Informal markets for fashion are a growing phenomenon around the world and more specifically in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In different cities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are tents housing vendors who sell second-hand clothes. These markets are becoming the millennials' shopping hubs as millennials are on a quest for uniqueness, fashion trends and value for money. Limited research regarding the shopping patterns and purchase decisions of Congolese millennials and even less regarding the informal clothing market in the Democratic Republic of Congo is available. This research is aimed at investigating factors influencing millennials in the purchase of second-hand clothes in the informal markets in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The theoretical framework was guided by the theory of planned behaviour from which the researcher constructed an adapted model. The purchase of secondhand clothes is the behaviour that is preceded and influenced by the consumer's intention to purchase. In turn, the intention to buy clothing from informal markets is influenced by various factors. Five factors were added to the model, namely quality, clothing interest, peers' opinions, price consciousness and the need for uniqueness. The model was investigated through a qualitative case study analysis. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews and the thematic analysis was conducted and interpreted manually. The target population argued that second-hand clothes are unique, durable and affordable. These clothes allow them to shop the fashion trends they see on social media from around the world. Thus, it is important to have a valuable understanding of the factors influencing Congolese millennials to buy second-hand clothes. Retailers and marketers in the fashion industry of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly those in the informal clothing market, can consider the consumer insights acquired in this research and apply them to increase their advantage in the market place.

Brandade kläder beskrivs som "kläder som används internt eller externt i syfte att understödja eller förstärka företagets eller organisationens profil, med syftet att uppnå ökad konkurrenskraft". Syftet med denna studie var att designa brandade kläder som speglar friluftsanläggningen Mattilas varumärke och som kan säljas till dess besökare. Detta som ett steg i Mattilas långsiktiga mål att stärka och sprida varumärket. Studien genomfördes genom olika steg i designprocessen, från inspiration till identifikation, utforskning och värdering. Processen inleddes med en undersökning med målgruppen och en fallstudie som satte en grund för hur designprocessen kunde tas vidare. Efter ett utförligt skissarbete både analogt och digitalt fick en liten grupp utvalda personer från målgruppen värdera designen. Värderingen visade på att målgruppen definitivt kunde tänka sig att använda kläderna och att de tyckte att de speglade Mattila som varumärke. Utifrån förslagen och värderingen togs en slutgiltig prototyp fram som även bekräftades av Mattila och en yrkesaktiv person inom området frilufts- och träningskläder. Resultatet av arbetet är en kollektion friluftskläder bestående av ett vinterset av överdragskläder, en tunn jacka, en långärmad samt en kortärmad tröja, en buff och en mössa. Plaggen kan beskrivas som relativt enkla och neutrala men som ändå har karaktär och personlighet. En kollektion kläder med Mattila som tydlig avsändare och som tilltalar målgruppen. Genom studien visade det sig viktigt att skaffa sig en förståelse för målgruppen och dess preferenser, ha en aktiv dialog med experter inom området samt ha en grundkunskap kring färglära och designprinciper. Som helhet svarar studien på frågeställningen: "Hur kan brandade kläder för friluftsanläggningen Mattila designas? 1: För att besökarna ska vilja köpa dem och använda dem, både när de besöker Mattila men också på andra platser? 2: För att kläderna ska spegla Mattila som varumärke?" / Branded clothing is described as "clothing that is used internally or externally for the purpose ofsupporting or strengthening the profile of the company or organisation, with the purpose ofachieving increased competitiveness". The purpose of this study is to design branded clothing thatreflect the brand of the outdoor facility Mattila and can be sold to its visitors. This is a steptowards Mattila's long-term goal of strengthening and spreading its brand.The study was conducted through several steps in the design process, from inspiration toidentification, exploration and evaluation. The process began by surveying the target group andperforming a case study that provided a basis for how the design process would be continued. Afterdetailed sketch work, both analogue and digital, a few people from the target group were selectedto evaluate the design.The evaluation showed that the target group definitely could see themselves using the clothes andthat they indeed did reflect Mattila as a brand. Based on the design proposals and the evaluation, afinal prototype was produced, which was approved by Mattila and a professional person in the fieldof outdoor and workout clothing. The result is a collection of outdoor clothing consisting of awinter track suit, a thin jacket, a long-sleeved and a short-sleeved sweater, a buff and a hat. Thegarments can be described as being relatively simple and neutral, yet having character andpersonality; a collection of clothes with Mattila as a clear brand, that appeals to the audience.Throughout the study it proved to be important to gain an understanding of the target group andits preferences, to have an active dialogue with experts in the field and to have basic knowledge ofdifferent colours and design principles.As a whole, the study responds to the research question: “How can branded clothing for theoutdoor facility Mattila be designed? 1: For visitors to want to buy them and use them, both whenthey visit Mattila but also in other places? 2: For the clothes to reflect Mattila as a brand?”

