic cotton, linen, recycled polyester, and Tencel of wood pulp fabric ( Portuguez, 2010 ). Then, in 2011, it launched a new “Conscious” collection and pledged to develop the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, an initiative devised to expand the use of organic and sustainable materials, educate cotton farmers, and measure the environment, impact, and labor practices for apparel and shoe manufacturing ( Baker, 2011 ). In 2011, Patagonia also started the “Do Not Buy This Jacket” campaign, which promotes conscious buying, upcycling, and product use changes ( Bandyopadhyay and Ray, 2020 ). Simultaneously, Patagonia operated a recycling program called the Common Threads Initiative, which focused on the “4 Rs” to enable the recycling of its products. It aims to reduce resale through eBay and recycling based on customer partnerships ( Patagonia Inc, 2011 ). One of the interests of Patagonia was in ethics for the life of workers, and Patagonia became one of the first fashion brands to take responsibility in partnership with Fair Trade USA. This movement has advocated for improved social and environmental standards since 2014 ( Teen Vogue, 2019 ; Bandyopadhyay and Ray, 2020 ). In 2014, to develop a roadmap to create a more sustainable supply chain and conserve endangered forests in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Stella McCartney, H&M, Eileen Fisher, Patagonia, and Inditex/Zara formed a group of promising forest conservation policies. The group created a shared “knowledge map” for the viscose supply chain to facilitate the removal of endangered forest fibers and pledged to support a long-term conservation solution for high-priority forest areas, such as rainforests in Indonesia and rainforests and subarctic forests in Canada. Furthermore, they have pledged to support the development of sustainable fabric alternatives made of recycled fabrics, recycled materials, and agricultural byproducts such as straw ( Sustainable brands, 2014 ). Stella McCartney is a London-based luxury brand belonging to Kering that does not use unsustainable animal materials, such as fur, leather, and feathers. It is known to operate a brand with ceaseless sustainable thinking. Their 2019 collection was rated as the most sustainable among the past collections because 75% of the collection used Econyl and recycled polyester, while the rest used organic cotton or upcycled denim. They announced Koba faux fur made from corn byproducts mixed with recycled polyester as an alternative to plastic options ( Frost, 2019 ).

In 2015, Kering announced Environmental Profit and Loss (EP and L), a sustainability statement calling for industry accountability. In 2016, EP and L were applied to all brands of Kering. Further, the EP and L demanded environmental and ethical responsibility across the supply chain from damage to environmental impacts caused by fashion products and not to evade fair-trade labor practice, carbon imprint, and energy and resource conservation ( Social Media Today, 2015 ). It started with upcycling fashion brands in 2008 and evolved as Kolon Industries, a large fashion company, launched “RE: CODE,” an upcycling fashion brand that introduced fashion products manufactured by recycling fashion products to be incinerated and automotive parts ( Park and Kim, 2014 ). RE: CODE was launched in 2012 as a sustainable brand by Kolon Industries, Inc., a large fashion company in South Korea. It creates new value based on upcycling, which refers to making new clothes by recycling deadstock and clothing waste. RE: CODE breaks fashion stereotypes, creates new uses, and encourages the world to participate in environmental and sustainable societal movements ( Kolon Industries, 2012 ). Kolon Industries has been working on the Noah Project since 2016 as a campaign to protect endangered animals and plants in South Korea. “Kolon Sports” of Kolon Industries applied 100% eco-friendly materials and techniques to all products in the collection in 2020 as part of the Noah Project ( Park, 2020 ).

As described above, the sustainable activities of fashion companies are group activities and campaigns focused on eco-friendly materials and material recycling. More and more fashion brands were putting the concept of sustainability at the forefront of their design goals.

Sustainable design approach and method

Previous studies have dealt with guides for various conceptual design tools and strategies to help apparel designers implement sustainability. Ceschin and Gaziulusoy (2016) classified sustainable design approaches and methods into “green design and eco-design,” “emotionally durable design,” “nature-inspired design,” “cradle-to-cradle design,” “biomimicry design,” “design for the base of the pyramid,” “sustainable product-service system design,” and “design for system innovations and transitions.” Rossi et al. (2016) summarized design approaches with “design for X concept” and classified them into “design for disassembly,” “design for remanufacturing,” design for material recycling, and “design for energy efficiency.” Based on some previous studies, Irwin (2015) and Sumter et al. (2020) classified design approaches by adding “design for a circular economy” to “eco-design,” “nature-inspired design,” “sustainable product-service systems,” “design for low resource settings,” “design for social innovation,” and “transition design.” De Pauw et al. (2014) conducted exploratory case studies to compare “eco-design” as an eco-friendly method to the methods of “biomimicry” and “cradle-to-cradle.” Väänänen and Pöllänen (2020) stated that the introduction of craft techniques into recycling and upcycling products makes products aesthetically pleasing and meaningful, which can be associated with the emotional durability of products that increases consumer attachment. Attachment can be one of the solutions to these problems because sustainability products in the past have not elicited empathy for respecting the individualities and tastes of consumers, compared to the increase in environmental awareness among consumers ( Karell and Niinimäki, 2020 ). Ramani et al. (2010) have classified “modular design,” “part standardization,” “take-back management,” “design for disassembly,” “design for reuse and remanufacturing,” and “design for material recovery” as design methods for improving end-of-life (EOL) management that enables multiple life cycles of “cradle-to-cradle.” Ramani et al. (2010) mentioned developing a laser-based manufacturing process to reduce material waste. Further, it involves not releasing hazardous elements during design and processes using computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided process planning (CAPP), which can affect the design in the early stage.

Figure 1 summarizes the classification of design approaches by researchers in previous studies. Based on these earlier studies on sustainable design, we classified design approaches into five categories in the early stage of sustainable design in this study. These include “eco-design,” “cradle-to-cradle,” “biomimicry,” “design for reuse and remanufacturing,” and “emotionally durable design,” which were used in the case analysis of sustainable designs in the next section. Figure 1 shows the process of deriving five sustainable design approaches based on the classifications of the five previous studies.

Process of classifying sustainable design approaches based on previous studies.

Methodology

The research was conducted through a case study and interviews. The research procedure is (1) classifying sustainable design approaches through a review of previous research; (2) based on this, the sustainable design approach and detailed design method for fashion designers were investigated in the world’s top fashion magazines favored by the public, (3) using the results of the case study as a tool for an in-depth interview with designers of SFB in Korea, and (4) determining design approaches that designers can easily use in the early stages of the SFD process. Figure 2 illustrates the framework of the study.

Framework of this study.

Regarding the research method, it analyzed the cases for the representation methods of SFBs that were ranked in the world’s top fashion magazines based on the sustainable design approaches derived through the literature review. The analysis focused on a total of 141 SFBs in nine articles searched using “the best SFB” in Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar, which are the world’s top popular fashion magazines for 3 years from 2019 to 2021. Additionally, for the analysis of the design approaches of the collected 149 SFBs, additional design methods were identified in the introduction window and product introduction of brand websites, along with the contents of the articles. Table 1 summarizes the titles of the nine articles for the top-ranking fashion brands in the analyzed fashion magazines.

Articles on sustainable fashion brands (SFBs) selected from the world’s top popular fashion magazines.

The interviews were conducted from 14 September 2021 to 30 March 2022. The interview participants were randomly selected from among the brands selected or applied for the SFB support project of the Korean or local government. Eleven designers from sustainable fashion start-ups in Korea participated in the interviews. Each interview was conducted face-to-face or via Zoom and lasted approximately 40–50 min. Table 2 shows the contents related to the interview participants, including Sustainable Fashion Branding Experience, Fashion Designer Experience, and fashion products designed by them. Letters were assigned according to the order of the interviews to ensure anonymity.

Interview participants.

The interviews were recorded and transcribed with the consent of the interviewees. Semi-structured questions were used for the interview, and additional questions were asked to obtain specific answers and opinions. As shown in Figure 3 , the interview questions were mainly composed of three questions. The first part concerned the launch date of SFB, the goal of sustainable development, and cognition of triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability. The second part was to identify the difference between the design approach currently used by the interviewed designers and the design method shown in the world’s best fashion magazines favored by the public, through the SFB design approach checklist based on the case study results. Finally, the third part consisted of comments and suggestions on practical tools for a sustainable design approach after the interview participants had used the checklist. Figure 3 is the frame of the interview question extraction process based on the checklist derived from the case study.

Interview questions on sustainable fashion brands’ (SFBs) design approach methods.

Case study of sustainable fashion brands’ design approach

A total of 149 SFBs were ranked by the world’s most popular fashion magazines for 3 years. Among them, 34 SFBs appeared twice or more, indicating that the SFB market has not yet been established stably. This may be an obvious result because it has only been approximately 10 years since fully fledged SFBs emerged. However, 35 brands were ranked only once in 2019, 19 in 2020, and 56 in 2021. Fashion brand activities were reduced in 2020 because of the SFB market shrinkage caused by COVID-19. Nevertheless, it can be seen that public interest in SFBs has increased since the number of new fashion brands in popular fashion magazines grew significantly in 2021. Thus, it is necessary to suggest a practical design approach for SFD that consumers can directly choose. Figure 4 shows the design classification process of the SFB based on the sustainable design approach classification derived from the literature review and was used as the category for the following case study.

Design approach classification process of sustainable fashion brand (SFB).

As a result of the case analysis based on the sustainable design approach of the previous studies, the design approaches of SFBs were categorized into: “eco-friendly materials,” “functional durability design,” “fashion for reuse and remanufacturing,” “emotionally durable design,” and “sustainable fashion technology.” Furthermore, case analysis was conducted for the specific design approaches applied in the early stage of the design process of SFB based on these categories as follows:

Eco-friendly materials

The use of eco-friendly materials is one of the metrics of sustainable fashion. Specifically, as eco-friendly materials are used, the sustainability of each product increases ( Wang and Shen, 2017 ). The environmental impact during the product life cycle can be minimized only by choosing eco-friendly materials ( Ribeiro et al., 2013 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ; Claxton and Kent, 2020 ). In particular, sustainable fashion products made of organic fabrics are fundamental to the supply chain because they contain fewer chemicals that harm the environment ( Shen, 2014 ). At the initial design stage, designers should consider using biodegradable materials that can be returned to the soil without causing additional damage to nature ( Gurova and Morozova, 2018 ).

The study of SFB product cases revealed that the selection of eco-friendly materials was required in almost all companies as a design approach. It appeared with eco-friendly materials, 100% organic cotton materials, a method tracing the origin of materials, or using vegetable materials. Additionally, it adopted a short-distance distribution to use eco-friendly materials near the production site as SFB’s design strategy to reduce CO2 emissions.

