This study examine differences in consumers’ knowledge of environmentally sustainable materials based on prior purchase experience with eco-friendly fashion products. Furthermore, it explores how this experience relates to variations in attitudes toward eco-friendly products, subjective norms, and purchase intention. For this study, an online survey was conducted using quota sampling based on gender and age group (20, 30, 40s). The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-tests. Among the respondents, 221 had prior experience purchasing eco-friendly fashion products (i.e., purchasers), while 192 did not (i.e., non-purchasers). In results, purchasers demonstrated significantly greater awareness that products made from organic cashmere, organic hemp, recycled polyester, recycled nylon, recycled cotton, alternative leather, alternative fur, zero-waste materials, and biodegradable materials qualify as environmentally friendly. However, organic cotton was widely recognized as environmentally friendly by both groups, resulting in no significant difference in purchase intention for this material. Additionally, purchasers prioritized material composition, production methods, and environmental impact more than non-purchasers when deciding to purchase eco-friendly. Purchasers also exhibited more favorable attitudes, higher subjective norms, and stronger purchase intentions toward eco-friendly fashion products than did non-purchasers. These findings offer valuable insights for developing targeted educational and marketing strategies for eco-friendly fashion products, tailored to consumers’ varying levels of purchase experience and environmental awareness.

This study examines the design characteristics and sociocultural significance of the “balletcorelook” through the lens of Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra, establishing a systematic analytical framework for collections from 2022 F/W to 2025 S/S. A total of 47 magazine articles and 161 photographs of collection images were collected. To analyze the designs, a framework for three stages of simulacral transformation was implemented: partial morphological and stylistic transformation, transformation of additional design elements and decoration, and emergence of a replica far removed from the original ballet outfits and accessories. Analysis of design characteristics confirmed that balletcore looks incorporate ballet costumes—originally specialized attire—into everyday clothing, creating a sense of fantasy. This fantasy involved deconstructing or coexisting contrasting design characteristics. The study shows the use of ballet costume elements as fantastical signs in balletcore looks, a phenomenon that intensifies through various stages of transformation. Balletcore looks transcend the functional reality of dancewear, transforming into representations of hyperreality, where replicas replace the original, serving as a key approach for designers to express their personal interpretations. These simulacral phenomena carry sociocultural significance, indicating that designers’ use of ballet costume elements in balletcore looks, alongside public consumption of balletcore, reflects the psychological desires of the masses to willingly engage in seductive illusions for emotional fulfillment and vitality in hyperreal fantasy.

This study explores the use of Midjourney (V6) by fashion design undergraduates for AI-supported ideation, focusing on how outcomes differ based on fashion-domain competence and prompt/parameter instruction. A focused ethnographic, comparative case-study design was used to observe a short collection-development module. Data included Discord prompt and parameter logs, generated image outputs (mood boards, look proposals, and pattern drafts), one-on-one interviews, classroom observation notes, and expert co-coding and qualitative evaluation. Participants were organized into four groups by crossing Basic vs. Advanced Fashion competence (BF/AF) with Basic vs. Advanced Prompt training (BP/AP): BF-BP, AF-BP, BF-AP, and AF-AP. BF-BP depended on repetitive/imaginary use and generic descriptors, resulting in visually appealing yet conceptually fragmented and low-feasibility results. AF-BP leveraged a richer domain vocabulary to improve item-level adequacy but struggled to maintain collection-level consistency, leading to the use of external editing tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator for portfolio-level refinement. BF-AP quickly mastered commands and parameters (e.g., /describe, --chaos, --stylize, --ar, --tile, --no, --sref, --cref), generating appealing concept imagery while failing to convert outputs into wearable garments and cohesive collections. AF-AP combined advanced fashion knowledge with strategic parameter sequencing— broad exploration, followed by consistency control and selective refinement—achieving the most coherent, feasible outcomes and positioning AI as an early-stage accelerator rather than a substitute for core design and making skills. Overall, this study proposes “parameter literacy” as a domain-specific extension of GenAI literacy and offers a parameter–process mapping (divergent generation, consistency control, and editing/refinement) to enhance fashion curricula.

