Success in fashion design is important both in its own right and because it has positive influences on the culture of a country and because of the favourable ramifications it can have across many unrelated industries. This dissertation investigates the Australian fashion design industry and asks whether there is a place for a semi-autonomous industry regulator of the kind found in other countries. France is a natural choice as a model because on the one hand it has the most success and enjoys the highest prestige in international fashion design, and on the other it has a well-developed support and accreditation structure, the Federation Francaise de la Couture, du Fret-a-Porter des Couturiers et des Createurs de Mode. The Federation oversees the whole process, promoting and protecting innovation in the industry and laying down the criteria used in fashion accreditation. These observations led to the question, if a parallel fashion designers' organization were introduced in Australia, what are the chances it would be suitable and effective? To answer this question, interviews were conducted in Australia and in three European countries. The major systematic enquiry was based on a sample of 48 local industry people in key positions in media, commerce and education, who were encouraged to describe and evaluate the industry and to supply answers to a systematic survey document. Candour was promoted by the anonymity of the survey process. The major outcome in terms of evaluation of the industry was that for historical and structural reasons Australian fashion design is not characterized by a high volume of original work. Consequently it is not having much impact internationally and the upper echelons are not providing the basis for downward diffusion of ideas. If the standard (French) classification were applied to Australia, the bulk of the labels would be categorized at the lower end of the scale. The informants provided a strong consensus regarding the nature of the shortfalls including the undue emphasis given to derivative design, the lack of special support for young talent and the low priority given to the synergy between art and high quality craftsmanship. There was agreement that Australian fashion designers should not focus on product just for local consumers, because fashion in clothing is not central to the minds of the average Australian as it is for example in European countries. Fashion designers might be wise to exploit the position of Australia on the edge of the Asian subcontinent and the pool of potential design talent from other countries within the Australian population. By drawing from the new aesthetics emerging in Australia's pluralistic society, designers could easily be at the cutting edge internationally. They might showcase their work at overseas venues, although not necessarily, in the first instance, in countries like France. Although a full-scale federation-type organization might fail for want of a solid innovative industry upon which it might be based, a limited version of such a controlling body could well succeed. Its task would he to steer new directions in education which develops a pool of creative talent through master classes which focus on understanding original design, the importance of the manual aspect in design and the mechanisms of, and rewards stemming from diffusion. Sponsorship should be granted to endeavours by a collective of such talent to showcase designs abroad. Government funds should be redirected away from the promotion of a generic product to a fashion-designing paradigm emphasizing 'designer handwriting' as the value-added aspect. In addition to exploring these issues, this dissertation provides reflections on the nature of the design process and suggests ways in which fashion design and fashion design education might move to revitalize the industry.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the moderating role of hedonic shopping value in shopping experience satisfaction in the context of clothing shopping. Hedonic shopping value is an emotional and hedonic appreciation of shopping. According to the existing literature, consumers' hedonic shopping value is associated with several antecedents such as involvement, variety seeking, and physical environment of stores. Involvement may heighten consumers' excitement with the shopping experience. Hedonic shoppers tend to seek variety and use exploratory buying behavior to experience the emotion of pleasant arousal in a retail setting. Emotional responses in stores can be affected by the store's environment, arguing positive mood is a significant predictor of both extra time, unplanned spending in shopping, and shopping satisfaction. To test the proposed model, a convenience sample of male and female Korean college students was employed. Pearson correlation, chi-square statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and EQS for structural equation modeling were utilized. The results of the study showed that people who, in general, enjoy clothing shopping feel more satisfied with their clothing shopping. It appears that the shopping skills acquired by consumers who are more involved in and enjoy shopping may lead to higher satisfaction. Female respondents were more involved in clothing shopping, were more satisfied with clothing shopping, and had a higher level of hedonic shopping value. Expectedly, the structural model for female subjects confirmed the existence of the mediating role of hedonic shopping value in shopping experience satisfaction whereas the model for male respondents and for all respondents in which male and female respondents combined did not. For the female group, involvement and variety seeking had no direct influences on shopping experience satisfaction. Rather, they influenced shopping experience satisfaction indirectly through hedonic shopping value. Hedonic shopping value did not play a role as an intervening variable for male consumers. This may be attributed to the fact that male respondents had considerably low levels of hedonic shopping value to be an intervening determinant. This result implies that male respondents may have greater utilitarian construct for clothing shopping satisfaction rather than hedonic constructs. / Graduation date: 2002

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University. / Bibliography: leaves 50-53. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-268).

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb. 18, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Dr. Laurel Wilson, Thesis Supervisor Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-63). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-61).

This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

An increased interest in environmental concern has been embraced within the consumer market, particularly in the apparel market. As such, environmentally friendly clothing items are becoming more prevalent in the mainstream consumer market. In order to better understand factors relating to environmental concern and environmental apparel knowledge, this study compared students’ environmental orientation and environmental apparel knowledge depending on college major and gender, and identified attitudes and perceptions of environmentally friendly clothing at a university located in the Midwestern area in the United States. Results indicated that some majors, particularly those grouped as Environmentally Related majors differed from other major groups. Gender was found not to make a difference in either environmental orientation or environmental apparel knowledge in this study. Attitudes and perceptions about environmental friendly clothing were evaluated. In addition, some attitudes and perceptions were found to be correlated with scores relating to environmental orientation and apparel knowledge. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences