Fashion Design Commons^™

Sustainable Fashion Identified: An Exploration And Education Of Sustainable Apparel, Michaela M. Lentsch

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Consumers today are searching for and are loyal to companies who support their views and concerns about sustainability. The fashion industry is one of the biggest industries in the world, but one that has many environmental and sustainability concerns. Fortunately, there are many ways the fashion industry and consumers can take steps to make sustainable change and better the planet. Small fashion businesses and boutiques can make positive changes to operate and provide sustainable options and services for customers which can help the planet become more sustainable.

Through this manuscript, an assortment of sustainable methods and practices will be shared …

Fashion And Film: The Art Of Costume Design, Abigail C. Stalder

Senior Honors Theses

A costume designer’s job is to create wardrobes that fit the film’s aesthetic, context, and personality of each character. Costume designers take inspiration from trends, incorporating them into their work through their own creative process, inspiring fashion designers and trend-setters to implement the styles in new ways. Thus, producing an endless cycle — an ecosystem wherein both fashion and film thrive off each other, continuously evolving to create beauty on and off the screen. Aligning my creativity and knowledge of both fashion and film, I participated in the making of six student films, costuming over 30 named characters as well …

Through The Looking Glass : Diversity Through The Eyes Of A Dress Form, Amara Copeland

LSU Master's Theses

This article aims to look into educational institutions and how they address diversity using curatorial displays. Does fashion and costume curation add to the seclusion of luxury? Looking into this correlation, this study aims to answer these next couple of questions. How does museum curation add to fashion social norms? Is it a subconscious or conscious decision when deciding on a mannequin or dress form? How do museum and fashion curations add to the exclusion of minorities in the world of luxury? What is costume luxury, and who do we say can obtain it?

This research aims to understand the …

Blockchain Transparency In Reducing Second-Hand Luxury Shopping Uncertainty And The Role Of Price Consciousness, Song‑Yi Youn, Joohye Hwang, Naan Ju

School of Business Faculty Papers

This study explores consumer behavior and decision-making in the context of blockchain technology (BT) adoption within the second-hand luxury market. Specifically, it investigates how BT can reduce uncertainty and enhance transparency in second-hand luxury transactions based on a mental accounting theory approach. A partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis (N = 511) was conducted, focusing on consumers’ perceived quality of traceable information obtained through BT (i.e., product diagnosticity, informativeness, and trustworthiness) and their perceived risks in second-hand luxury online shopping (i.e., financial risk, social risk, time risk, contamination risk, performance risk). The findings confirm that the perceived quality of …

Equine Adaptability In Fashion Design Studio Ii And Advanced Fashion Technologies, Shannon M. North, Andie Day, Margo Dobbs, Charlie Turner, Mary Cerroni, Kaylee Chisholm, Trisha Metcalf, Ashlee Elliott, Emily Guerry

SPARK Symposium Presentations

The fashion department of O’More College of Architecture and Design at Belmont University partnered with Saddle Up! to create meaningful connections for the students enrolled in both programs. Saddle Up! provides opportunities for youth with disabilities to grow and develop through therapeutic, educational, and recreational experiences with horses. These equestrian students were paired with O’More fashion students to design and produce a customized riding uniform. The opportunity provided an experience for the fashion student to create adaptive garments for someone with special needs.

The design process merged traditional methods of flat pattern drafting and draping together with advanced digital technologies. …

Hats Off To History: Unveiling The Stories Of Headwear, Asia Grant

Student Research Symposium

Utah State University's Family and Consumer Science department has been home to a collection of hats, clothing, and shoes donated by alumni and community members. These artifacts serve as valuable educational tools, offering hands-on learning experiences in fashion history and textiles. However, while the hats have been carefully stored, no comprehensive catalog or database currently exists.

The Devil Wears Prada Historical Fashion History Project, Gioia Solano, Caroline Hardy

SPARK Symposium Presentations

The Devil Wears Prada (2006), directed by David Frankel, serves as a rich visual case study of early 21st-century fashion. Set in New York City, the film follows recent college graduate Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), who lands a job at the prestigious fashion magazine Runway, working under its powerful and demanding editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). The film captures the fast-paced, image-driven fashion industry of the mid-2000s, reflecting broader cultural themes of ambition, conformity, and identity.