This study examines the reinterpretation and application of imagery from Greek goddesses in modern fashion brands, focusing on symbolic meaning and design strategies. Using qualitative case studies of selected global luxury and outdoor fashion brands, it analyzes four goddess archetypes—Hera, Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis— and examines how their mythological attributes are translated into modern fashion expressions and brand identities. Hera embodies authority and order, is reflected in luxury fashion through structured silhouettes, refined tailoring, and classical aesthetics that emphasize dignity and formality. Aphrodite symbolizes beauty and sensuality through designs that highlight the body, use fluid materials, and express femininity, reframing sensuality as an empowered form of self-representation. Athena, embodying wisdom and martial strength, is reinterpreted as the image of the intelligent and autonomous modern woman through architectural silhouettes, armor-inspired details, and a restrained yet powerful visual language. In contrast, Artemis represents nature, independence, and guardianship, reflected in outdoor fashion brands through sustainability-driven practices, functional design, and ethical management instead of explicit visual symbols. The findings indicate that contemporary fashion brands selectively adapt mythological archetypes fit brand values, consumer identities, and broader socio-cultural discourses, including feminism and sustainability. This study contributes to fashion and cultural studies by demonstrating the continued relevance of ancient mythological symbolism in contemporary fashion branding.

Recent advances in digital technology and the diversification of consumer demands have accelerated the emergence of hybrid design approaches in contemporary fashion. Knitwear, characterized by structural flexibility, elasticity, and transformability, has become a key medium for integrating diverse materials, techniques, and textile structures. Although hybrid aesthetics have been actively discussed in broader fashion studies, systematic research focusing specifically on hybridization in knitwear particularly from structural, material, and technological perspectives remains insufficient. This study addresses this gap by classifying hybrid knitwear into three categories: Structural Hybrid, Material Hybrid, and Technical Hybrid. Using case studies of representative designers and technological applications, including Iris van Herpen, Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake, Nike Flyknit, and MIT Media Lab, the research analyzes the distinctive characteristics of each category. The analysis focuses on how hybridization is realized through form construction, material composition, and digital or functional integration, while also identifying the design principles and fabrication strategies that enable hybrid outcomes in contemporary knitwear. The findings indicate that hybrid knitwear extends beyond conventional textile-based design to function as an expanded platform where materials, structures, and emerging technologies converge. This convergence generates new aesthetic, functional, and experiential values, positioning knitwear as a critical site of innovation. The study provides a theoretical framework for understanding hybrid knitwear and offers practical insights for future developments in knitwear design, smart textiles, digital fabrication, and technologically integrated fashion systems.

This study aims to reinterpret the four components of fashion store Visual Merchandising Design (VMD)-Visual Presentation (VP), Point of Purchase Presentation (PP), Item Presentation (IP), and Experience Presentation (EP)-through the lens of affordance theory. It explores how phygital retail environments stimulate consumer experiences and interactions. As the boundaries between online and offline retail become increasingly fluid, VMD no longer functions merely as a visual display but as an experiential medium that integrates sensory, interactive, and emotional dimensions of fashion consumption. This study examines four flagship stores opened or renewed within the past three years - Gentle Monster House Nowhere Dosan (2025), Ader Error Seongsu Space (2024), Musinsa Standard Seongsu (2023), and Nike Gangnam (2024). Field observations were conducted to document circulation paths, display configurations, and the integration of interactive technologies. Observations were complemented by analysis of brand archives and professional media sources to understand each space's experiential intent. The collected data were coded into physical, perceptual, and social affordance categories and comparatively analyzed. The results reveal that phygital fashion stores reinforce action-oriented affordances through participatory design elements, enhance sensory immersion by combining material and digital stimuli, and expand social affordances through community-based and digitally connected spaces. These findings suggest that the VP-PP-IP-EP framework should evolve from a visually centered approach to a consumer experience-centered model. In conclusion, the study redefines VMD as an experiential medium mediated by affordances and provides strategic insights for designing immersive and interactive retail environments in the phygital era.

