Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Melody L. A. LeHew / Fashion is the second most polluting industry and accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. Consuming fossil fuel based electricity, the primary source of energy in the apparel production process, causes a great deal of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Due to ever-increasing apparel demand and population growth, this industry’s carbon footprint will only grow bigger. As attention on sustainability issues in our world intensifies, research on environmental sustainability in the apparel manufacturing industry is needed. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate energy consumption (EC) of the apparel sewing process. The objectives are to (a) identify the most influential EC factors and develop a model to capture EC levels, (b) determine factor interrelationships, (c) identify steps to reduce EC, and (d) explore experts' level of concern regarding EC of the apparel manufacturing and its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. A mixed method research study was employed in this study: a qualitative method was utilized to assess expert perceptions and a quantitative method was used to measure EC and build a regression model. This study determined dominant EC and GHG emissions factors from sewing process so that apparel manufacturers can understand which factors need to be controlled to reduce environmental damage. Findings from the study indicated sewing machine motor capacity, sewing speed, and standard allocated minute (SAM) were the most influential EC factors, and shortening the sewing time was found as the best solution to reduce energy consumption in the apparel sewing process. The energy consumption model was found as: Log (EC) = 9.283 + 0.771* log (SAM) + 0.386*knit fabric type + 0.260*sportswear fabric type + 0.080*SPI - 0.008*capacity + 0.004*seam length - 0.001* speed + 0.495 The EC model along with GHG calculator (a tool to convert GHG from EC) will help the industry to determine their EC and GHG emissions level to boost their awareness and to encourage greater impetus for environmental actions. Finally, this study will help designers, retailers, and consumers to pursue environmentally friendly actions in terms of decisions regarding apparel design, sourcing, and purchasing.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Melody L. A. LeHew / Fashion is the second most polluting industry and accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. Consuming fossil fuel based electricity, the primary source of energy in the apparel production process, causes a great deal of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Due to ever-increasing apparel demand and population growth, this industry’s carbon footprint will only grow bigger. As attention on sustainability issues in our world intensifies, research on environmental sustainability in the apparel manufacturing industry is needed. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate energy consumption (EC) of the apparel sewing process. The objectives are to (a) identify the most influential EC factors and develop a model to capture EC levels, (b) determine factor interrelationships, (c) identify steps to reduce EC, and (d) explore experts' level of concern regarding EC of the apparel manufacturing and its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. A mixed method research study was employed in this study: a qualitative method was utilized to assess expert perceptions and a quantitative method was used to measure EC and build a regression model. This study determined dominant EC and GHG emissions factors from sewing process so that apparel manufacturers can understand which factors need to be controlled to reduce environmental damage. Findings from the study indicated sewing machine motor capacity, sewing speed, and standard allocated minute (SAM) were the most influential EC factors, and shortening the sewing time was found as the best solution to reduce energy consumption in the apparel sewing process. The energy consumption model was found as: Log (EC) = 9.283 + 0.771* log (SAM) + 0.386*knit fabric type + 0.260*sportswear fabric type + 0.080*SPI - 0.008*capacity + 0.004*seam length - 0.001* speed + 0.495. The EC model along with GHG calculator (a tool to convert GHG from EC) will help the industry to determine their EC and GHG emissions level to boost their awareness and to encourage greater impetus for environmental actions. Finally, this study will help designers, retailers, and consumers to pursue environmentally friendly actions in terms of decisions regarding apparel design, sourcing, and purchasing.

E-commerce has experienced exponential growth within the last few years. The rapid growth of e-commerce has created a need to improve consumer acceptance and the consumer's intention to engage in e-commerce. Female consumers have yet to embrace e-commerce as readily as male consumers. Differences between male and female consumer shopping behavior were examined. This study developed and empirically tested a model to predict the consumer's intention to engage in apparel e-commerce shopping based on the constructs of gender, shopping orientation, online experience, and Website's interactive features. Male and female U.S. consumers age 18 and older were surveyed to determine their intention to engage in apparel e-commerce shopping. A total of 240 responses were received. After the pre-analysis data screening, a total of 216 responses were available for further analyses. Factor analysis was conducted by using principal component analysis (PCA) with VARIMAX rotation. The PCA resulted in four new factors including consumer shopping preference (CSP), personalization Website features (PWF), shopping environment (SE), and social interaction (SI). The statistical method Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLR) was used to predict whether gender (G1), CSP, PWF, SE, and SI have a significant influence on the consumer's intention to engage in apparel e-commerce shopping. Results of the OLR indicated that CSP was the only significant predictor of INT. A second OLR model was developed to determine the interaction effect of G1, CSP, PWF, SE, and SI used to predict the probability of INT. Results indicated the interactions of G1 and CSP, CSP and PWF, G1 and PWF, as well as SE and SI were significant predictors of INT. Two important contributions of this study include 1) an investigation of the key constructs that contribute to the consumer's intention to engage in apparel e-commerce shopping, and 2) an investigation of the interaction effect between the key constructs used to predict the consumer's intention to engage in apparel e-commerce shopping. The investigation results provide online retailers with the knowledge of how to increase e-commerce acceptance through understanding differences in male and female consumer shopping behaviors.

