With signs of the redevelopment of the domestic sewing industry, national support agencies were established. This study aims to assess the present conditions of the domestic sewing industry and investigate the effectiveness of national sewing industry support policies. According to the results of a survey of 30 sewing companies managers, the biggest factor causing product defects was work being rushed because of tight delivery dates, and the reduction in sales was caused by a lack of orders. Moreover, sewing technicians are aging, and the biggest reason for their decrease in number is that people do not pursue the job because of the common understanding that it is difficult. Managers perceived that the government’s sewing technician training program was not a practical help. They were well aware of the support program to improve the work environment and the sewing equipment support program and showed high satisfaction with these programs, but they complained that the period for equipment rental was fixed. A majority of them thought that the Korean sewing industry environment had still not improved, and were skeptical about its future outlook. They identified its most urgent needs as the expansion of orders and the securing of manpower. The support programs that they wanted urgently included support for employees’ four major public insurances and the enactment of the increase of toll processing fees.

As directly imported apparel brands are actively entering the domestic market, studies of the marketing aspects of these imported apparel products and their overall consumption trend have been done. However, studies of whether are not the directly imported apparel products provide Korean consumers with an appropriate fit are not as common. Therefore, this study investigates the satisfaction with and problems associated with the fit along with the recognition of and preference for directly imported US apparel brands. 100 female college students who purchased directly imported US apparel brands participated in a survey. The results of this survey showed that their recognition of, preference for, possession rate of and satisfaction with the directly imported US apparel brands tend to be high. The major purchasing motivations were the excellent ‘design’ and ‘color’ of the products. The subjects reported that they were satisfied with the quality of ‘materials’ and ‘sewing condition’. However, they were not satisfied with the ‘comfort’ or the ‘size’. Their level of satisfaction with the fit of these products differed depending on the specific item. Their level of satisfaction with the fit of T-shirts and knits was high, whereas the level for pants was relatively low. They complained mostly about the sleeve length and garment length of upper-body garments and coats. They were not satisfied with how the pants fit. The areas of dissatisfaction regarding the pants were the waist girth, the crotch length and the pants length.