The soundtrack—featuring artists like Madonna and U2—complements the vibrant energy of the fashion world during a time of globalization and mass consumption. Stylistically, …

Tartans: Weaving A Warped History With Myths, Heritage And A Whole Lot Of Heather., Bethany Sassen

LSU Master's Theses

Scotland has many tartans throughout the whole of the country. Each has a different meaning and is used for different clans and purposes. Tartans are the plaids that are seen throughout the Highlands and the patterns and colors have a wide range depending on where and when the tartan was created. The purpose of this research is to investigate the history of the tartans and how they interact with our current culture. I also built two outfits to show how tartan is still being used. One a more traditional outfit and the other more avant garde. Tartans have a long …

Corsets Of Empowerment, Dorsa Farzi

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project explores the intersection of fashion and activism, using contemporary design to reflect on significant women’s rights movements from around the world. This exhibition presents four uniquely crafted corsets, each representing a pivotal movement, from the Suffragette era to the ongoing fight for gender equality in Iran. Through modern aesthetics, innovative construction, and symbolic details, this project transforms clothing into a medium for dialogue and advocacy. Fashion becomes more than just design—it becomes a powerful tool for storytelling, sparking awareness, and encouraging new perspectives on gender equality and activism.

This project was exhibited at the Robert Hillestad Gallery, University …

The Curious Case Of Japanese Denim, Aaron Francis Ward

Japanese Society and Culture

From its humble beginnings as wholly utilitarian workwear in the 19^th century, to its modern rise to high-fashion, the ubiquity of denim, particularly in the form of jeans, has had a fascinating journey in its little-over-150-year history (Beazley, 2015). Of note has been the recent rise in popularity of Japanese denim. Since the end of the Second World War, Japan seems to have had an insatiable demand for Americana (Marx, 2023). Yet, if considered in the sociohistorical context of Japanese-American relations, this ought to be highly improbable. The current paper examines the sociological nature of Japanese denim from semiotic …

Fashion And Technology: Interconnected Evolution, Impact, And Future Potential, Diana Paulet, Sarah E. Andersen, Keely Enriquez

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This paper explores the historical connection & influence between fashion and technology and its effects on design, production, and consumption. This line of research recognizes the historical aspect and development of technology in the fashion industry. Recognizing the central idea of how technology development can be interlinked with global issues such as pollution. Our review covers themes such as, the negative impacts of technology in fashion as well as the positive outcomes and the development of it. We aim to understand how the development of technology has transformed the fashion industry throughout history and how these issues can be potentially …

Exploring Homogeneity In Today's Cultural Expression, Roderick Hunt

Digital Laboratory: Publisher of Internet Journal

This article examines the increasing cultural homogeneity driven by the internet's global reach and accessibility. Roderick Hunt—an educator, brand expert, and fashion designer—integrates writing into his creative practice and brand ethos. Through his label, Uniform Journal, he merges ideas and products, emphasizing both form and function. In a Q&A discussion, Hunt explores how the internet has influenced contemporary cultural practices and challenges the notion of originality in an era of digital interconnectedness.

Decency And Responsibility: Preserving Egyptian Tally Cloth Cultural Heritage And Protecting The Intellectual Property Of Egyptian Artisans., Noha Fawzy Ph.D, Marwa Zein Ph.D, Ahmed Elseragy Ph.D, Catherine Harper Ph.D

Arts and Design

Tally is an exquisite Egyptian netting fabric, cotton or linen with nickel silver, copper or brass strip embroidery, a powerful symbol of Egypt's opulent textile and artisanal culture. Traditionally handmade, it originated in Upper Egypt’s Asyut region where ancient Egyptian makers pioneered embellishment of translucent cloth with metallic threads. Its iconography - geometric flora, fauna, humans and camels – in black, white or ecru. With beautiful drape and fluidity, it is a highly valued part of Egypt’s rich cultural heritage.

Preserving Tally and protecting the intellectual property rights of its artisans is urgent to ensure sustainable livelihoods, safeguard this unique …

Gay Rodeos, Western Wear, And Unresolved Tensions In 21st-Century North America Cowboy Culture And Esthetics, Kelly L. Reddy-Best, Malena Silva

Faculty Publications - Family and Consumer Sciences

In the 1970s, activists founded the International Gay Rodeo Association in the North American Midwest, disrupting traditional heteronormative and hypermasculine norms within cowboy culture. In this research, we critically analyze the intersections of cowboy manifestations and twenty-first century LGBTQ+ communities in North American queer cowboy portrayals via the gay rodeo. Specifically, we examine how the gay rodeo creates space for LGBTQ+ style, fashion, and dress embodiments in relation to the longstanding, heteronormative Wild West hero of the late 1800s. We analyzed two types of primary sources: the 2014 film Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo and …

Senior Show - Merch Design, Nicole Tranel

Senior Art Portfolios

This Senior Capstone Project serves as the culmination of my undergraduate journey, highlighting the skills I have acquired and demonstrating my ability to apply them in real-world professional settings such as merch design. Through this project, I expanded my expertise beyond artistry, embracing design as a complementary skillset that enhances my creative and problem-solving abilities.

Suntan (And Other Solar Trigonometric Functions): Solutions For Fermi Questions: February 2025, John Adam

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

The article discusses the intensity of sunlight on the side of the author's face as they walk to and from their office, focusing on the solar zenith angle θ. It presents a formula for solar irradiance and explores how the intensity changes based on the angle and elevation. The solutions to the questions posed in the article provide insights into the maximum irradiance levels at different angles and elevations.