Due to its superior recycling characteristics, recycled-cotton has become a key material driving the eco-friendly transformation of the fashion industry. However, this transformation depends not only on material innovation in the production phase but also on consumers’ perception and acceptance of recycled-cotton fashion products. This study aims to identify the core determinants shaping consumers’ purchase intention toward recycled-cotton fashion products by analyzing how perceived consumption value dimensions influence purchase intention through behavioral attitudes and subjective norms and by testing the moderating effect of altruism. Data were collected from 280 consumers aged 20–59 years who had previous experience purchasing recycled-cotton fashion products. The mediating and moderated mediating effects were empirically verified using PROCESS Macro Models 4 and 7. The results revealed that emotional, economic, social, functional, and environmental value all exerted significant positive effects on behavioral attitudes and subjective norms and indirectly influenced purchase intention through behavioral attitudes and subjective norms. However, altruism demonstrated a significant moderating effect only on the path linking functional value to purchase intention via behavioral attitudes. These findings highlight the pivotal roles of consumption value, behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, and altruism in shaping consumers’ purchase intention for recycled-cotton fashion products and offer actionable implications for promoting the market diffusion of recycled fashion.

This study investigates changes in consumer perceptions of eco-friendly fashion using big data analysis and derives strategic directions based on the frequency of related keywords. Data were collected on "eco-friendly fashion" from blogs, online communities, and web documents on portal sites (Naver, Daum, and Google) and analyzed using text mining and Ucinet6 across the pre-pandemic (2017–2019), mid-pandemic (2020–2022), and post-pandemic (2023–2025) phases. The seven most frequent keywords—“eco-friendly,” “fashion,” “brand,” “product,” “material,” “clothing,” and “production”—remained consistently within the top ten across all phases. In Phase 2, new keywords such as “mask,” “fabric,” “upcycling,” and “certification” emerged, reflecting pandemic and sustainability-related concerns, while the terms “protection,” “value,” “ethics,” “Patagonia,” and “practice” emerged in Phase 3, emphasizing ethical and practical engagement in sustainability. The keywords whose rankings changed—"sustainability" and "recycling"—appeared more frequently than before COVID-19 pandemic, and the rankings of "sustainability," "environment," and "utilization" continued to rise. This can be interpreted as a heightened awareness of the importance of using sustainable materials and protecting the environment. CONCOR cluster analysis identified four key categories in each period: (1) interest in and campaigns for eco-friendly fashion Phase 1, (2) sustainable materials and certification trends Phase 2, and (3) technology, ethical consumption, and upcycling practices Phase 3. Overall, the findings suggest that consumer awareness and engagement in eco-friendly and sustainable fashion have significantly increased, with the industry shifting toward ethical and practical sustainability practices.

This study investigates character collaboration strategies in the context of rising kidult fashion as an emotional and cultural consumption trend. Jo’s kidult consumers typology and Byeon’s character function theory were used to analyze 33 SPAO collaboration cases released between 2022 and 2024. The study adopts a two-stage qualitative content analysis method: 1. categorizing the cases into four types of character collaboration strategies: character-centric, narrative worldview-immersive, fandom-centric, and retro sensibility; and 2. interpreting each type through an integrated framework combining emotional design, nostalgic bonding, and social identity theory. Data were collected from publicly available digital sources and examined with respect to emotional visualization, product design, affective messaging, and participatory/social-media strategies. The findings show that character-centric collaborations were most prevalent (45.5%), emphasizing direct visual cues and everyday product integration. The other three types account for 18.2% each, highlighting narrative immersion, fandom identity, and generational nostalgia, respectively. Character collaboration operated as an affective and symbolic communication mechanism that structures emotional connection, identity expression, and cultural resonance. The results demonstrate that character collaboration is a strategic tool for strengthening consumer engagement, cultural inclusivity, and brand loyalty. The study positions kidult fashion collaboration within an integrated emotional identity and offers a framework for brands to develop emotional comfort products, immersive storytelling designs, fandom-driven engagement, and intergenerational appeal.