• 1. Certified sustainable materials using 100% organic cotton materials include Patagonia (Nagurney and Yu, 2012), H&M Conscious ( Bédat, 2019 ), Stella McCartney ( McCartney, 2020 ), Mara Hoffman ( Bédat, 2019 ), and Theory ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 ), Burberry ( Wang, 2020 ), House of Sunny ( Davis, 2021 ), BITE Studios ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ), Reformation ( Bédat, 2019 ), Baserange ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ), and Yasmina Q ( Davis, 2021 ), among others.
• 2. Tracing the origin of eco-friendly materials: Stella McCartney has adopted a method of tracing the origin of trees supplying viscose raw materials used strategically to help the environment by protecting endangered forests ( Davis, 2021 ) and, further, including those facilitating tracing of all eco-friendly materials on the brand’s website ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ).
• 3. Using vegetable materials: Vegan materials include Bleusalt’s signature fabric, an entirely vegan material with beech ( Penrose and Hearst, 2019 ). Moreover, notably, Alohas made shoes with two vegan types of leather from cactus and corn ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). VEJA’s sneakers used organic cotton for fair trade and soles made of rubber grown in the Amazon rainforest ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Additionally, Allbirds often makes soles with sugarcane and manufacture uppers using eucalyptus or natural merino wool ( Davis, 2021 ).
• 4. Net zero: Mulberry produces bags by developing the lowest carbon leather ( Vogue, 2021 ). Sonia Carrasco uses only organic or vegan materials for clothes and tags, labels, packaging, and papers ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Wright Le Chapelain maintained a transparent supply chain of sustainability and fabrics sourced from UK factories over short distances ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Tretorn also launched eco-friendly sneakers made of locally sourced canvases ( Davis, 2021 ).

Functional durability design

The properties and quantity of materials and the shape of the clothes used by fashion designers affect the quality and durability, which can remarkably impact the life of clothes ( Claxton and Kent, 2020 ). Connor-Crabb et al. (2016) argued that trans -seasonal, multi-functionality, modularity, alterability, and physical emotional durability are approaches to functional durability design. Further, they stated that on-demand production is included in this category. According to Rahman and Gong (2016) , functional durability design extends the physical life of durable, organic, and recyclable fabric materials from a technical perspective. Moreover, it is a method of extending aesthetic life based on the emotional durability of the product. This study separated the approaches to emotional durability and discussed them. Transformable apparel provides two or more functional or aesthetic alternative styles ( Rahman and Gong, 2016 ) and can extend the life of clothes. Modularized garment design is the task of dividing a garment into several parts based on the functional analysis of different parts. As many examples of various functions and specifications are included in each piece, user-oriented clothes can be designed quickly and flexibly ( Zhou et al., 2016 ). According to the case study, the method of functional durability design appeared to be on-demand production, quality, durability, multi-functionality, and alterability.

• 1. On-demand production: The House of Sunny works on only two seasonal collections per year and produces small quantities based on orders. The design team spends more time researching sustainable fabrics, manufacturing methods, and sourcing materials ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 , 2021 ; Davis, 2021 ). Further, Maison Cléo minimizes waste by selling it only once a week ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 ). Mary produces timeless limited editions based on orders without inventory ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ).
• 2. Quality and durability: Everlane has chosen the finest materials and manufacturing methods for timeless products, such as the highest class cashmere sweaters, Italian shoes, and Peruvian Pima t-shirts ( EVERLANE, 2021 ).
• 3. Alterability: Misha Nonoo’s “Easy 8” collection features eight pieces that can produce 22 changeable looks ( Davis, 2021 ). Nynne has included various styling options and is placed in a seam line across the leather skirt so that the length can be reduced if the user gets bored of the size and introduced reversible shearling jackets for two completely different looks ( Davis, 2021 ). The CAES has proposed timeless items that can be worn throughout the year by adding a premium to slow fashion with a concept that compares clothes to protective “cases” that cover our bodies ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Petit Pli designed clothes that can be worn for a long time, even if the body changes, by creating variable garments that can be increased or decreased in length depending on the wearer in a chic-pleated manner. Cho proposed varying designs with clothes that could be adjusted in size based on a detachable panel in the style of clothes manufactured using recycled plastic bottles and ethically sourced ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ).

Fashion for reuse and remanufacturing

Energy is required for designing and producing new products ( DeLong et al., 2014 ). Therefore, sustainable fashion designers should consider valuable new product design methods that facilitate multiple life cycles by reusing and reconstructing discarded products. Janigo and Wu (2015) classified design approaches for reuse and remanufacturing into repair and alteration, upcycle, downcycle, post-consumer used and secondhand clothing, post-consumer recycled clothing, and redesigned clothing. Gurova and Morozova (2018) stated that upcycling, reuse, and repurposing methods exist.

In the case study of the SFB approach, the methods of reuse and remanufacturing were sourcing sustainable yarns from waste, redesigning clothing, and repurposing.