El presente trabajo de investigación desarrolla un proyecto empresarial enfocado en la comercialización de ropa para bebes de cero a dos años. Un aspecto relevante de este emprendimiento social es que nuestro modelo de negocio implementara una campaña de ayuda social mediante las donaciones de las prendas en buen estado de nuestros clientes los cuales serán llevados a hospitales para las madres de familia de bajos recursos, con esto queremos incentivar a otras empresas a realizar responsabilidad social. El trabajo está estructurado en siete partes: (i) Aspectos generales, (ii) Planeamiento estratégico, (iii) Investigación de validación de mercado, (vi) Plan de Marketing, (v) Plan de operaciones, (vi) Estructura Organizacional y de Recursos Humanos y (vii) Planeamiento Económico Financiero. Se trata de un proyecto rentable. Se ha calculado una Tasa Interna de Retorno TIR FCNI de 195.77%. Se observa que este proyecto genera un VPN FCNI de S/ 968,153 lo cual demuestra la viabilidad de este. / This research work develops a business project focused on the commercialization of clothes for babies from zero to two years old. A relevant aspect of this social enterprise is that our business model will implement a social aid campaign through donations of our clients' clothes in good condition which will be taken to hospitals for low-income mothers, with this we want to encourage other companies to carry out social responsibility. The work is structured in seven parts: (i) General aspects, (ii) Strategic planning, (iii) Market validation research, (vi) Marketing Plan, (v) Operations plan, (vi) Organizational and management structure. Human Resources and (vii) Financial Economic Planning. It is a profitable project. An Internal Rate of Return IRR FCNI of 195.77% has been calculated. It is observed that this project generates a NPV FCNI of S / 968,153 which demonstrates its viability. / Trabajo de investigación

The industry of electronic commerce (e-commerce) constitutes a great part of the yearly retail consumption in Sweden. Looking at recent years, it has been seen that a rapidly growing sector within the mentioned field is the clothing industry for clothes and accessories for children and newborns. To get an overview of the items and help customers to find what they are looking for, many web stores have a system called a Recommendation System. The mechanics behind this service can look rather different depending on the method used. However, their unified goal is to provide a list of recommended items of interest to the customer.  A branch within this field is the Session Based Recommendation System (SBRS). These are models which are designed to work with the trace of products, called a session, that a user currently has visited on the web store. Based on that information they then formulate an output of recommended items. The SBRS models have been especially popularized since the majority of customers browse in an anonymous behavior, which means that they due to time efficiency often neglect the possibility of creating or logging into any personal web store account. This however limits the accessible information that a system can make use of to shape its item list.  It can be seen that the number of articles exploring SBRS within the fashion branch of clothing and accessories for children is very limited. This thesis is made to fill that gap. After a thorough literature study, three models were found to be of certain interest, the Short-Term Attention/Memory Priority (STAMP) model, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model, and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) model. Further, the LSTM model is included as it is the collaborative company, BabyShop Group AB's current used method.  The results of this thesis show that the GRU model is a promising method, managing to predict the next item for a customer more consistently than any other of the evaluated models. Furthermore, it can also be seen that what embeddings the models use to represent the products plays a significant role in the learning and evaluation of the used data set.  Moreover, a benchmark model included in this thesis also shows the importance of filtering the data set of sessions. It can be seen that a majority of customers visit already-seen products, logged happenings most likely due to refreshing web pages or similar actions. This causes the session data set to be characterized by repeated items. For future work, it would therefore indeed be interesting to see how this data set can be filtered in a different way. To see how that affects the outcome of the used metrics in this thesis. / Industrin för elektronisk handel (e-handel) utgör en stor del av den årliga konsumtionen av återförsäljning i Sverige. Bara genom att följa de senaste åren har det kunnat ses att en snabbt växande sektor inom det nämnda området är den som berör kläder och accessoarer för barn.  