Design methodology and process are studied in different contexts and diverse fields. Designing has the potential to generate new knowledge and is intimately tied to new technologies, such as digital textile printing. These open up a constantly expanding range of creative possibilities, and generate a complex set of decision points for designers. In this paper we show how the design process is impacted and how new products can be created through exploration of the limits and potentials of digital technologies for textile and apparel design. Changes in design approach were analyzed through four design phases with five design projects. The design process was shown to change as various technical problems were evaluated and solved with each successive garment design. What began as a sporadic process that centered on solving sub-problems, evolved to a linear design progression with increased time spent in creative conceptualization.

The present empirically examined customer satisfaction with Internet sites that vary in the opportunity for mass customization. The expectation–disconfirmation model was used as a theatrical framework of the study. Two children's apparel sites were developed as the stimuli: one with a mid level of interactivity and the other with a high level of interactivity, for selection of clothing design options. The data from 208 respondents were analyzed using LISREL 8.72. The finding indicates that both consumers' expectations and perceived performances for the mass customized sites included positive and negative aspects. The results suggest that expectations were not a significant predictor of satisfaction for this innovative shopping experience yet satisfaction was primarily driven by the performance of the site and predicted by disconfirmation of expectations. The findings also suggest that expectations are not related to performance perceptions, possibly due to consumers' lack of familiarity with mass customization. The more interactive site yielded the more positive performance as well as overall positive satisfaction. Nevertheless, the less interactive site, which offers fewer choices than more interactive site, yielded more positive behavioural consequences. The generalization of the results of this study is limited because of lack of random sampling and use of the mock site of children's apparel product category. However, useful theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

The concept of copying or “knocking off” another designer's idea is an accepted practice in the apparel industry. Legally, designers and manufacturers have had tenuous success in proving their work “original and novel” as required by U.S. patent laws, and copyright laws often do not apply to apparel. The speed of fashion change and reliance on repetition of ideas at various price points makes design protection difficult and controversial. Historically, arguments for and against measures to control copying of apparel most frequently divided along price lines. The Fashion Originators' Guild of America (FOGA, 1932-1941) developed one of the more successful attempts to control design piracy in the dress industry. This article examines the ethical, economic, and social considerations in arguments for and against design protection and analyzes the role of designers, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers in the initial success and ultimately the failure of the FOGA.

Apparel and textile (AT) design scholarship can be classified in diverse ways. As a professional organization, International Textile and Apparel Association is in a unique position to lead in identifying what constitutes contributions to research in the field. Defining, presenting, and evaluating design production as scholarship is critical, especially as the broader design disciplines become more rigorous and academic institutions become more focused on evaluation metrics. Our purpose was to examine AT design scholarship through the lens of three critical components of research: shared knowledge, dissemination, and evaluation. These three components of research should be points of reference for AT design scholarship in moving forward to establish a unified vision of research that focuses on designed objects as valuable forms of scholarship. Additional work is necessary to identify core values that represent AT design knowledge, disseminate in formats that facilitate contributions to research, and measure the impact of design scholarship.

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