• 1. Recycled yarns: Burberry heritage trench coats and lightweight classic car coats are produced using Econyl, a sustainable nylon yarn made of recycled fishing nets, fabric scraps, and industrial plastics ( Wang, 2020 ). Baum und Pferdgarten uses recycled denim and recycled polyester from plastic bottles ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ; Vogue, 2021 ). Maggie Marilyn sourced 100% of synthetic fibers discarded after consumption ( Marius, 2020 ). Prada launched Prada Re-Nylon, a line of sustainable bags and accessories made of discarded cloth and recycled plastics collected from the sea and fishing nets ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 ). JW Anderson introduced belt totes made of recycled plastic ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). PAPER London launched swimsuits produced using recycled yarns from fishing nets, which would have taken 600 years to discompose ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). The Pringle of Scotland, known as knitwear, has used 100% recycled fibers to produce limited-edition jumpers and recycled clothing tags ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ).
• 2. Redesigned clothing: Acne Studios has designed super-sized jackets and unique mini-skirts of modern images that the brand has as products that recycled discarded black denim and red leather ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Rave Review introduced luxurious upcycled fashions using fabrics and deadstock clothes and created tufty overcoats by upcycling vintage bedspreads ( Wang, 2020 ). Marine Serre has sourced discarded scarves, secondhand shirts, and wetsuit materials, turning them into futuristic practical wear from parkas to panel dresses ( Lim, 2019 ).
• 3. Repurposing: Mulberry bags aim to extend product life through repair, restoration, buyback, reselling, and repurposing ( Vogue, 2021 ). Matty Bovan sourced the fabrics and prints used in its collection by working with the Liberty Fabric Archives. In a previous collection, they recycled soccer pads to inflate the shoulders and redesigned old fur into new shapes ( Bonacic, 2020 ).

Emotionally durable design

An emotionally durable fashion design approach can extend the product life cycle based on the emotional attachment between consumers and products ( Claxton and Kent, 2020 ). Emotionally durable fashion originates from a business environment in which products connect consumers and manufacturers and provide conversation pieces that facilitate the ease of upgrades, services, and repairs ( Chapman, 2005 ). Consumers are attached to physical objects through complex interactions between cultural norms, personal preferences, and behaviors ( Connor-Crabb et al., 2016 ). Fashion customers with a taste for handcrafted and luxurious products are emotionally attracted to secondhand clothes reborn with felt, quilt, and dye and purchase them ( Janigo and Wu, 2015 ). Consumers stay attached for longer to products that elicit amazement and endless pleasure ( Armstrong et al., 2016 ). Consumers’ attachment to products that meet their personal characteristics and tastes leads to an extension of their product life. Design strategies that encourage social contact through sharing or group use may lead to attachment ( Armstrong et al., 2016 ). Upcycling designs using heirlooms or garments with strong personal attachment have emotional durability ( DeLong et al., 2014 ). Furthermore, handicrafts made by artisans have substantial value as a medium of sustainable fashion with devotion, as sustainable design reflecting local resources and culture can lead to the derivation of narratives ( Sandhu, 2020 ).

In the study of SFBs, emotionally durable fashion designs appeared to collaborate with artisans and artists in the production area, handwoven material sourcing, and emotional design concepts.

• 1. Collaboration with artisans: Bite Studios creates sustainable fashion products by collaborating with emerging and existing artists in various works, such as natural dyeing techniques, printmaking, and handmade jewelry ( Vogue, 2021 ). Chopova Lowena ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ) pursues uniqueness with vibrant combinations of Bulgarian folk handcraft materials made through craftsmanship and English tailoring ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 ; BROWNS FASHION, 2021 ). Hereu’s bags and shoes are products made by local artisans at the home of the founding designer of Spanish nationality ( Elle Fashion Team, 2021 ). Ballen Pellettiere accessories commemorate Colombian fashion and artisans’ crafts, and playful embroidery paired with a unique shape is a trademark of their handmade bags ( Penrose and Hearst, 2019 ).
• 2. Handwoven material sourcing: Bethany Williams’ recycled tents and handwoven denim ensembles reflect their signature multicolor patchwork and streetwear sentiments ( Lim, 2019 ), while wooden buttons handcrafted by carving are discarded birches that reflect consumers’ individualities and preferences ( Bonačić, 2021 ). Bodes are brands that use recycled vintage cloth as materials and have unique handcrafted works containing stories of quilting, mending, and appliances by sourcing fabrics from all over the world, including Victorian quilts and 100-year-old linens ( BODE, 2021 ). Brother Vellies’ shoes and handbags are handmade in South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Morocco, combining the expertise of local artisans.
• 3. Personal design concept: Nynne approaches sustainable fashion consumer sentiment with a unique design concept named “Diana” dress as the brand’s signature work ( Davis, 2021 ).

Sustainable fashion technology

Digital tools can be used to find new behaviors in existing materials by modifying their structures, and a new understanding based on this can expand the possibilities provided to designers. By extensively using 3D design software, designers can design complex woven clothing, even if they have little understanding of weaving or weaving software ( Chapman, 2005 ). Sustainable fashion technology is related to creative pattern cutting, which can reduce environmental impact. Zero-waste pattern cutting is making fabric using the predetermined width and length to minimize the fabric’s loss in the cutting stage ( Townsend and Mills, 2013 ). Zero-waste fashion can show new expressions while reducing or eliminating waste in product production by mixing creative design practices and zero-waste pattern cutting ( McQuillan, 2019 ). Applying this method requires intuition and experience. However, in recent years, innovative designs and technological progress have made it easier to adopt creative practices. Software such as CLO enables fast initial design creation and facilitates the development of highly innovative woven shapes by visualizing 2D patterns, 3D shapes, and waste generated during garment design ( McQuillan, 2019 ).

In this study, the zero-waste fashion approach also included cases in which technologies that did not affect a sustainable environment were utilized.

• 1. 3D technique: PRISM Squared swimwear, sportswear, underwear, and shapewear produced by a seamless 3D knitting technique are created with almost no loss of fabrics during the production process (Elle team, 2020).
• 2. Digital printing: Hoffman performs digital printing directly on finished sweaters to ensure that the loss of fabric caused by pattern matching will not occur ( Marius, 2020 ; Offman, 2021 ).
• 3. Lasers and robotics: Levis produced jeans in a way that is better for the environment by combining lasers and robotics ( Elle Fashion Team, 2020 ; Davis, 2021 ).

