• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.123-143
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• 1998

The aim of this paper is to investigate the women's apparel distribution channel in the well-known department stores located in the central Seoul area. Since the department store has its reputation, information and enormous buying power, it is the one of the major leading retails in the women's apparel industry. In doing so, the relationship between the channel members in terms of the level of dependence, power sources and perceived conflict and manifest conflict has been studied. Particularly, based on French and Raven's power sources, position source is added. It refers to a channel member's (Merchandizer in the department store) source over another based on the expection the former (Merchandizer in the department store) will be able to allocate the location and size of the store influencing the latter's sale and profit. The key informants are the merchandizers who work in the apparel companies contracting with major department stores. Finally, of the 284 questionnaires collected, 235 are usable. The hypotheses are tested through LISREL. The results of statistical analysis support that : Dependence has a positive effect on noncoercive bases of power. Coercive bases of power have a positive effect on manifest conflict as well as perceived conflict while noncoercive bases of power have a negative effect mainly on manifest conflict. Thus, the relation between the major department stores and the women's apparel companies in there seems to have bilateral dependence rather than highly unilateral dependence.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.958-969
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• 2002

No one doubts that textile and apparel industries have contributed to economic miracles of the export-led growth in Korea. However, by the turning of 1990′s, these sectors have encountered many problems such as decreasing of domestic production and exports mainly due to wage rise and shortage. Therefore, foreign direct investment to the low labor cost countries has been enlarged for a way of improving its competitiveness and increasing exports. However, no intensive study has been made exploring current investments and future directions. This study focuses Vietnam as one of the promising overseas investment countries. The purposes of this study are to analyze current investment status of Korean textiles and apparel firms in Vietnam, to explore merits and problems Vietnam has, and to present useful implications and strategies for Korean textiles and apparel companies. Analysis of current secondary data suggests that Korean apparel industry, rather than textiles industry, have invested more in Vietnam, mostly in southern Ho Chi Minh City. Investments of Korean apparel and textile firms have shown steady increase from 1990 but have turned to a decrease from 1995. Findings suggested that Vietnam has merits for attracting foreign investment since it provides relatively cheap labor and outstanding skillful hands suitable for apparel and textiles industries. In addition, because of EU quota increase and the trade agreement between Vietnam and USA it is likely for firms in Vietnam to increase exports to EU and USA Rapid expansion of domestic apparel market and "Korean trend (Han Rue)" in Vietnam resulted from successful star marketing of Korean firms are another merits Vietnam has to the Korean fm. However, regulations of central government, low efficiency of bureaucratic and stiff administrative process, difficulty of making decision in case of joint venture, lack of social overhead capital, high factory construction costs, weak construction condition, and the excessive competition among investment enterprises have found to be problems. Based on pros and cons of investment to Vietnam, marketing strategies, practical implications and future directions were suggested.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.819-830
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• 2003

Korea is facing great threat from other countries as a major global sourcing site for textile and apparel products. The threat has been augmented by changes in external environment such as advents of Trading Blocs and Free Trade Area(FTA) as well as internal environment such as hikes in labor cost and lack of flexibility in accommodating international buyers' needs. This study analyzed international buyers' sourcing activities in Korea for the purpose of developing strategies to enhance competitiveness of the Korean textile and apparel industries in the global market. The data used in this study were gathered by surveying 52 non-Korean textile and apparel product buyers with cooperation of the Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI). The data were analyzed by mean, frequency, Pearson correlation coefficient, and ｘ$^2$ analysis. The results indicated that Korea is still attractive to many international buyers especially to those who have been engaged in global sourcing for longer periods of time with bigger purchasing budgets. However, in order to expand and solidify their customer bases, Korean companies should focus more on developing competitively priced value added products a step ahead of their foreign competitors, diversifying their marketing channels including internet.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.141-156
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to investigate current QR technology usages and merchandisers' roles and information activities in the Korean apparel industry. Data were collected by interview and questionnaire with merchandisers in apparel companies, manufacturing apparels for both men and women. Statistical analyses were t-test, ANOVA, frequency with SAS program. The results of the study were as follows: 1. The usage of QR technology was generally low. But POS, bar-coding, logistics and small lot order were highly used compared to other technologies. CAD, automated sewing operation, unit product system, logistics, and small lot order were more used in domestic national brand than in import license brand. POS applications were more used in product planning division than in others. 2. Merchandisers played important roles in making major decisions on cost price, sales price, manufacturing request, delivery data, production quantity, produce mix, budget planning, market timing and delivery channels. Products planning was conducted mostly on a monthly basis. Price was determined mainly according to cost price, while the production quantity depended on the last year's sales. Usually sales were analyzed on a daily basis. 3. Merchandisers got more information on fashion them and color trend from foreign information sources than from domestic, while more information on fabrication from domestic sources. For fashion design information they used the equal amount from domestic and foreign sources. Over all degree of utilization in each field of fashion information was fugured rather high.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.31 no.5 s.164
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• pp.765-776
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• 2007