This thesis examines the impact of e-Business in the B2B segment of the Supply Chain between UK retailers and Sri Lankan manufacturers in the apparel sector. The literature review explored four interrelated themes, two of them informed by an exploratory study. Research collating these four themes is scarce, especially in the apparel sector although there is considerable research on supply chain management and information sharing, which adopts a quantitative approach. However, there is a relative lack of qualitative research into behavioural issues. Based on the literature review, 12 main research questions were formulated. Following a qualitative, approach respondents in five Sri Lankan apparel manufacturers were interviewed in an explanatory study comprised of 35 interviews. An innate analytical framework consisting of themes, attributes and categories (TAC) was developed for data analysis. A conceptual model incorporating three category combinations was developed, disclosing internal, external and holistic reasons for ICT implementation. Analysis of the findings suggests that, more than speed of delivery, visibility of information is the main benefit facilitated by new ICT, compared with traditional methods. The findings indicate that security is the main concern and the main barrier is remote plant location for conducting e-Business. The data indicate that 80 per cent of investigated companies do not have an appropriate level of ICT capability. Moreover, a manufacturer’s communication capability and information sharing are mainly decided by the dependency on the lead firm. Manufacturers that deal with multiple lead firms experience compatibility problems due to the lack of a hybrid system. Manufacturers also need to set realistic expectations for a communication system and employee motivation should be included in the evaluation criteria. In conclusion, building a few longer-term relationships, including an information sharing policy is considered crucial for achieving the true potential of e-Business.

This thesis consists of three major sections. The first reflects on the new methodologies that I have developed and incorporated into my classes and performances here in the MFA Acting program at The University of Texas at Austin. The second section examines my approach to character and the application of technique to the rehearsal of a role. Finally, I reflect on, and examine, the rehearsal process for Intimate Apparel from the first rehearsal through the final performance. / text

The concept of sustainable consumption is today an important area, due to the fact that humans of the world consume goods and services on a regular basis which contributes towards environmental change and deprivation of both renewable as well as nonrenewable resources. One of the areas that this concept can be applied within is the retail apparel industry. The consumption of clothing is an influential cause of the ongoing environmental alteration and the unsustainable consumption of textile and apparel is becoming an increasingly important phenomena. This study investigates how the retail apparel industry in Shanghai perceive consumers behavior towards sustainable consumption. The Chinese middle class is anticipated to increase a certain percentage the upcoming years. As a result it will lead to a heave in the consumption of all resources which will leave a considerable environmental impact. Sweden is considered to be one of the leading countries when it comes to sustainable living. In order to follow Sweden path of success in sustainable consumption a review has been conducted regarding important drivers which Sweden has adapted in order to improve attitudes towards sustainable consumption. These drivers are then later on compared to Shanghai’s current situation to see if they can be used to achieve the same result in Shanghai as they did in Sweden.The primary data consists of semi-structured interviews which have been conducted in Shanghai with established recycling retailers and Nordic retail vendors with a strong base in Sweden that have managed to establish their brand in China. The research findings that were concluded in the theoretical framework and the organizational review positioned three important drivers that can be used when analyzing the concept of sustainable consumption - consumers, businesses and the government. It has also been empirically proven that in comparison to Sweden where consumer’s behavior and attitudes towards sustainability are increasing and socially accepted, Shanghai demonstrates that the concept of sustainable consumer behavior and consumption is not as equally developed and accepted.

Many highly recognizable apparel brands are voluntarily adopting corporate social and environmental sustainability plans. This thesis evaluated the sustainability initiatives of the lululemon athletica Corporation and the operations of one of its retail stores, lululemon athletica Polo Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba. lululemon athletica Inc. was compared with industry sustainability leaders Nike, Timberland and Mountain Equipment Co-op. This comparison revealed that lululemon athletica has few sustainability best practices and little and out of date sustainability information available to their stakeholders. At the store level, two surveys were conducted to determine the employee and customer knowledge of sustainability initiatives at the company and store level. It was determined that employees require more training and stronger senior and middle management presence for sustainability initiatives to be a success, and that customers do not associate lululemon athletica with sustainability. lululemon athletica does not communicate about sustainability sufficiently to create a buzz about sustainability.