Checklist from the result of the case study

Figure 5 shows a summary of the specific methods for each design approach category, which can be applied in practical design in the early design phase of SFBs based on the experimental techniques derived from the case studies for each SFD approach category.

Representation methods by sustainable fashion brand (SFB) design approach category.

The interview was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, questions were about fashion designers and SFB practical experience, cognitions related to TBL of sustainability, and whether and how TBL performance was applied to the company. In the second stage, an interview was conducted to find out the current practical approach of the interviewees using the SFD approach checklist derived from the SFBs case study results that appeared in the world’s top popular fashion magazines. The third stage was an interview on whether the checklist can be used as a practical tool for a sustainable design approach. Eleven brands participated in interviews.

Experience related to running a sustainable fashion brand and triple bottom line of sustainability

Designers can have a significant impact on the environment by intervening early in the sustainable fashion industry supply chain. With this in mind, the first question was about knowledge of TBL and designer experience. The brands participating in the interviews ranged from micro-sized companies with one person to small- and medium-sized companies with fewer than ten employees. The duration of the SFB operation of the interviewees was between 2 and 12 years. Some of the interviewers were aware of the value and performance of the TBL of sustainability and able to properly explain the application cases in practice. The others could explain corporate SDGs, but misunderstood the TBL of sustainability. That is, most interviewees were aware of environmental values, whereas some had difficulty approaching economic and social values. In particular, they misunderstood the economic value of sustainable environmental development as the economic performance of the company. This is consistent with previous studies in which designers discussed inadequate knowledge about sustainability and the lack of time to acquire it ( Knight and Jenkins, 2009 ; Bovea and Pérez-Belis, 2012 ). The results support that tools for a sustainable design approach should be designed as effective learning mechanisms.

“From the social aspect of TBL, we actively hire women who have lost their careers to provide jobs for women who can be marginalized. From an environmental point of view, the use of recycled plastic bottles was actively introduced in all of the brand’s products, design, manufacturing method, and packing. We strive to reduce the impact of the environment through disposal, end-of-life treatment, which also contributes to sustainable environmental development and economic performance.” (Interviewee A)

This interviewee’s case was characteristic in that it aimed to expand the use of recycled plastic bottles. On the other hand, Interviewee D argued “to minimize the environmental impact, even plastic should not be used.”

Interviewee A and D had opposite views of sustainable development. In the report “Synthetics Anonymous” released by the Changing Markets Foundation (2021) , it is noted that downcycling plastic made from recycled plastic bottles, that is, clothing using recycled polyester, will eventually end up in landfill or incineration rather than circulating fashion. The use of PET bottles as a material for recycling is expected to be controversial in the future.

The role of designers is to create an opportunity to increase the sustainability of fashion design. Further, it is a critical change agent in sustainable fashion ( Niinimäki and Hassi, 2011 ). Most interviewees were aware of the importance of the designer’s role in attaining the value of sustainability. Interviewees A, B, C, D, and E discussed the importance of designers in reaching the value of sustainability because designers influence the life cycle of fashion products, and the design process is organically intertwined with all other areas. Interviewee I explained that a designer’s sense of design determined customers’ product selection and utilization. Moreover, they discussed the importance of design considering customer emotions and personal tastes to induce consumption of sustainable fashion products. Interviewees F and K stated that the role of designers is to convey the importance of sustainability to customers or boost sustainability in customer emotions and personal tastes. Through the interview results, designers can reflect on customer emotions and personal preferences in sustainable fashion products and exert influence throughout the design process to achieve sustainable goals. Designers can effectively implement sustainable fashion if there are tools that make the sustainable design approach more specific, practical, and easy to use.

Design approaches of sustainable fashion brands in Korea through the checklist

The interview on SFB’s approach to sustainable design practice in Korea was conducted by presenting a checklist derived from the case analysis results in the previous chapter. As a result of participating in the checklist, the SFD approach of the brands which participated in the interview mainly utilized “eco-friendly materials,” “functional durability design,” and “fashion for reuse and remanufacturing.” Some brands were new to or unfamiliar with the detailed expression methods of “emotionally durable design” and “sustainable fashion technology.” However, it is thought that it will be helpful for the expansion of sustainable design approaches in the future by realizing that the design process that is currently being implemented for customizing consumer tastes and the design inspired by their own culture belong to this area during the interview. The “eco-friendly materials” design approach is the design approach that most interviewees used, and there were various design expression methods. For example, Interviewee B used leather from the mulberry bark or cactus. Conversely, Interviewee D used sustainable materials, such as organic linen produced even on land unsuitable for grain production with low water consumption and pollution, and GOTS-certified organic cotton. Most of the brands interviewed chose green materials as a sustainable design approach, similar to a case study of SFB products presented by the world’s leading fashion magazines that are popular with the public. However, there was no mention of a method of tracing the origin of eco-friendly materials or tracking the use of eco-friendly materials at a short distance, which is a specific design approach shown in the results of the case study.

In the case study of fashion magazines, “functional durability design” presented specific design methods such as a pre-order method without stock, quality and design that can be worn over time, high-quality sewing, and a manual showing various styling with the few fashion items. Similarly, SFBs in Korea used manual finishing and preorder on-demand methods to ensure the robustness of their products and taught them various styling methods and easy repairs.