While the adoption of AI-based design tools is accelerating in design education, limited research has examined learners’ psychological acceptance of these tools. This study therefore investigates perceptions of CLO 3D, Stable diffusion, and ChatGPT through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Survey data were collected from 70 design majors at a university in Seoul and analyzed using regression methods, focusing on four key variables: perceived learning difficulty, efficiency, visual satisfaction, and commercialization potential. The results revealed paradoxical patterns in learning experience, where higher learning intention and perceived intuitiveness sometimes increased learning burden, while efficiency and output similarity reduced it. Efficiency perceptions were strengthened by learning intention, CLO 3D output similarity, and ChatGPT’s visualization support, but weakened when learners relied heavily on traditional creativity or when Stable diffusion’s creativity reflection was emphasized. Visual satisfaction was positively influenced by portfolio development and practical application intentions yet decreased when judged strictly by conventional creativity standards. Commercialization potential increased with efficiency, time savings, ChatGPT utilization, and application planning, but declined with greater familiarity with hand sketching. These findings validate TAM’s dimensions of usefulness and ease of use while highlighting the moderating role of comparison with traditional workflows. The study contributes theoretically by extending TAM to creative education contexts and provides practical guidance for developing instructional strategies that balance efficiency, creativity, and professional applicability.

Modern society seeks coexistence across boundaries, inspiring fashion studies that transcend gender norms to promote equality and harmony. The current study aimed to (a) analyze and classify the design characteristics of men’s genderless fashion (Study 1) and (b) investigate the perceptions, attitudes, and purchase intentions of millennial and Gen Z male consumers regarding genderless fashion (Study 2). For the first study, we selected 192 photographs highlighting genderless features from the men’s clothing collections of 2020 F/W and 2021 S/S in Paris, Milan, London, and New York. A group of fashion experts conducted the classification, with an inter-coder reliability of 92.1%. Genderless fashion was classified into four design properties: fusion, mixing male and female characteristics; juxtaposition, showing coexistence without mixing; transition, emphasizing opposite characteristics; and neutrality, showing neither male nor female features. For Study 2, an online survey was conducted with men in their 20s and 30s (N=74, MeanAge=31.04). The participants reviewed 12 representative photographs that were obtained from Study 1, evaluating recognition, attitudes, and purchase intentions. The results showed that the participants perceived transition as the most feminine, while they judged juxtaposition, fusion, and neutrality as more neutral. The stronger the feminine elements in the materials, colors, silhouettes, fit, and decorative details were, the lower the attitudes and purchase intentions became. This research is significant vis-à-vis identifying the design characteristics of men’s genderless fashion and providing design directions that may encourage actual purchases among millennial and Gen Z male consumers.

This study examines how consumer characteristics–wellness, religiosity, and fashion consciousness–on the perception of modest activewear attributes and purchase intention among Indonesian consumers. It employed the FEA consumer model, which integrates functional, expressive, and aesthetic dimensions for clothing development. A total of 200 responses were collected from adult women in Indonesia through an online survey conducted from October 16 to 25, 2023. Using SPSS 26.0, frequency analysis, factor analysis, multiple regression, and reliability testing were performed. The results indicate that fashion consciousness and physical wellness significantly influence the functional elements of modest activewear, while fashion consciousness and religiosity significantly affect the expressive elements. Furthermore, fashion consciousness, religiosity, and physical wellness all have significant effects on the aesthetic elements, with fashion consciousness emerging as the most influential factor. In contrast, emotional wellness did not show a significant effect. Regarding purchase intention, functional and expressive attributes of modest activewear show significant positive effects, while aesthetic perceptions directly shaped Indonesian women’s purchase decisions. While prior research on modest fashion has largely emphasized religious motivations, this study advances the discourse by integrating wellness and fashion consciousness as equally important drivers. This study analyzes three consumer characteristics within the FEA framework, offering a unique perspective on how lifestyle, fashion, and religiosity influence modest activewear consumption.