Customer expectations and requirements for products play an important role in product planning for companies and decision making process for the consumer. These expectations are expressed by product qualities that consumers consider important when they purchase. Therefore, to identify quality elements that reflect consumer requirements would be a useful guide for companies. The purposes of this study are to find out quality factors of apparel product, to identify apparel product quality elements using Kano's theory, to find attributes of product which improvement are required. Women over 20 years-old from metropolitan areas in South Korea participated in the study and a quota sampling method was used. A questionnaire was arranged with four separate subject sections, importance of quality, Kano's questionnaires, and demographics. Data from 525 questionnaires were used for the statistical analysis. The results were as follows: Six dimensions of product quality(i.e., usefulness, performance, aesthetic, symbol, individuality and appearance) were identified. According to Kano's quality elements, performance was categorized into must-be quality which could lead to product dissatisfaction. Usefulness and appearance were categorized into one-dimensional quality which lead to both satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Aesthetic, symbol, and individuality was categorized into attractive quality which could lead to satisfaction. Findings of this study provide both industry and academic researchers with a guide to increase customer satisfaction in the product development process.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.193-208
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• 2020

This study investigated similarities and differences between 2D flat sketch, 3D virtual clothing and real clothing images. Flat sketch, 3D virtual clothing, and real clothing images of T-shirts and dresses were made. Questionnaires were prepared for fit evaluation, sensory evaluation, and location evaluation. A survey of 440 questionnaires was collected from Chinese women in their 20s and 30s. As results of the sensibility evaluation, 3D virtual clothing expressed real clothing images slightly more similar than a 2D flat sketch. As results of the fit evaluation of the dresses, 2D flat sketch and 3D virtual clothing were rated as slightly longer/wider, and real clothing images were rated as slightly shorter/narrower. The results suggested that presenting 3D images with avatars as 3D virtual clothing images will provide more accurate fit evaluation results. This study presented possibilities and methods for apparel companies to utilize 3D system as an effective apparel production tool.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.1044-1059
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• 2013

The fashion industry has become more interested in sustainable fashion design due to the demand for environmental action based on increased social responsibility awareness and environmentalism. In the current sustainability fashion industry, guidelines for sustainable fashion design are essential. This study suggests guidelines for a sustainable design process based on a theoretical and practical approach. An analysis of several global fashion brands will be applied to the whole apparel design process. This paper will explore the sustainable fashion design process and deal with LCD, as an important factor, by analyzing three global fashion brands: 'H&M', 'NIKE', and 'Levi's'. These three companies are the most active in the area of sustainable performance. The sustainable fashion guidelines will be controlled based on a strategy of practical use in design for sustainable (DFS) fashion industry. The results indicate that the fashion industry has to invest heavily in the future rather than focus on short-term profits; consequently, sustainability is a new growth direction for fashion companies. In addition, the fashion industry should work towards sustainable design under a clear understanding of its goals.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.1046-1056
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• 2001

