The purpose of this research was to evaluate performance claims in athleisure, in order to confirm or refute their authenticity. Aesthetic properties and functional claims were evaluated initially, and after repeated home laundering. A convenience (nonprobability) sample of activewear with performance features consisted of ninety garments that are currently on the market and commonly used by consumers. The garments included men’s and women’s t-shirts, polos, leggings, windbreakers, hoodies, sweatpants, and warm-up pants of various fiber contents and performance chemistries. The focus of the garment selection was on garments with performance properties relating to moisture management. Performance claims listed on the hang tags included moisture management, wicking, quick dry, stay cool, breathable, water resistant and wind resistant. Garments in the sample were a combination of natural, synthetic and blended fiber contents. The garments were tested initially, after one, five, ten, fifteen and twenty laundry cycles. The garments were evaluated for smoothness, dimensional stability, color change, pilling, horizontal wicking of textiles, water repellency- spray test, water resistance- impact penetration, water resistance- hydrostatic pressure, absorbency of textiles, aqueous liquid repellency and air permeability. All testing was performed in accordance with AATCC and ASTM standard test methods and was conducted under controlled laboratory settings.

The purpose of this research was to identify the legging features that athleisure consumers desire and the performance problems they frequently encounter. A non-probability sample (n=133) of college students who identified as female and wore leggings for non-athletic purposes were surveyed. The questionnaire was designed based upon examination of online product reviews and current complaints with legging products. The results of the survey were used to design and complete a laboratory evaluation. Laboratory samples and methods were then chosen to assess the performance qualities desired when purchasing leggings and the problems encountered when wearing leggings by the surveyed consumers. Three brands were identified by the survey as regularly consumed legging brands and included: Lululemon, Nike, and 90 Degree. All laboratory samples were a nylon, spandex blend fabric. Garments were laundered and evaluated after one, five, ten, and twenty washes. All evaluations were completed in a Textile Testing Laboratory according to AATCC and ASTM standard test methods.

Brand names in the Fashion industry are often times perceived as overpriced and unreasonable. Nevertheless, the success of well-known luxury brands in the industry has been growing domestically and internationally at a breakneck pace. Forbes publishes an annual list on the top 100 most valuable brands annually using a formula of their own making. 8 out of these 100 brands are luxury fashion brands. Why are luxury fashion brands so coveted? It can’t only be because of humans’ desires to own superior goods or even for the sake of their egos. In this paper I will delve into the hidden aspects of brand marketing, product quality, and brand imaging that factor into a brand’s success.

For Research and Application our group decided to do research on the influence Instagram has through high schoolers' and their self-esteem. The reason we choose high school students is because, a lot of groups within our class were focusing on college students and self-esteem through Instagram. The way we collected our data was by sending out a survey asking question about how many likes were satisfactory to these students and did it influence their self-esteem. We also use Rosenberg's self-esteem scale to see how this influenced their self-esteem. Through this research we found that with the literature reviews Instagram does influence ones self-esteem, but through our survey we found that Instagram does not influence ones self-esteem.

ABSTRACT Title: H&M fast fashion business model in China Level: Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Yuanyuan Yang & Jun Wang Supervisor: Ernst Hollander Date: 2013-03-11   Aim: Business model have been applied to different industries, and many entrepreneurs consider a good business model to be half the success. As per our observation, there were problems existing in H&M in China, for example, quality problem, price advantage lost and so on. However, H&M still has a good sale performance in China and we believed it largely depends on its successful business model. This study aims to examine what H&M fast fashion business model is and how H&M’s business model influences its development in China in different period.   Method: The method we used consisted of research process, research approach and data collection. A qualitative research was developed in the way of interviews. Primary data was collected from the interview which we conducted with two interviewees of H&M employees from different countries and the other interviewees both work for Chinese fashion industry. Secondary data included relevant extant literature, articles and online resources. As a research tools, SWOT was used to analyze the operation of H&M in China. With the collected data and the previous analysis, the result presents H&M’s short-term, mid term and long-term development in China.   Result & Conclusion: The unique business model is the main reason H&M have such good sales performance even when they have many problems as we had observed from their retail stores in China. H&M makes good use of its supply chain and information system to ensure delivering right products to their customers in the right time and at the right place with the right price. We believe the strengths of its business model would bring a lot of benefits for H&M in short-term development and mid-term development in China. As for the long-term development, the weaknesses of its business model maybe bring some problems.   Suggestions for future research: Quality problem and supply chain pollution is important for H&M’s long term development in China. Therefore, to ensure products’ quality and supply chain management improvement could be studied in future. Moreover, since business model consisted by lots of aspects, in-depth study is necessary in order to better understand H&M business model. Last but not the least, Chinese local fast fashion industry is still on the initial stage and thus, to borrow idea from H&M’s business model to develop Chinese fast fashion industry is interesting and important to be studied in the future.   Contribution of the study: Fast fashion business model have been created based on the business model and fast fashion characteristics. Hopefully, it would be helpful for further study which focuses on fast fashion industry. The specific knowledge of China is able to compensate the situation that most studies are focus on developed countries.   Key words: fast fashion in China, H&M in China, clothing industry, fast fashion business model, China