The Influence Of Shopping Context And Anthropocentric Bias On Consumer Preferences For Human And Ai Designers In Fashion, Dooyoung Choi, Ha Kyung Lee, Christina Soyoung Song, Ji Young Lee

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study explores how shopping contexts (hedonic vs. utilitarian) influence consumer preferences for AI- vs. human-designed fashion products. In Study 1, participants with hedonic motivations preferred human-designed items, while those with utilitarian motivations preferred AI-designed products, supporting the hypothesis that shopping context affects designer preferences. Study 2 further investigates the mediation of competence-warmth traits in designer preferences and the moderation of anthropocentric bias. It finds that hedonic shopping contexts increase the desire for warmth-related traits, leading to a preference for human designers, while utilitarian contexts favor competence-related traits and AI designs. Additionally, individuals with higher anthropocentric biases showed stronger preferences …

Consumer Experiences In The Secondhand Market: Finances, Frugality, Fashion, & Fun, Melissa Chasko Turner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Secondhand apparel refers to clothing and accessories that have been previously owned, handed down, donated, or resold to others. They are a sustainable product because they are reused instead of being discarded into landfills. Consumer experience refers to the emotional and psychological responses individuals have during their interactions with products and services across all touchpoints. In the secondhand apparel market, consumer experience plays a significant role in product purchasing, and the unique aspects of retail entertainment serve as key motivators. Consumer-perceived risk refers to the uncertainty of adverse outcomes associated with purchasing a product. Purchasing secondhand apparel poses similar yet …

Feel Bad To Discard A Fashion Product: How Ai Designers Influence Individuals' Sustainable Consumption, Ha Kyung Lee, Dooyoung Choi

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study explores how AI technology in fashion design influences consumers' sustainable consumption behaviors, focusing on emotional attachment to products. By comparing AI-generated and human-designed fashion items, the study examines how designer type impacts negative emotions about discarding products, mediated by emotional attachment. Results from two experimental studies reveal that designer type significantly affects negative emotions toward discarding human-designed items, but emotional attachment was not influenced by designer type in the first study. This lack of difference may be due to personal characteristics that moderate the effect. The second study found that individuals who perceive AI as human-like form stronger …

Exploring The Impact Of Value Co-Creation Through Ai-Driven Chatbbots On Customer Repeat Purchases, Dooyoung Choi, Jaeha Lee

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study explores how perceived value co-creation during chatbot interactions influences customer repeat purchase intentions through cognitive, emotional, and social responses to chatbots. A survey of 220 participants revealed that perceived value co-creation significantly affected repeat purchase intentions, with cognitive evaluations, emotional reactions, and social value serving as key mediators. However, the direct effect of value co-creation on purchase intentions was not significant. The findings suggest that while value co-creation enhances consumer engagement, repeat purchases occur only when consumers experience positive cognitive, emotional, and social outcomes. Therefore, it is crucial for retailers to incorporate …

Soundwaves Of Change: How Paperboy Prince Redefined Activism Through Art In Bushwich, Omar Kwesi Hurlock

Selected Full-Text Master Theses 2021-

This thesis examines how Paperboy Prince, a Bushwick-based artist and activist, employs multimedia art forms to challenge social norms and foster community change. Through analysis of their music, performances, and community initiatives, particularly at the Love Gallery, this research demonstrates how Prince combines artistic expression with grassroots activism to address gentrification, economic inequality, and social justice in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

The study employs theoretical frameworks including post-cinema theory, Afrofuturism, and digital performance theory to analyze Prince's work. Key findings reveal how Prince's artistic practice creates new modes of political discourse through: (1) the fusion of digital and physical activism, (2) the …

Research Reimagined: The Dissertation-To-Book Journey And Building A Scholar-To-Author Presence, Seema Kumar

Master's Projects

This capstone project, completed for a second master's degree after a Ph.D., discusses aspects of transforming the doctoral dissertation on digital versus manual mediums in fashion design into a research monograph book proposal for academic publication. It reflects on a publisher's requirements and the process, including de-thesizing the dissertation, planning the book's structure, rewriting sample chapters to improve flow and readability, and creating a table of contents that demonstrates the work's development into a publishable book rather than a dissertation. Another part of the project includes developing an author platform through blog posts and platforms such as Substack, preparing the …

I Prophesy Disaster: Adapting Musical Storytelling To Fashion, Adam Snedden

Honors College Theses

Fashion is an artistic medium, where garments communicate ideas to any potential viewers by using visual imagery and relying on our cultural expectations. At the level of haute couture design, these visuals grow more elaborate and dramatic. With this project, I wanted to accomplish the goal of adapting a song, the gothic-inspired progressive rock epic A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers, into a single couture-style look. Getting as many details of the song as possible to be apparent in an overcoat, shirt, and pants was a challenging task that required extensive use of embroidery and attention to detail. Additionally, this look …