For the purpose of standardizing sizing systems for infants and children's clothing, the researchers surveyed 20 different apparel manufacturers in Korea. The apparel production sizing systems used in the industry were analysed. The researchers also compared standard apparel sizing systems developed for infants and children's clothing in Korea. ISO, Japan, and U.S.A. The followings are the results of this study. 1. As survey findings of companies's views about sizing systems, boys or girls sizing system needed to be developed for 3 years old and over. The plus sizes are needed to be developed and children 9 years old and over need the plus size. 2. The body size specification in most sizing systems collected shows that chest circumference was increased 2cm for every infants sizes, and 3cm for boys and girls'sizes, from size 100 to size 130. However, the chest and waist circumference measurements were increased 4 to 8cm for large sizes, from size 130 to size 170. 3. There are similarity and dissimilarity among the standard sizing systems of ISO, Japan(JIS), U.S.A(ASTM), and Korea(KS). The ASTM developed infants'garment sizes for the babies who are 24months old and under. The most national standards, however, developed infant apparel sizing system for the babies under 105cm tall or 4 years old. 4. The range of body measurements covered by boys/girls sizing system were different by the nation. The U.S. system (ASTM) is for boys and girls who are taller than 120cm. The Japanese system(JIS) is for the children who are taller than 90cm.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.30 no.1 s.149
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• pp.1-11
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to analyze the current CRM situation in Korean apparel industry. Specifically, research purposes were 1) to examine the concepts and benefits of CRM, 2) to examine CRM strategies, 3) to analyze CRM system(i.e., customer relationship management service, customer segmentation criteria, DB management system), and 4) to analyze the potential problems and CRM adoption plan. The subjects for this research were thirty CRM managers in Korean apparel firms classified by the company type(woman's wear, man's wear, casual wear, children's wear, retailer) interviewed from December 2003 to March 1004. The results of this study were as follows: First, the concept of CRM represented the prime customer relationship, continuous consideration, and customer management system. The benefits of CRM reflected re-sales, improvement of profit share, and acquisition of customer's data base. Second, concerning the CRM strategies, most companies focused on persistent customer management through mileage program, membership cards and also implemented product strategies such as demand forecasting, customization based on customer data analysis. We also found that industry preferred to use pricing strategies, for example, segmentation of customer through discrepancies of price in which customers are provided by discount and gift voucher services. Regarding distribution strategy, channel diversification, localized service, and convenient delivery system were used. As promotion strategies, they chose celebrating customers' personal events and promoting cultural events and issuing coupons. Third, regarding CRM system, information service was the most frequently adopted, important and highly beneficial category. Also POS/web-POS, homepage were main sources of information. RFM is the mostly commonly used customer segmentation criteria. Fourth, potential problems in CRM adoption were lack of CRM knowledge and performance measurement of CRM. Future CRM adoption plan included CRM education and development of CRM performance measures.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.120-134
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• 2007

The usage of basic bodice blocks at men's apparel companies is investigated and the domestic and international men's upper bodice blocks are compared to find directions of research on development of bodice basic blocks. The following conclusions are found in this study. 1. The survey shows that basic bodice blocks are not used at men's apparel companies although all the respondents have good knowledge on bodice basic blocks. They responded that basic bodice blocks for representative body figures of each age category or of each country would help comparative studies on domestic and international basic bodice blocks and development of exporting apparel products. Also, they expected the utilization of men's basic bodice blocks both as education materials and in studies of design, of body figures, and of basic blocks for industry. 2. The comparative study on men's bodice blocks shows that waist circumference, hip circumference, neck circumference, height, and shoulder length, in addition to the minimal essential size items such as chest circumference and center back length, are used in most basic bodice blocks. The size formulae of each basic block are compared to find how the sizes are determined. For center back length, either measured back length or a certain proportion of height is used. For front and back interscyes, chest circumference is used in most basic bodice blocks. Either measured size, or a certain proportion of height or chest circumference is used for back height. The averaged ease allowances of basic bodice blocks are 3.2 cm for chest circumference, 10.8 cm for waist circumference, 1.2 cm for front interscye, 0.1 cm for back interscye, 0.2cm for shoulder length, and 0 cm for center back length. However, body blocks for different types of clothes have different ease allowances. Shirt basic blocks have ease allowances of 6.1 cm for chest circumference, 13.7 cm for waist circumference, 1.4 cm for front interscye, 0.6 cm for back interscye, 1.2 cm for shoulder length, and 1.8 cm for center back length. On the other hand, jacket basic blocks have ease allowances of 8.8 cm for chest circumference, 16 cm for waist circumference, 1.1 cm for front interscye, 1.4 cm for back interscye, 1.1 cm for shoulder length, and 0.8 cm for center back length.