”As a company that produces sustainable bags and clothing, it enhances the solid finish with high-quality sewing using hand-sewn in the final finishing process.” (Interviewee B)

”We are adopting the slow business model as a seasonal, non-fashionable design method.” (Interviewee C)

“By connecting the small-volume production method of preorder with brand membership, we create a customer group with high loyalty to the brand. This avoids unnecessary production, resulting in environmental and economic performance. It gives advice to consumers on styling when they cannot use the purchased product and provides customers with information on laundry and care. Buying well-made products from good materials will extend the lifespan of your clothes.” (Interviewee K)

In the case study, “fashion for reuse and remanufacturing” was shown to be resourcing sustainable yarns from waste, or redesigning and repurposing. That is, recycled fishing nets, pieces of cloth, fabrics resourcing from plastic bottles, vintage clothing, outworn bedding, etc., were recycled and redesigned, and the original use of the material was changed. Similarly, in Korea’s SFB interviews, “fashion for reuse and remanufacturing” was found to use resourced materials from waste plastic bottles, use scrap or stock fabrics, or recycle discarded clothing. Among the design expression methods shown in the case study results, most expression methods were used by the brands participating in the interviews, except for recycling waste generated in the agro-food industry as a material.

“In Korea, the domestic waste plastic bottle market is active and has been developed using various materials. So, companies who want to use it can easily purchase it.” (Interviewee A)

“Among the clothes purchased from our brand, we collected the clothes the customer wanted to discard and upcycled it in the direction the customer wanted. The customer liked it very much.” (Interviewee K)

“We are producing hand-knitted handbags by collecting materials thrown away during the clothing-making process.” (Interviewee G)

“The main item is a fabric book cover, and the direction of our brand is to collect discarded scraps and waste subsidiary materials and recreate them as marketable products using handicraft techniques.” (Interviewee I)

“We produce and provide digital patterns that are used to remodel used clothing and provide tutorials for redesigning used clothes into clothing and accessories.” (Interviewer J)

In some cases, wastes with poor function for sports or leisure were recycled and developed into clothing.

”Leisure sports materials such as paragliding, glamping, tents, sails which have been destroyed for safety reasons, but have no problem in actual use, are collected, dismantled, washed, and recycled through a series of processes such as cutting and sewing.” (Interviewer H)

As mentioned above, the approaches of “emotionally durable design” and “sustainable fashion technology” were utilized in conjunction with “functional durability design” or “fashion for reuse and remanufacturing.”

“Emotionally durable design” was a method recognized and applied by only a small number of brands participating in the interview. Interviewee E understood that this design approach is sustainable after checking the design approach of “emotionally durable design” in the checklist.

The specific method of “emotionally durable design” shown in the case study was collaboration with local craftspeople and artisans, folklore handcrafted touches, handwoven material sourcing, personal design concept focusing on the user’s personality and taste, and brand signature pieces.

In Korea’s SFB interviews, “emotionally durable design” appeared as an inspirational approach to handicrafts such as knitting, quilting, and traditional elements of Korea.

“Through work that mixes handicraft with everyday products, we want to appeal to consumers’ sensibility and emphasize to consumers that everything from cutting to finishing is done manually.” (Interviewer I)

“Because we produce products using the preorder method of “Saekdong,” a traditional Korean element, as our brand signature item, we can reflect the individuality and taste of consumers.” (Interviewer E)

“Sustainable fashion technology” is the design approach adopted the least by the brands that participated in the interview. Although it was recognized as a sustainable design approach, designers faced barriers. This was consistent with a previous study, establishing that designers are limited in their adoption of tools for sustainable design or are unable to use them because they are unaware of their existence ( Kozlowski et al., 2019 ). Among the brands that participated in the interview, Interviewees A and B, whose company size was large, actively used seamless 3D knitting techniques, digital printing, and laser cutting technology for finished fashion products but did not mention robotic technology.

“We know that digital printing technology is a sustainable fashion technology, but it is economically burdensome for our head office to have digital printers.” (Interviewee F)

“Our brand also produces knits and jerseys; thus, we know 3D knitting is a comfortable and sustainable way to wear it, but do not know how to approach it.” (Interviewee G)

“Sustainable fashion technology” had a high barrier for interview participants to approach. This is because the size of the brands participating in the interview was small. Notwithstanding, considering that the scale of SFBs is small- and medium-sized, sustainable fashion technology is a sustainable design approach that requires active support or investment from the government.

Opinion on practical tools for sustainable fashion design approach

After using the suggested checklist, interviewees were asked for their opinions and suggestions on the checklist as a practical tool. Regarding the advantages of using the inventory, the interviewees stated that the checklist, a valuable tool for a sustainable design approach, can help clarify a brand’s strategy and easily learn sustainable design approaches. This is considered a tool that can overcome the barriers and limitations of the sustainable design approach. Additionally, they stated that the direction of the sustainability concept could be identified more clearly if the checklist was used when establishing a sustainable brand strategy or planning a new product that pursues sustainability.

“The checklist provides guidelines for SFD. I thought it existed only in theory, but if I checked it when making a product, one could address the missing parts. Furthermore, sustainable brands pursue different goals. It is helpful to think about which side we focus on and value more.” (Interviewee C)

“It is an opportunity to check the brand design direction once more while checking the checklist.” (Interviewee F)

“I think I can check the brand concept by looking at this checklist when doing a new project.” (Interviewee H)

They said learning new sustainable design expression methods is also an advantage.