As a result of harmful textile production, sustainability has become the movement by which the apparel industry explores solutions to improve procedures in fashion design to maintain a healthy environment. However, the issue is consumers trust the sustainability claims and marketing materials of apparel products at face value without knowing its environmental impact. The overall purpose of this research was to compare the environmental implications of widely produced and owned apparel products through a life cycle assessment approach. This life cycle assessment study examines key environmental impact categories of the materials and production phase (cradle to gate) of a pair of jeans and a cotton t-shirt. The specific purpose of this study was to identify if the production processes make a sustainable product at the point of purchase. Furthermore, this research study compares the environmental impacts of a denim jean and dyed cotton t-shirt utilizing the ReCipe 2008 LCA tool.

The culture of America is changing now more than ever. With the Hispanic American population growing, it is important for retailers to understand how to market to these changing demographics. This study compares white Americans to Hispanic Americans in regard to store selection influences. Information sources and store attributes are analyzed as factors that influence store selection. It was found that acculturation of Hispanic American teens has created many commonalities between the two cultures. Future research could become be more in depth as to why these things occur or their effect on actual purchases.

This paper aims to measure the economic impact of different NBA player achievements on the athletic apparel companies, Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. It looks at players affiliated with the brands who participated in three different events in the NBA from from 2007 to 2017: the All-Star game, the All-NBA awards, and starting lineups in the Finals. Monthly stock returns for each company were calculated for the months the events took place: January, February, May, and June. The return of each company was then regressed on total number of players each company had in the events. Four total regressions were run for the months of January, February, May, and June. Understanding the economic implications of endorsed players participating in these events can help athletic apparel companies draft more cost efficient endorsement contracts.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the quality of design, materials, construction, appearance, and performance of mens 100% cotton jersey knit t-shirts from three retail categories: mass merchant, fast fashion, and better. These retail categories were represented by brands Fruit of the Loom, H&M, and Brooks Brothers, respectively. A convenience sample was comprised of 78 t-shirts. 13 white and 13 navy t-shirts from each brand were used for testing according to ASTM and AATCC standards and specifications. Evaluations and measurements were conducted before washing, and after one, five, ten, and twenty laundry cycles. The t-shirts were evaluated for fabric weight, fabric count, color change, whiteness change, crocking, smoothness appearance, bursting strength, pilling, dimensional stability, and skewness. The navy t-shirts in the ‘better’ retail category met five out of the six requirements specified by the ASTM standard. However, the navy t-shirts in the ‘fast fashion’ category met four out of five met by the ‘better’ category. In conclusion, the decision to purchase a t-shirt from these retail categories may depend on consumer expectations.

Within the retail sector, two sections have grown drastically with the help of each other in the past decade. Those two sections include online retail and second-hand retail. Online retail has grown remarkably due to the implementation of online atmospherics. This phenomenon led to the purpose of this study: to observe the online atmospherics present in online second-hand retail. To achieve this purpose, the literature related to online retail, target audience, motivations of consumers, reselling, and online second-hand apps was explored. For this study, five online second-hand retail sites were chosen. Eighteen of the most common online atmospherics were observed to be present, not present, or unable to determine in these online second-hand retail sites. Results showed notable findings including the importance of white space. Based upon the results of this study, managerial implications are offered.