This study investigates how fashion intellectual property (IP) discourse has been represented and disseminated through podcasts as a medium of cultural communication. Specifically, it analyzes 40 episodes of the podcast Fashionably IP, produced by the European IP law firm HGF between 2022 and August 2025. Using a combined methodology of Leximancer-based text mining and qualitative content analysis, it identifies three key thematic axes in the discourse: trademark protection, legal applicability of design and copyright, and cultural and legal significance of brand identity. First, trademarks are closely linked to brand identity and are repeatedly highlighted through cases involving counterfeits and registration disputes. Second, design rights are influenced by the hybrid nature of fashion design, which combines utility and artistic expression. Third, the branding concept is interpreted beyond its legal function, serving as a narrative resource that reinforces the ethical legitimacy of creators’ rights within consumer culture. The study elucidates the diffusion of legal awareness through cultural communication, demonstrating how legal discourse extends beyond institutional frameworks to social empathy and ethical reflection. Ultimately, it provides a new framework for interpreting fashion copyright and design rights in the digital era, emphasizing how cultural communication channels such as podcasts can democratize legal knowledge and raise public awareness of creators’ rights.

This study explores the expressive characteristics of new media fashion collections, which have emerged through the convergence of fashion and digital technologies. As new media develops with the integration of old media, fashion collections are increasingly functioning as media tools to convey identity, narrative, and artistic intent beyond aesthetic presentation. Through a literature review and case analysis of collections from 2000 S/S to 2025 S/S, this study defines the term ‘new media fashion collection’ and investigates its communicative functions. The findings reveal that such collections embody the significance of the expansion of space-time, evolution of expression methods, and decentralization of experience, while diversifying meanings and modes of expression based on new media attributes such as extensibility, integrativeness, and interactivity. More specifically, their expressive characteristics can be understood through four characteristics: the direct representation through borrowing, the diversity of message expression, the immersion through unreality, and the narrative construction via editing. Collectively, these characteristics demonstrate how new media fashion collections emphasize themes by using digital technology to borrow or transform old media content. Digital technologies allow fashion collections to unfold across limitless space-time dimensions, positioning them as versatile communication media and enhancing expressive possibilities. These approaches reflect how fashion collections in the digital era integrate technological elements to enrich communication and viewer engagement. This research contributes to the positioning of fashion collections as a form of media and offers a framework for analyzing their evolving expressions. Further, it highlights the need for continued interdisciplinary research bridging fashion, technology, and media theory.

The development of digital media has fundamentally transformed modes of visual expression and mechanisms of emotional communication, redefining the identity and performative function of fashion illustration, particularly within short-form content. This study thus aims to analyze the emotional performance strategies used in short-form video fashion illustration content and to interpret these strategies through an integrated framework combining performative image and emotional design theories. As a methodology, five actively operating English-language YouTube channels were selected, each recognized for producing fashion illustration content in short-form videos and holding a subscriber base of over 50,000. The study conducted a qualitative analysis of short-form videos from these channels, examining how they engage viewers emotionally across Norman’s three levels: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. The results revealed that short-form video fashion illustration content employs multi-layered emotional strategies: immediate aesthetic stimulation through visceral visual impact, behavioral immersion via sharing of the drawing process, and reflective meaning-making through storytelling and socio-cultural messages. Notably, these strategies extend beyond the mere display of images, positioning the illustration as an active agent that performs and elicits sensory, emotional, and social engagement from audiences. The study concludes that the convergence of performative image theory and emotional design offers a comprehensive lens to decode how fashion illustration short-form videos function both as visual art and as performative acts. These findings contribute theoretical and practical insights for future digital fashion content creation and research in the visual arts, highlighting how emotional experiences are strategically constructed in contemporary digital media contexts.