“While going over the checklist, I thought sustainability could be expressed this way. If we focus on what we are doing in practice, there would be insufficient time to review other things. Thus, the checklist can enable easy and quick understanding.” (Interviewee B)

“I was worried about not practicing it or overlooking it because of ignorance. If there is a tool that is easily accessible like this, I believe it would be convenient to practice.” (Interviewee G)

The advantage of the checklist mentioned by the interviewees is that it enables them to recognize the goals of sustainable development and clarify the design approach according to the concept of the brand. Moreover, the checklist is a tool for effectively learning the design approach to sustainability.

As suggestions for the checklist as a practical tool, constant updates, quantification for objective verification, and more in-depth details were mentioned.

“It seems that new ways to express design that pursue sustainability are emerging as time passes. New methods are proposed yearly for ease of recycling and economy, such as using single-component materials, design, and manufacturing that are easy to repair, reward policy, and lightweight to reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, new methods must be updated over time.” (Interviewee A)

“When it comes to dyeing, the abuse of water becomes a problem. I have encountered a dry dyeing technique that saves approximately 90% of water use, but it is not on the checklist. It would be good if new methods are constantly updated.” (Interviewee F)

Brand A participating in the interview presented numerical values for objective verification.

“Among famous overseas sustainable brands, there are brands that numerically represent sustainability. There is an objective feeling that numbers give. It shows the depth of our participation in sustainability together.”

“The checklist is easy to understand and accessible, but I wish it were detailed. The consideration of sustainable design expressions is controversial. For example, in the case of plant leather, natural materials are raw materials, but in some cases, the surface is plasticized to resemble leather during processing. It is said to be an effort toward sustainable development, but I think it may be risky.” (Interviewee D)

Suppose the constant update of design expression methods and numerical values for objective verification are supplemented. In that case, the checklist can be a practical method for designers to innovate or change sustainably. Furthermore, it can provide designers with in-depth sustainable knowledge if additional data on items that require discussion are provided.

This study identified a sustainable design practice method to satisfy customer sensibility and individual taste that designers need in the early stage of the SFD process. The SFB design approach was categorized through a literature review. Through the SFB case study, specific design expression methods for each category of the SFB design approach considering customer sensibility and personal taste were derived. The contents derived from this process were made into a checklist, and the design approach of Korean SFBs was confirmed through an interview.

It has been about 10 years since global brands in the fashion industry started to develop sustainability initiatives for a circular economy. As a result of case studies, 149 SFBs appeared in articles ranking the SFBs of the world’s top popular fashion magazines. In total, 35 brands emerged in the articles in 2019, 19 brands in 2020, and 56 brands in 2021. Although there was a market contraction due to Corona 19, the number of fashion brands increased significantly in 2021 is considered to be related to increased consumer interest in SFD. Given the weight of the impact of the fashion industry on the environment and the design method of a fashion designer can have an influence of 80% on the environment ( Ribeiro et al., 2013 ; Ahmad et al., 2018 ), a specific SFD method considering the circular economy of products selected by consumers is required. In the sustainable fashion sector, the environmental impact is divided into the manufacturing phase of textile and apparel production and the transportation, product use, and end-of-life phases. In the end, the environmental impact depends on the lifespan of the product and the behavior of consumers, and it can be said that it is essentially caused by the production process in which the product is manufactured and the stage of use ( Benkirane et al., 2022 ). From this point of view, this study focused on the sustainable design method of fashion products preferred by consumers. In other words, a design approach that meets the sensibility and taste of consumers is also related to product life extension, remanufacturing, and recycling, thereby forming a virtuous cycle structure of a circular economy.

In this study, in order to find a sustainable design method that consumers can like, a case study of specific design methods of SFBs appearing in the world’s top fashion magazines with many subscribers was conducted. Here, it was confirmed that various design approaches are used for each category proposed in previous studies as a design method for a sustainable circular economy.

In the “eco-friendly materials” design approach to maintain a sustainable raw material supply, “using certified sustainable materials,” “highly traceable and non-toxic material,” “dyeing process of green peace-certified,” “local or nearby materials,” and “using packages of organic materials” was applied in a specific way. “Functional durability design” that can reduce consumption, which is the ultimate goal of achieving a circular economy, was oriented toward slow manufacturing by “the quality and durability,” “on-demand production,” and “changeable design.” “Fashion for reuse and remanufacturing,” which aims to realize a sustainable circular economy through a virtuous cycle of resources, is the most well-known SFD approach. “Use recycled materials,” “sourcing 100% of synthetic fibers waste,” “upcycled waste clothing,” “repurposing,” and “repair and restoration” emerged as specific methods. A specific method that was impressive in the case study was “recycling of plastic bottles into yarn and fabric.” Recycling plastic bottles are being recycled in terms of circular economy theory and practice ( Qu et al., 2019 ). Nevertheless, there are still negative views. In the report “Synthetics Anonymous ( Changing Markets Foundation, 2021 )” published by the Changing Markets Foundation (2021) , downcycling plastic made from recycled plastic bottles, that is, clothes using recycled polyester, will eventually end up in landfill or incineration instead of circulating fashion. However, from the perspective of the circular economy, it is considered necessary to recycle the waste. Alternatives should be provided in the sense that today’s consumers’ product selection is determined by their sensibility and taste. Emotionally durable design is a design strategy that makes it possible to extend the life of a product by “strengthening the user-product relationship” ( Norman, 2007 ; Chapman, 2009 ; Cooper, 2016 ). In particular, emotionally durable design has been proposed as an important principle of circular design by some scholars, but the concrete details of how emotional attachment and trust can be achieved in practice are not sufficiently presented ( Haines-Gadd et al., 2018 ).

