Given that not even 10% of clothing is sold online, apparel e-commerce faces major challenges as opposed to traditional apparel shopping or e-commerce of digital goods. Due to the constantly increasing online business, it is essential to optimize the online apparel purchase process, for it to become more competitive. Perceived product risk and return rates– for apparel– are exceptionally high. Fitting and size uncertainty is the key reason to both purchase hesitance as well as number of returns. In this study it is investigated whether fitting enabling technologies (FETs) can benefit apparel e-commerce by making the purchase process more efficient and solving the aforementioned complications. Focus here is put onto three main fitting technologies: Fits.Me, UPcload and Virtusize. In order to serve the study purpose, subjects of research included the classification of apparel goods, the theory of perceived risk as well as technology acceptance. The measures of the technological acceptance model (TAM) were used to examine and evaluate the applications. These were ‘skills’, ‘perceived ease of use’, ‘perceived enjoyment’, ‘perceived usefulness’ and ‘post-purchase evaluation’. The method was based on a deductive approach, first examining theory and then confirming results practically. A general online observation of diverse (fitting) enabling technologies paired with extensive literature research of accompanying topics, lead to the selection of three case technologies, which could be tested and evaluated based on the components of the literature review. Closing the gap between retailer and consumer in order to create purchase process efficiency could be achieved. Purchase hesitance due to the inability of physical examination of intangible apparel goods could be minimized through the integration of FETs. The measures of the TAM were tested overall positively in regard to the technologies in the e-tail context. The online apparel purchase process had been aligned with the conventional buying procedure and consequently generated the same benefits, allowing apparel e-commerce to finally achieve competitive advantage, to potentially substitute traditional apparel shopping and to eventually build upon a consistent and coherent international size infrastructure. / Program: Master programme in Applied Textile Management

I denna uppsats granskas företaget American Apparel:s tidigare och nuvarande bildkommunikation. Företaget har kritiserats otaliga gånger för sin sexistiska porträttering av kvinnor i reklam, vilket är en av faktorerna som har tvingat företaget till en nylansering. Reklam i allmänhet sexualiserar kvinnor och framställer dem stereotypiskt, vilket skapar samhälleliga konsekvenser. De teoribildningar som används för att ge svar på studiens frågeställning är genus, stereotyp, feministisk teori, femvertising, the male gaze samt semiotik. Studien är en kvalitativ innehållsanalys där totalt sex bilder från American Apparel jämförs komparativt. Genom en semiotisk analys jämförs dessa sex bilder som American Apparel har släppt för kommersiella ändamål. Tre av dessa bilder är från tidigare kampanjer av företaget, och de återstående tre är reklambilder som har släppts efter nylanseringen. Syftet med denna studie är att jämföra dessa bilder genom en semiotisk analysmetod för att urskilja huruvida det finns några skillnader gällande framställningen av kvinnor i annonserna, samt undersöka om de efter sin nystart använder sig av femvertising. Bilderna analyseras genom sju begrepp i den semiotiska analysmetoden. Dessa begrepp är setting, pose, gaze, color, body-chopping, empowerment samt representation. I resultatet framgick det att de tidigare reklambilderna från American Apparel sexualiserade kvinnor och framställde dem stereotypiskt. Bilderna efter nylanseringen illustrerar däremot kvinnor som är empowered, och det går även att notera att företaget använder sig av femvertising. / This study focuses on the way the brand American Apparel previously have and currently is representing women in their advertising. American Apparel has a long history of being criticized for their sexist portrayal of women. This has lead the company to do a relaunch. However, advertising in general share the trait of sexualizing and stereotyping women, which creates societal consequences. The theory forms used to give answers to the study's research question are gender, stereotype, feminist theory, femvertising, the male gaze and semiotics. The study is a qualitative content analysis where a total of six images from American Apparel are compared comparatively. Through a semiotic analysis a total of six images that have been released for commercial purposes will be compared. Three of these pictures are from previous campaigns by the brand, whereas the remaining three are released after the relaunch. The aim of this study is to compare six images through a semiotic analysis method in order to distinguish whether or not there are any differences regarding the portrayal of women in the advertisements, as well as to investigate if they are using femvertising after the relaunch. To be able to compare the images, seven elements will be examined in the semiotic analysis method. These elements are setting, pose, gaze, color, empowerment, representation and body-chopping. The result presented that the former images released by American Apparel sexualized and stereotyped women. The new images from after the relaunch illustrates empowered women and a usage of femvertising.