För att kunna ge en överblick och hjälpa kunder att finna vad de söker använder många webbutiker ett system som kallas rekommendationssystem. Hur dessa system faktiskt fungerar kan se väldigt olika ut. Men deras gemensamma mål är att i slutändan kunna ge en lista av rekommenderade produkter till kunden. En gren inom detta område är sessionsbaserade rekommendationssystem. Detta är modeller som är designade för att arbeta med själva spåret av besökta produkter, de som en kund har varit inne på under sin nuvarande vistelse på webbutiken. Baserat på denna information formuleras sedan en lista av rekommenderade produkter till besökaren. Dessa typer av modeller har blivit särskilt populära då många kunder gillar att shoppa anonymt. Vilket i denna kontext betyder att de gärna slipper att behöva logga in på något personligt konto på webbutiken, där särskild information kan sparas. Men detta betyder också att mängden tillgängliga data minskas för rekommendationssystemet.  Antalet forskningsartiklar som utforskar sessionsbaserade rekommendationssystem för e-handel inom barnmode är väldigt begränsad. Denna avhandling är därför gjord med syftet att försöka fylla detta tomrum. En genomgående litteraturstudie visade att tre modeller var av särskilt intresse, nämligen Short-Term Attention/Memory Priority (STAMP), Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) och Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) modellen. Den sistnämnda är inkluderad då detta är den nuvarande modellen som används av företaget som denna avhandling har gjorts i samarbete med, BabyShop Group AB.  Resultaten i denna avhandling kan påvisa att GRU är en mycket lovande modell som lyckades förutbestämma nästkommande produkt i en sessionskedja bäst. Utöver detta kan det också ses att embedding-vektorerna som används för att representera produkterna för modellerna spelar en avgörande roll. Speciellt för deras lärande och evaluering av data.  Förutom det påvisade en av riktvärdesmodellerna som användes i denna avhandling den viktiga innebörden av att filtrera sessionsdata. Det kan nämligen urskiljas i den data som erhölls från företaget att många kunder återbesöker en stor del av redan besökta produkter. Detta åstadkommas troligen av att kunderna uppdaterar sidan de är på, eller utför någon annan liknande handling. Det här gör att en stor del av den sessionsdata som används i denna avhandling innehåller många upprepade produkter i de givna sessionskedjorna. Som framtida arbete vore det därför intressant att utforska olika filtreringsmetoder som kan appliceras på den givna datamängden. Detta för att se hur en mera filtrerad datamängd påverkar slutresultatet av de använda mätmetoderna i denna avhandling.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur oro för klimatet påverkar konsumenters köpintentioner av återvunna kläder. På grund av pågående klimatförändringar måste populationen ändra sitt konsumtionsbeteende mot en mer miljömässigt hållbar strategi. Återvunna kläder ger ett mindre avtryck på klimatet eftersom det krävs mindre energi att producera och genererar mindre avfall. Tidigare forskning visar att män och kvinnor har olika köpintentioner när det kommer till miljömässigt hållbara kläder. Med utgångspunkt från tidigare forskningsfynd kommer denna studie även att undersöka om kön är en faktor som påverkar till vilken grad respondenterna oroar sig över klimatet. En kvantitativ datainsamlingsmetod används genom en webbenkät. Resultaten från en korrelations- och regressionsanalys visar att oro för klimatet påverkar köpintentionen av återvunna kläder. Resultatet visar även att kön bär en betydande roll i hur oroade respondenterna är över klimatet. Denna studie bekräftar teorin om planerat beteende och forskningen visar hur beteendemässiga övertygelser påverkar intentioner och därmed beteenden. / The purpose of this study is to investigate how environmental concerns affect consumers' purchase intentions of recycled clothing. Because of ongoing climate change, the population must change their consumption behavior towards a more sustainable approach. Recycled clothing has a smaller impact on the environment since less energy is needed in the production and it gives less waste. Previous research shows that men and women have different purchase intentions when it comes to sustainable clothing. Because of findings from previous research, this study will examine if gender is a