Some authors sustain that even though literature that regards branding of consumer goods is constantly expanding, there is not enough focus to what concerns the attitudes of consumers toward fashion luxury apparel.   The purpose of this thesis is to discover the differences in the attitudes toward luxury fashion apparel of people in Sweden and Italy.   The method chosen to achieve this goal is a deductive one. This method aims to compare a part of the existent literature about fashion with the fashion reality, in regards to luxury apparel, present in Sweden and Italy. A quantitative research has been conducted through an online survey.   This research found out that in general, the sociological models analyzed fit much better the Swedish society than the Italian one. This means that Swedes resulted much more caring in others’ judgments than Italians. This can be also proved by the fact that they resulted influenced more strongly and by more factors (friends, media, etc.) than Italians. Finally, Swedes, compared to Italians, consider fewer features as important when evaluating a fashion luxury brand and, these features, are also rated slightly different.

Many highly recognizable apparel brands are voluntarily adopting corporate social and environmental sustainability plans. This thesis evaluated the sustainability initiatives of the lululemon athletica Corporation and the operations of one of its retail stores, lululemon athletica Polo Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba. lululemon athletica Inc. was compared with industry sustainability leaders Nike, Timberland and Mountain Equipment Co-op. This comparison revealed that lululemon athletica has few sustainability best practices and little and out of date sustainability information available to their stakeholders. At the store level, two surveys were conducted to determine the employee and customer knowledge of sustainability initiatives at the company and store level. It was determined that employees require more training and stronger senior and middle management presence for sustainability initiatives to be a success, and that customers do not associate lululemon athletica with sustainability. lululemon athletica does not communicate about sustainability sufficiently to create a buzz about sustainability.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:34:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-05-26Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:45:41Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 monteiro_rcrv_dr_guara.pdf: 1568003 bytes, checksum: 1added36a6b4036e50ed7b781eb15d26 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / No corpo humano o sistema ósteo-articular dá a sustentação ao corpo humano e sobre ele o sistema muscular e outros tecidos que compõem o aparelho locomotor. Apesar da flexibilidade existente nos músculos, o estudo clássico da biomecânica considera os membros do aparelho locomotor humano como sendo corpos rígidos. Para analisar e estudar tais sistemas, os vários componentes devem ser identificados e suas propriedades físicas determinadas, a fim de se obter as equações que regem o seu movimento. Tal procedimento pode ser feito utilizando-se o modelo multicorpo, para o qual, neste trabalho, foi empregado o método de Kane. Os dados de entrada, como forças no pé durante a marcha, foram coletados por meio de uma plataforma de força, acoplada a uma esteira ergométrica que utilizou extensômetros, e, simultaneamente, com o auxílio de LEDS, foi possível obter dados da filmagem. Para este modelo físico foram utilizados programas, tais como AutoLev, Excel, AutoCad e Fortran. De posse do modelo, foram feitas as análises comparativas dos torques e forças verticais e horizontais no quadril e joelho de amputados e não-amputados, bem como a análise estatística não-paramétrica nos dois grupos, utilizando-se o método de Mann Whitney, com significância de 10≤α%, na qual foi constatado que os torques no quadril dos amputados são estatisticamente diferentes dos torques dos não-amputados; já no joelho esta diferença ocorre em 50% do passo. Não foram encontradas diferenças significativas nas forças entre os dois grupos, exceto em alguns instantes do ciclo da marcha na força cortante. / The osteo-articulate system is what gives the sustenance to the body and to the muscular and other tissue system that compose the locomotor apparel. In spite of the existent flexibility in the muscles, the classic study of the biomechanics considers the members of the human locomotor apparel as being rigid bodies. To analyze and to study such systems, the various components should be identified and their physical properties determined, in order to obtain the equations that govern their movement. Such procedure can be made using the multi-body model, for which, in this work, the method of Kane was used. The entrance data, as forces under the foot during the march, were collected using a platform of force, which is a treadmill with extensometers, and, simultaneously, with the aid of LEDS, it was possible to obtain data of the filming. For this physical model programs were used, such as: AutoLev, Excel, AutoCad and Fortran. By utilizing the model, it was possible to make the comparative analyses of the torques and vertical and horizontal forces in the hip and knee of amputee and no amputee, and also the nonparametric statistical analysis using Mann Whitney's method, with value of 10≤α%, in which was verified that the torques in the hip of those amputees are different to the no amputee; in the knee this difference happens in between 50% of the steps. There were not found significant differences of forces among the two groups, there were exceptions in some moments of the gait cycle at the shear force.