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo central apresentar e analisar diferentes aspectos da busca por melhores condições de vida por parte dos imigrantes bolivianos que se dedicam à costura na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo. Desse modo, o cerne da discussão desenvolvida ao longo dos três capítulos que compõe esta dissertação foi que, após migrarem para o Brasil, o trabalho em confecção precário e mal remunerado tem se mostrado incapaz de, isoladamente, proporcionar uma situação de vida satisfatória a grande parte desses imigrantes e, como resposta, recentemente, imigrantes bolivianos tem assumindo uma postura mais atuante e se organizaram em cooperativas e associações, firmaram parcerias e conseguiram apoio de ONGs, sindicatos e outras entidades para reivindicar direitos e garantias. Nesse sentido, nossa hipótese é que as manifestações promovidas pelos imigrantes que tomaram as ruas de São Paulo simbolizam avanço da participação social da comunidade boliviana na cidade. Essas questões foram trabalhadas a partir de uma divisão heurística tripartite formada pela imigração, o trabalho e as reivindicações em prol de direitos, garantias e melhorias nos âmbitos social, político, legal e simbólico que corresponderia à base da busca por melhores condições de vida no interior desse grupo. / This research has as main objective present and analyze the pursuit for better conditions of life by the Bolivian immigrants who work at apparel industries in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. Thus, the central point of the discussion developed over the three chapters that compose this dissertation was that after migrating to Brazil, the work in apparel workshop precarious and poorly paid has been alone unable to provide a satisfactory life situation for the great majority of these immigrants. Recently, in response Bolivian immigrants have taken a more active stance and organized themselves into cooperatives, associations, partnerships have been signed, and support achieved from several NGOs, trade unions and others to claim rights and guarantees. In this sense, our hypothesis is that the protests promoted by immigrants that took place into São Paulos streets symbolize an advancement of social participation of the Bolivian community in the city. We addressed these questions from a heuristic tripartite division formed by immigration, work and claims in favor of rights, safeguards and improvements in, political, legal, social and symbolic spheres that correspond to the base of the pursuit for better conditions of life within that group.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:38:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO JOAO EZEQUIEL GRECCO.pdf: 337746 bytes, checksum: 50f7586d114e2c3c7a04d00c1f22935a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-10-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The proposal of this dissertation seeks to the discussion of the psychosis, and in particular of the paranoia, of psychoanalyst Victor Tausk's point of view, with relationship to the genesis of the " apparel of influencing ". Starting from my clinical case, I established theoretical relationships with this concept. I verified the importance of rescuing the theory of the paranoia proposal for Tausk, as well as, at the present time, I could find facts that suggest manifestation of the apparel of influencing in paranoiac patients. . Finally, I discuss the film A brilliant mind, in order to illustrate with the paranoia lived by a mathematician, winner of the prize Nobel, resembles each other to the apparel of influencing / A proposta desta dissertação visa à discussão da psicose, e em particular da paranóia, do ponto de vista do psicanalista Victor Tausk, quanto à gênese do aparelho de influenciar . A partir de meu caso clínico, estabeleci relações teóricas com este conceito. Constatei a importância de resgatar a teoria da paranóia proposta por Tausk, bem como, na atualidade, pude encontrar fatos que sugerem manifestação do aparelho de influenciar em pacientes paranóicos. . Por fim, discuto o filme Uma mente brilhante, a fim de ilustrar com a paranóia vivida por um matemático, ganhador do prêmio Nobel, se assemelha ao aparelho de influenciar

<p>The study aims to through a qualitative case study describe how six Swedish high-end apparel companies attributed as part of “the Swedish fashion wonder” with online distribution have been affected by six chosen factors. The six factors presented are extracted from previous studies and consist of customer relationships, intermediary relationships, pricing, costs and revenue, competitors and impact on the brand. The results show that customer relationships is an important factor that most companies value and was also the factor they presented as determining when they made the decision to go online. Costs and revenue have an effect on the companies and was something the companies had to consider after going online. Intermediary relationships are important to some extent and demand continual communications, but nothing that worried the companies. Competitors and pricing were not regarded as important, where price setting was primarily seen as a valuable tool to control and maintain intermediary relationships. Impact on the brand was regarded as an important factor when engaging online, and the positive aspects of increased brand knowledge and brand awareness were appreciated.</p>