factor that affects environmental concerns. A quantitative collection method is applied through an online survey. The result from a correlation- and regression analysis shows that environmental concern affects purchase intentions of recycled clothing. Findings from the study also included that gender plays a role in how concerned the respondents were for the environment. The study validates the theory of planned behavior model and the research displays how behavioral beliefs affect intentions and therefore behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to explore how consumer’s perception of women’s golfing apparel qualities influenced consumer’s purchase decisions. In fact Swinker and Hines (2006) pointed out that consumer perceptions of apparel quality are viewed as a multi-dimensional concept and should be evaluated on several levels. Numerous apparel quality studies have examined how perception of apparel quality has influenced consumer purchase decisions. However, there has been little or no research documented on how female consumers perceive women’s golfing apparel quality and how this may influence consumer purchase decisions in a South African context. Evaluation of apparel quality occurs at two stages during the consumer decision-making process. Apparel quality is evaluated in-store at the decision-making process stage and at the post-purchase evaluation stage. The apparel qualities that women golfers use during these stages may not be the same. In light of this a phenomenological approach was used to explore apparel quality for women’s golfing apparel which allowed the researcher to focus on the actual experience and perception of participants in their natural environment. Moreover, this approach allowed participants to describe their thoughts on physical (intrinsic) apparel qualities, extrinsic apparel qualities as well as behavioural (functional and aesthetic) apparel qualities found in women’s golfing apparel. Data were collected through means of a multi-method approach whereby different data collection instruments were applied. In this regard focus group discussions, design card sort and a sentence completion task were used which addressed the objectives set out in the study. A convenient sampling strategy was used to recruit participants for the focus group discussions. This sample consisted of women golfers from the Woodhill and Silverlakes Clubs situated in the East of Pretoria. From the results of the study on the perceptual exploration of women’s golfing apparel qualities and the influence on consumer purchase decisions, it was indicated that participants viewed apparel quality as a multidimensional concept. Physical, behavioural and extrinsic apparel qualities were used to evaluate women’s golfing apparel on which they based their purchase decisions. / Life & Consumer Sciences / M. Consumer Science

Sammanfattning Studiens syfte är att identifiera kundattityder bland genusmedvetna millennials i avsikt att fastställa hur fysiska servicelandskap med unisexkoncept bör utformas. Utifrån denna information formuleras rekommendationer samt tillhörande modell för företag som ämnar integrera det könsneutrala konceptet i sin butiksprofilering. Studien kommer att behandla teorier utifrån kön, genus och unisex, begreppet konsumentbeteende med fokus på attityder, samt fysiska servicelandskap. Studiens metod är av kvantitativ karaktär och det empiriska materialet utgörs av en enkätundersökning med deskriptiv analys. Totalt inkom 312 svar från undersökningens respondenter varav 259 svar ansågs relevanta för studiens ändamål baserat på det etablerade åldersspannet för millennials, vilket i denna studie är konsumenter födda 1980-2000. Valet av millennials som undersökningsobjekt är grundat i att tidigare undersökningar har funnit att millennials är en genusmedveten kundgrupp, vilket innebär att de ställer sig kritiska till den traditionella och stereotypa könssegregeringen. Denna studie kan verka som praktisk grund för företag samt teoretisk grund för forskare till fortsatta studier då den genomgångna teorin samt empiriska datan indikerar på att kundsegmentet ​genusmedvetna millennials har ett intresse för en bredare implementering av unisexkoncept hos företag i klädbranschen. Studien bidrar med underlag till ett ämne väl värt vidare forskning då flertalet tendenser tyder på en förändring i antågande, där millennials är en betydande del av denna strukturförändring i samhället. För att inte förlora framtidens kunder behöver företag skapa sig en förståelse för unisexkonceptets kärna och inse att det inte handlar om att begränsa, utan att öppna upp design. Att göra allt tillåtet för alla. / Summary