Apparel and Textile Design Scholarship: Shared Knowledge, Dissemination, and Evaluation

Abstract

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.

Editors’ Notes: Advancing Design Scholarship in Textiles and Apparel

“…Despite Hahn’s (2020) prolific design practice, she noted, “Until I wrote this manuscript, I did not realize I had developed a body of work, let alone an evolving model of research through practice” (p. 15). Such thinking is supported by the Parsons and Morris (2020) finding that ITAA design scholars publish half as much as they exhibit. It is our hope that having models of design research practice, with a methodological foundation, a formulated design inquiry, methods of analysis, and synthesis of findings, will guide design scholars in their practice and manuscript writing.…”

“…Parsons and Morris (2020), in their manuscript, “Apparel and Textile Design Scholarship: Shared Knowledge, Dissemination, and Evaluation,” clarify the motivation for this special issue by presenting International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) members’ varied perceptions of apparel and textile design scholarship. Survey data were organized under the themes of shared knowledge, dissemination, and evaluation and contextualized through relevant literature.…”

A Case Study of Developing a Paralympic Shooting Jacket for Disabled Athletes

“…A lack of wear trials is a limitation of this research, and future research efforts should investigate wearability and performance testing of adaptive sportswear design. Despite this, this research fills a gap in the literature regarding developing a garment prototype, as called for by Parsons and Morris (2021).…”

“…Vuruskan and Ashdown (2017) assert that when used for prototype fitting, half-scale dress forms “also have benefits for various nonstandard body shapes” (p. 819). Previous research has shown that accurate patterns developed by experienced patternmakers on half-scale dress forms can eliminate the need for first fitting prototypes (Phoenix, 2018). Consequently, a half-scale dress form was deemed to complement 3D pattern development by helping to address some limitations currently observed with 3D.…”

“…We specifically adopted the problem-based design research approach in response to the call to action from Clothing and Textiles Research Journal design scholars (e.g., Bye, 2010;Haar & Bye, 2021;Parsons & Morris, 2021). Employing a single-case method, we investigated the functional, expressive, and aesthetic (FEA) needs (Lamb & Kallal, 1992) of a Paralympic athlete who uses a wheelchair and competes in the sport of rifle shooting.…”