The aim of this study is to enhance understanding of government and association-led fashion support programs through in-depth interviews with program managers, identifying areas for improvement. A phenomenological approach, which explores the essence of a particular phenomenon as it manifests in human life to obtain an in-depth understanding of how individuals who have experienced the phenomenon perceive it and its meanings, is adopted. Evaluation criteria for receipt of supports included qualitative factors such as design, branding, product viability, market potential, and completeness, assessed by a panel of academics, buyers, stylists, media critics, distribution experts, press personnel, and designers. Some support programs provided stage-specific assistance based on revenue or business duration, while others required brands at vastly different stages—for example, in their fifth year or over twenty years since launch-to compete within the same program. Challenges faced by designer brands included limited budgets, timing constraints, poor inter-agency communication, and administrative burdens. Suggested improvements involved engaging fashion industry experts in policy planning, integrating export data from overseas production, simplifying documentation, revising regulations, fostering cross-industry collaboration, and establishing fashion venture funds to support competitive brands and accelerate growth. Future plans include expanding support through cultural content and material innovation to boost global recognition of Korean fashion brands. Findings indicate that strategies for vitalizing emerging Korean fashion designers include cross-industry collaboration, expert-led policy development, securing specialized investment funds, and elevating Seoul Fashion Week’s significance as a global platform to increase brand visibility and facilitate domestic and international orders.

This study identified the effects of factors related to physical fashion brands’ sales promotions on consumers’ reactions and purchase intentions, while also determining the differences in these effects according to the consumers’ generations and genders. For the empirical analysis, the study used SPSS and AMOS 25.0, with frequency analysis, EFA, reliability analysis, CFA, SEM analysis, and multiple-group comparison analyses also performed. The results of multiple-group comparison analyses of the generation groups showed that the effects of consumers’ affective reactions on their purchase intentions differed between the MZ generation(a generational group comprising the millennial generation and Gen Z) and active seniors, with the influence on the active seniors group greater than on the MZ generation group. The effects of cognitive reaction on purchase intention also differed between the two groups, with the influences on the active seniors group again greater than on the MZ generation, moreover the result was significant only for the active seniors group. The influence of affective reactions on purchase intention also differed in the result of the comparison of gender groups, with the impact greater for male consumers than for female consumers. Finally, the effect of cognitive reactions on purchase intention was greater for female consumers than male consumers, with the result significant only for female consumers. Based on these findings, the study recommends adopting different sales promotion strategies for each consumer group to induce positive purchasing behavior.

Transmedia storytelling (TS) narrates and supplements a storyworld in a unified and coordinated manner across multiple media channels and forms. It overcomes the limitations of traditional media’s singularity and restricted reach by leveraging digital technologies. Advancing digital technologies have introduced diverse media into fashion exhibitions, supplementing interpretation and expanding the storyworld to aid the understanding of fashion’s social, cultural, and artistic meanings. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of social media in facilitating TS within fashion exhibitions. In researching this topic, we studied the concepts and applications of TS and social media in fashion exhibitions, using a 2023 fashion week organised by a South Korean universityas a case study. Purposeful sampling involved interviews and questionnaires with exhibition committee members, participants, and visitors. Reflective thematic analysis (RTA) was employed to iteratively analysis the data. This study clarifies the unique functions of various media forms and channels in TS for fashion group exhibitions, with a focus on their synergistic effects. Reflective thematic analysis of the results indicate that TS effectively addresses the challenges of narrating complex and fragmented exhibitions by attracting visitors, supplementing content gaps, and expanding engagement. The collected data offers empirical evidence of TS’s potential in emerging exhibition storytelling and highlights Instagram’s key function within a TS system.

This study explores the operational challenges of emerging fashion designers in South Korea through in-depth interviews. The findings reveal significant challenges across key components of brand operation: product and image development, production, sales, promotion, and finance. Designers sought to express original narratives through their collections each season but encounter significant obstacles, such as limited production capacity, lack of marketing resources, and financial instability. Small order volumes hinder securing manufacturers, forcing designers to reinvest most revenue into sample development, with little left for labor or growth. Based on these insights, the study proposes three strategies to strengthen designer brand growth. First, it is necessary to ensure the efficient operation of numerous institutions and associations in Korea through systematic and continuous support at each stage of their programs. Each institution and association should independently run their own separate support programs to improve their expertise, optimizing the government’s limited budget. Second, adopting an agency model for emerging fashion designers, similar to entertainment agencies, can be effective. In this model, agency-affiliated celebrities act as muses for clothing lines and merchandise, enhancing sales via strategic promotion and marketing while encouraging mutual growth through revenue sharing. Third, the Korean fashion designer industry’s distribution structure needs reform.