The purpose of this study is to identify customer attitudes among gender conscious Millennials to establish how physical service landscapes with a gender-neutral concept should be customized. Based on this information recommendations are formulated, accompanied by a model for businesses who intend to integrate a gender-neutral concept with their business profiles. This study will present theories regarding sex, gender and the gender-neutral concept, the consumer behaviour concept with a main focus on attitudes, as well as the physical servicescape. The methodology used in this study is of a quantitative character and the empirical material constitutes of a survey with a descriptive analysis. A total of 312 answers were submitted by the respondents of which 259 answers were relevant for the purpose of the study based on the established age range for Millennials; which in this study is consumers born 1980-2000. The choice of Millennials as the object of interest is based on previous research which has found that Millennials are a ​gender-sensitive ​generation, which means that they have a critical view on traditional and stereotypical gender segregation. This study can act as a physical base for companies and a theoretical base for researchers to further study the subject since the theory and empirical data indicates that the customer segment ​gender conscious Millennials have an interest of further implementation of the gender-neutral concept in companies in the clothing business. This study contributes with a foundation to a subject well worth further research since a multitude of tendencies indicates that a change is coming, where Millennials are a significant part of this structural change in society. So as not to lose the future customers, companies need to create an understanding for the core of the gender-neutral concept and realize that it’s not about limiting, but to open up design. To make everything allowed for everyone.

In recent years, urban historians have established that the period from 1560 to 1660 was a key era for London’s development from a relatively small European urban centre into a large dynamic global capital. This dissertation attempts to intervene in London scholarship by drawing attention to the economic, political, religious and – most significantly – cultural importance of clothing in the city in this period. Using material, visual, literary and archival sources, it explores the ways clothing contributed to the development of early modern London and, in turn, how London’s rapid growth changed the making, wearing, and meaning of clothing. This dissertation places material evidence at the fore using extant objects from museum collections. It also employs the new methodology of reconstruction to explore craft, ingenuity, and emotional self-expression in dress. As clothing infused economic and social life, it draws upon on a wide range of evidence, from London guild records, to portraits, travel accounts, personal letters, diaries and account books, plays, sermons and poems. With a focus on urban experience, this dissertation discusses not only elite luxury consumption, but also investigates the wardrobes of guildsmen, immigrant craftspeople, apprentices and maids – asking what they wore, what they thought about what they were wearing, and how they used clothing to navigate through the city during this time of rapid change. A chapter on the ‘London Look’ shows how inhabitants and visitors documented the visual and material styles of the city. Exploring the collaborative processes by which clothing was made, worn and appreciated by craftspeople and consumers, a chapter on making and buying clothing demonstrates how clothes were made and charts the emergence of a new consumer culture. Existing scholarship on sumptuary laws is challenged in a chapter that demonstrates how laws were enforced in the city while also integrating extant objects into the discussion for the first time. Finally, using a sample of London wills, the dissertation shows how Londoners owned, bequeathed and inherited clothing, and imbued it with emotional meaning. In sum, this dissertation aims to integrate scholarship on early modern London with material culture studies, and to promote the new methodology of reconstruction for historians. In revealing how London was conceived during a time of rapid change, clothing can be used as a lens through which to explore wider discourse about a city that by 1657 was being described as ‘Londinopolis.’ Clothing helped to make London into a wealthy, dynamic, and diverse urban centre, and these changes dramatically shaped the way clothing was made and appreciated.