<p>This thesis aims to contribute to global value chain studies by examining an empirical case of vietnamese apparel firms in Swedish clothing value chains with a focus on insertion and upgrading issues . we apply mixed method of  both qualitative and quantitative tools from a holistic approach researching from both vietnamese suppliers and Swedish buyers perspective. Our findings show some progressive improvements of Vietnamese suppliers in GVC especially of private sector. In swedish value chain trust and long term cooperative business realtions for mutual benefits are among the key points for insertion and ugrading. On Vietnamese suppliers side, lack of information serves as the main reson for their reluctance in approaching Swedish market . Willingness to listen to buyer's advice or suggestions and management strategic Vision of development are critical for upgrading sucess of suppliers.</p>

The study aims to through a qualitative case study describe how six Swedish high-end apparel companies attributed as part of “the Swedish fashion wonder” with online distribution have been affected by six chosen factors. The six factors presented are extracted from previous studies and consist of customer relationships, intermediary relationships, pricing, costs and revenue, competitors and impact on the brand. The results show that customer relationships is an important factor that most companies value and was also the factor they presented as determining when they made the decision to go online. Costs and revenue have an effect on the companies and was something the companies had to consider after going online. Intermediary relationships are important to some extent and demand continual communications, but nothing that worried the companies. Competitors and pricing were not regarded as important, where price setting was primarily seen as a valuable tool to control and maintain intermediary relationships. Impact on the brand was regarded as an important factor when engaging online, and the positive aspects of increased brand knowledge and brand awareness were appreciated.

Key words:         Customer value, value-adding factors, e-commerce, apparel industry, Vietnamese market, customers’ perception.  Background:      Along with the development of many applications from Internet, Electronic Commerce (e-commerce) has changed the business scene in the global economy by emerging as a new, efficient channel of doing business. The apparel industry has also been approaching this way of doing business as an attempt to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of operations at various extents. In the Vietnamese market, Ninomaxx being well-known as leading fashion brand for young and proactive people is in the process of launching its very first online shop. However, the lack of information and the vagueness in regard to customers preference and shopping habit in the context of e-commerce leads to many difficulties for fashion companies like Ninomaxx. These lacking can all be traced back to one universal cause that is the insufficiency in understanding customers’ perceived value. Accordingly, it raises the authors’ interests to conduct a research of customers’ perception concerning customer value in Vietnamese apparel industry within the e-commerce context. Purpose:             The purpose of this thesis is to identify elements of e-commerce that customers perceive as value-adding factors in the context of Vietnamese apparel industry. Accordingly, thesis will examine how value can be created and enhanced for customers in the case of Ninomaxx and Vietnamese apparel firms in general. Method:              In this thesis, authors chose to collect and analyze data mainly through a quantitative approach. Prospective customers of Ninomaxx, whose ages were from 17 to 30, were the surveyed group. A questionnaire was employed to collect response from the group and was distributed in two ways: an online link and offline papers. Various nonparametric statistical techniques and one extensive model were used to analyze results of the survey. Conclusion:    From the perception of Vietnamese customers from 17 to 30 years old, there are 5 elements of e-commerce that are identified as very strong value-adding factors, namely, availability of information on the website, accuracy of demonstrating products’ color on website, seller’s ensuring products’ quality, seller’s trustworthiness and safety of using products. There are additionally 11 strong value-adding factors from perception of apparel customers in Vietnam. However, there is evidence of differences in customers’ response regarding their demographic characteristics and Internet usage. Apparel companies should consider accordingly in order to form the optimal strategy for e-commerce retail channel in Vietnam.

This work is an in depth reflection on my rehearsal process in the final performance of my graduate career as Esther Mills in Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage. In addition to my work in the aforementioned show, I assess my entire experience as an MFA candidate in acting at the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Theatre and Dance. / text

China, as a leading apparel manufacturer and exporter in the world possesses significant market potential for growth because of its growing demand power. Given that low labor costs are increasingly no longer one of the competitive advantages held by Chinese apparel manufacturers, developing powerful and profitable globally recognized apparel brands may be the way to obtain sustainable success for firms in the Chinese apparel industry. Accordingly, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990) will be applied as a theoretical framework to discuss the competitiveness of a nation’s apparel industry. Brand management, satisfying exacting domestic demands, and stimulating marketing competition will be integrated. Using Porter’s theoretical foundation for demand conditions, a proposed model of fashion sophistication is introduced and a measurement survey utilizing Gen-Y Chinese fashion consumers is assessed. Furthermore, the research on Gen-Y consumers’ fashion sophistication discovered their specialized characteristics which represent exacting domestic demand for apparel products.