In the case analysis of this study, “emotionally durable design” appeared as “collaboration with local artisans,” “folklore handcrafted touches,” “handwoven material sourcing,” “personal design concept,” and “brand signature pieces.”

In an interview survey of SFBs in Korea, the approach of “emotionally durable design” was applied by only a few brands as a sustainable design method. Some of the participants even understood that this design approach was a sustainable design approach, after checking the checklist for a specific design approach of “emotionally durable design.” Compared to other design approaches, “emotionally durable design” is composed of abstract keywords, so it is considered that it is not well recognized according to individual characteristics.

Sustainable fashion technology, which reduces fabric loss, “seamless garment technology,” “digital printing to reduce water use,” and “combined laser robotics” appeared as SFD-specific approaches relatively few compared to other design approaches. The checklist of this study is meaningful in that it can be a tool for designers to easily reach the SFD approach in design practice. However, it is a limitation of the study that we were unable to include a large number of interviewees by conducting interviews with SFBs supported by the Korean government.

This study aimed to identify a sustainable design practice. Based on an empirical case study with a theoretical background, a checklist was developed as a tool for sustainable fashion design methods. The inventory for the sustainable design approach suggested as a result of the case study is expected to provide an efficient design method by lowering barriers to practitioners who have had difficulty accessing the concept and design method of sustainable design.

In the sustainable design approach, some items need discussion according to the producer’s values. Concerns have been raised about the sustainability of fashion brands as a marketing tool in this regard. Accordingly, designers’ acquisition of sustainable knowledge is essential. Furthermore, it improves the emotional durability of fashion products, reflecting customer emotions and personal tastes, thereby increasing the sustainability of fashion products. Therefore, the designer’s active role is required. This study is significant in that it presents a checklist, an easy and efficient tool to address designers’ inadequate knowledge and lack of awareness of sustainability, and a sustainable design practice method that can satisfy customer emotions and personal tastes and improve environmental performance.

Data availability statement

Ethics statement.

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. Written informed consent from the patients/participants or patients/participants legal guardian/next of kin was not required to participate in this study in accordance with the national legislation and the institutional requirements.

Author contributions

YY contributed to the conception and design of the study. SK performed the interview and wrote sections of the manuscript. Both authors contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Customer Case Study: Accenture and Semantic Kernel

Sophia Lagerkrans-Pandey

March 26th, 2024 0 2

Accenture Evolves its Data Analytics with Microsoft Semantic Kernel

Below we’ve provided a brief overview of the Customer Story of Accenture. Check out the entire Accenture Customer Story featured here: Accenture evolves its data analytics with Microsoft Fabric to calibrate the new “experience office”

Accenture created DEX, an AI-enhanced experience measurement framework. Leveraging Microsoft Fabric, DEX transforms data collection and analysis with AI, prioritizing user experience and productivity and allowing you to fine-tune your digital strategies to align with your workforce’s needs and expectations. It’s a shift towards a user-focused model that simplifies complexity and paves the way for better customer outcomes. Built and tested within Accenture itself, DEX is set to transform workplace dynamics in organizations worldwide.

Quantifying success through better enterprise data analysis

As one of the world’s largest professional services companies, Accenture is a leader in the current and evolving states of workplaces across the globe. Accenture has been working to help clients measure the efficiencies of remote, in-person, and hybrid work approaches. Accenture is at the forefront of helping companies measure what’s working, what isn’t, and the ways in which employees are navigating the numerous styles of workplaces, processes, and collaboration tools.

The challenge is not the ability to accumulate data towards this goal, but rather in managing and mining insights from that data.

Reinventing workplaces by democratizing data and insights

Accenture turned to longtime partner Microsoft to help realize the first generation of its new Digital Experience Measurement (DEX) Platform; a standardized system that quantifies six dimensions of an employee’s experience within a company: usability, user adoption, sentiment, support, performance, and accessibility.

DEX uses  Microsoft Fabric  and  Microsoft Semantic Kernel  with an open-source library. Microservices move data and responses using  Microsoft Azure OpenAI  to create an AI Large Language Model (LLM) on the back end.

Fabric integrates an extensive array of datasets, pulling from diverse sources such as custom applications, data warehouses, and other disparate repositories, and consolidating them into a single, unified repository within Fabric’s OneLake.

Unlocking information from data had previously been a complex exercise – structuring data, then building custom tools to accomplish a defined set of anticipated needs. Mining the data required custom-built tools to parse and deliver a limited data set. This created a number of isolated data silos that continued to grow over time.

DEX isn’t just about bringing data together; it’s about creating a unified, secure, integrated experience from end to end. Whether it’s visualization, developer interaction, or data analysis, Fabric simplifies the complexities for Accenture.

“Creating a seamless, connected digital experience that helps our people navigate across the expert knowledge at Accenture we believe will, in turn, have a positive correlation on customer satisfaction,” says Christensen.

“That’s where DEX is ultimately headed: getting the tools in the hands of the end users themselves,” says Tybor. “Our IT department can of take a step back and focus on enabling our business goals while ensuring we have a more secure and governed data estate—ultimately enabling the businesses’ strategic goals,” he added.

Please reach out if you have any questions or feedback through our  Semantic Kernel GitHub Discussion Channel . We look forward to hearing from you! We would also love your support, if you’ve enjoyed using Semantic Kernel, give us a star on  GitHub .

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