This works explores how to work with Event scores as a design method. In the search for what is real or what is reality the already existing things are being explored. The work started with investigating suitable ways to work with the moving body in the design process, with the aim to find a method that gave control but also left some parameters to the undecided and ambiguous. Convinced that this will lead to something new some parts of the process were highlighted and re-formulated. / Program: Modedesignutbildningen

I dagens samhälle handlar det om att vara så effektiv som möjligt för att vinna tid. Som Benjamin Franklin en gång sa att ”Tid är pengar”, är något som vi människor allt mer tagit fasta på då vi ställer höga krav på utvecklingen och dess teniska förmågor. Idag har de flesta människor tillgång till en dator med internetuppkoppling som vi dagligen utför sysslor vid. Det kan vara allt ifrån jobbrelaterade aktiviteter, hålla kontakten med nära och kära, söka information om vad som händer i världen och i vår omgivning, till mer nöjesinriktade delar såsom online spel och shopping. Just shopping via internet är något som vuxit väldigt mycket under det senaste årtiondet, de flesta människor idag har förmodligen någon gång köpt något via nätet eller haft tanke på att göra det. Syftet med denna uppsats är att uppmärksamma de säljfrämjande exponeringsverktyg som kunden anser bör finnas med i produktinformationen på webbutikerna för att de ska leda till ett köp hos dem. Detta för att öka kundnöjdheten online. Visionen är att öka förståelsen kring den produktinformation som konsumenten behöver för att kunna känna sig trygg i att handla kläder på internet. Vår kvantitativa undersökning ämnades för målgruppen män och kvinnor i åldrarna 18-35 år men den gemensamma nämnaren av intresset att handla kläder på internet. Undersökningen behandlade frågor som rör exponeringsverktygen på webben. Vi frågade hur respondenterna upplever de säljverktyg som finns idag, de utvecklingsmöjligheter vi funnit som finns inom klädexponeringen samt om de svarande själva hade idéer eller förslag på vad de skulle vilja se i produktinformationen i den perfekta webbutiken. De slutsatser som kunde dras utav vår studie var att en utveckling av de säljfrämjande exponeringsverktygen är önskad av våra respondenter då intresset för att handla kläder via internet är stort. För att konsumenten ska kunna känna sig säker när denne handlar kläder på internet bör webbutikerna arbeta med att skapa den befintliga produktinformationen så lik en fysisk klädexponering som möjligt. Detta kan uppnås genom utvecklingsmöjligheter såsom modeller med olika kroppsformer, virtuell 3D docka enligt egen längd, vikt och mått, virtuell butik samt omfattande produktinformation och högupplösta bilder.Today´s society is all about being as efficient as possible to win time. Benjamin Franklin once said “Time is money”. This is something we human beings have taken seriously as we raise our demand for development and its technological abilities. Today most people have access to a computer with wireless Internet connection from where they perform different chores. It could be anything from work related activities, staying in contact with loved ones, searching information about what’s going on in the world and in our surroundings, to more entertainment-oriented activities such as online games and shopping. Shopping online is something that has grown fast in the fashion industry in the last decade, and most people today have probably bought something or at least have thought of doing so.The purpose of this essay is to highlight the sales promoting exposure tools which the consumer find necessary in the product information found in web shops to lead them to purchase. This is to increase customer satisfaction online. Our aim is to increase the understanding of what the customer needs in form of product information to feel safe when buying clothes on the Internet.Our quantitative study is based on men and women aged 18-53 with a common interest in buying clothes on the Internet. The research deals with questions regarding exposure tools on the web. We asked the respondents how they perceived existing sales tools, the potentials for development in clothing exposure that we found and also if the respondents themselves had any ideas of what they would like to see included in the product information in the perfect web store.The conclusion we could draw from our study was that sales promoting exposure tools are needed by our respondents since the interest in buying clothes online is great. In order to make the customer feel sure when buying clothes on the Internet the web shops ought to work towards making the product information as similar to a physical exposure of the clothes as possible.This can be achieved through new developments such as models of various body types, virtual 3D dolls according to the consumers own measurements and weight, virtual stores and through comprehensive product information and high definition images. / Program: Butikschef, textil och mode