Costume Design And Social Status Visualization In Javanese Dance At Pura Mangkunegaran, Sriyadi -. Sriyadi, R.M. Pramutomo, Yoni Wulan Sari, Luh Elvina

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The design of costumes holds a crucial role in visualizing the social status of characters in Javanese dance. By employing symbolic systems, costume design conveys this status to the audience. This study investigates the relationship between costume design and the depiction of social status in Javanese dance at Pura Mangkunegaran. Utilizing a qualitative methodology with an ethnocoreological approach, the research draws on a literature review as its primary data source. This review involves analyzing various documents, photographs, and videos. The findings indicate that accessories and attributes within costume design are integral to the symbolic system that represents social status. As …

Catering To The Majority: Fashion’S Trial-And-Error Process To Make Style Accessible For All Sizes, Tiffany A. Del Valle

Capstones

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, two out of every three U.S. women are considered plus-size, or a size 14 and above. As the plus-size fashion market continues to grow and is expected to be worth $500 billion by 2033, finding extended sizes continues to be a barrier. While the fight for size-inclusive fashion has shown some progress in recent years, some brands have decided to scale back their plus-size offerings, while others have continued to limit their size ranges due to a multitude of reasons including production costs with a delayed return on investment, marketing and limited commitment to serving the …

Dh In The Classroom Case Study: Alternative Fashion Trends And Omeka.Net, Bonnie Finn, Amelia Cheever

Libraries Staff Publications

As technology embeds into higher education classroom instruction, digital humanities assignments may be looked to as an alternative for writing papers or curating exhibits, and an area of interest for faculty members looking for multiple ways to build student critical thinking skills. This case-study focuses on an 8-week Omeka.net project assignment created collaboratively by a costume/design professor and the fine arts librarian. This article includes the assignment instructions for students, a rubric to use for Omeka metadata, and lead-in assignments that include image citation, visual literacy, and ethically finding image sources.

[This article is an expansion of a paper presented …

Transatlantic Connections: Reconsidering The Outcomes Of The Arts And Crafts Movement Through The Women's Experience, Britain And The United States, 1860-1920, Tiffany B. Beasley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

The British Arts and Crafts movement (1860-1914) was a call for the return to artisan craftsmanship as a response to mass-production driven by the Industrial Revolution (1760-1830). Historically, the movement has been viewed as a socialist concept developed by men. However, in 1979, a feminist intervention in women's history challenged this masculinist perspective. As the movement spread to the United States (1870-1920), first to New England and then to the South in New Orleans, it also expanded into concepts that moved beyond craftsmanship and into women's issues, such as education, suffrage, and professional work opportunities. It is now evident that …

Crafting 21st-Century Trend-Compliant Fashion Collections For Muslim Women: Ghana In Perspective, Rashida Abdulai, Ninette Afi Appiah, Isaac Abraham

Journal of Art, Design and Music

Purpose: The study examined the integration of global fashion trends with Islamic modesty principles in clothing design for Ghanaian Muslim women. It explored the blending of contemporary styles with the requirements of Islamic dress codes, considering the increasing diversity and modernization of Muslim women’s fashion preferences.

Method: The study utilized art-based studio research and the double Helix Praxis-Exegesis Model, which involves customer profiling, concept creation using mood boards, and design techniques. Ten respondents were purposively selected and interviewed. Feedback from interviews ensured the designs resonated with the target audience.

Findings and Conclusion: The study discovered that contemporary Islamic fashion combines …

Naming And Interpretative Meanings Of Selected African Prints And Ankara Fabric Designs, Adeola Abiodun Adeoti

Journal of Art, Design and Music

Ankara fabric has colourful designs, but both the colours and the designs on the fabric have hidden meanings with proverbs and events attached to them. As much as the fact that the paper is art historical, the naming system of Ankara fabric is yet to attract scholarly interest. Therefore, the ephemerality of the fabric and the changing nature of fashion call for immediate and chronological record of the histories of the designs before it fades out of memory. The study adopts qualitative approach of analyzing data with the use of both primary and secondary sources of data collection which were …

Wild Joy: An Exploration In Queer Spatial Dynamics, Kipper Thomas Reinsmith

Masters Theses

What does it mean to feel represented in a space?

What does a trans space look like?

How can we queer our interior spaces?

Our world is crafted by the many designers that have come before us. These systems, products, and spaces are built upon assumptions of the bodies that will use and occupy them—namely cisgender, able-bodied, straight folks.

Designing and creating objects as a trans person is an act of radical nature. To take up space, to design for trans luxury, for the sake of beauty, for joy itself, feels counterintuitive to the narratives we’ve been served: that of …