Where clothing consumption has continued to rise around the world, a deeper understanding of how and why garments are disposed of is critical in regard to addressing the issue of textile waste by consumers. The purpose of this study was to explore the garment management processes of young, fashion sensitive consumers, examining their disposal behaviours as well as motivations towards garment end‐of‐life extension through maintenance or repair of damaged fashion clothing. A survey of 161 South Korean young consumers (18–34 years) was conducted, utilizing a fashion sensitivity scale to measure impact on unsustainable garment disposal practices and garment repair behaviour. Further, general recycling behaviour of these individuals was examined, as linked to garment repair propensity. Results indicate that fashion sensitive consumers dispose of garments more rapidly, and with less ethical consideration. However, these same consumers are motivated to repair items that support their fashion identity. The study contributes some useful insight into encouraging garment life extension practise among heavy consumers of fashion, thus extending what is known about fashion garment disposal in the sustainability context.
Protective textiles used for military applications must fulfill a variety of functional requirements, including durability, resistance to environmental conditions and ballistic threats, all while being comfortable and lightweight. In addition, these textiles must provide camouflage and concealment under various environmental conditions and, thus, a range of wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum. Similar requirements may exist for other applications, for instance hunting. With improvements in infrared sensing technology, the focus of protective textile research and development has shifted solely from providing visible camouflage to providing camouflage in the infrared (IR) region. Smart textiles, which can monitor and react to the textile wearer or environmental stimuli, have been applied to protective textiles to improve camouflage in the IR spectral range. This study presents a review of current smart textile technologies for visible and IR signature control of protective textiles, including coloration techniques, chromic materials, conductive polymers, and phase change materials. We propose novel fabrication technology combinations using various microfabrication techniques (e.g., three-dimensional (3D) printing; microfluidics; machine learning) to improve the visible and IR signature management of protective textiles and discuss possible challenges in terms of compatibility with the different textile performance requirements.
Clothing waste is an increasing global problem as "disposable" fashion items are consumed and discarded at rapid rates. Low-quality fashion garments are easily damaged and thrown out due to the low initial investment and replacement cost of other items. Previous research has found physical damage to be a common reason for clothing disposal; however, the degree to which damage plays a role in disposal decisions has not been studied. Therefore, using a survey-based, pre-experimental design, this research examined the extent to which varying levels of garment physical damage influences consumer disposal decisions and garment life extension practices in Edmonton, Canada. Results indicated that damage severity plays a significant role in how respondents choose to dispose, or otherwise deal with, their unwanted clothing. Garment quality and type were also shown to predict disposal method and end-oflife extension strategies.
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