Advances in Science and Technology Vol. 113

Abstract: Mobile applications present a wide range of opportunities for fashion brands to connect with the consumer. To the knowledge of the authors, understanding how users perceive touchscreen features is still in an early stage. Part of an ongoing research, this study aims to collect users’ general views about the concept of a digital magazine that explores the potential of the iPad to advertise content. A sentence completion technique was administered to identify positive and negative aspects, as well as to examine emerging themes. The results provide compelling evidence that interactivity has the potential to attract users. This finding is promising, and future studies should explore how brands can take advantage of this type of platforms to engage with their audience.

Abstract: The human visual system is able to adapt to a wide range of the adaptive luminance levels. However, the chroma was found to be the most affected attribute in the assessments. Several color appearance models have been proposed to describe adaptation mechanisms and predict the color appearance at different luminance levels. A set of 72 color pairs of samples that surround four color centers with high chroma was prepared to the test the prediction performance of the CAMs. The visual assessment of these color pairs was performed at eight luminance levels including photopic, mesopic and scotopic luminance levels. The data from visual assessment were used to the test prediction performance of six color difference formula and color appearance models, namely CIELAB, CIECAM02, CAM02-UCS, CAM16, CAM16-UCS and CAM16-UCS with power function.

Abstract: Digital transformation is changing the textile machinery industry. The growing digital development is breaking down the traditional barriers of the industry, leading to advantages for both the textile machinery enterprises and their customers. Accordingly, many academics and practitioners believe that, in the next years, rethinking the future of this sector in the light of digitalization will be crucial. However, scientific research about digital transformation in the textile machinery industry is lacking. This paper tries to bridge this gap by carrying out a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach through 17 in-depth interviews with a sample of Italian textile machinery companies. The aim of this paper is to provide insights on the level of awareness within the industry and a holistic overview about the main drivers, challenges and opportunities which have to be taken into account towards leveraging of new technologies. Finally, the article suggests some possible developments for further research.

Abstract: The circular economy has been an emerging theme in the strategic decisions of different industrial sectors as an alternative to reducing the negative impact generated by the linear economy that extracts, transforms, uses, and discards our planet's resources without a second chance for reuse. In this way, most industrial sectors are looking for new business models based on circularity that can reduce the effects generated by the residues of their production processes and that can cause serious damage in the environmental, social, cultural, and economic. In the textile sector, issues related to waste management become even more evident, due to the relevance of this segment in the world economy and the extension of its production chain. In this context, the main objective of the article is to assess the potential and challenges of the Portuguese textile industry in the implementation of business models based on the circular economy for the reuse of textile waste. In the first phase, the work was carried out through systematic research of literature review in current indexed studies to investigate the theme of circular business models. In the second moment, qualitative research was carried out based on a case study in the textile industry RioPele in Portugal. Data collection took place through semi-structured interviews, in loco, in January 2020 with the managers responsible for the company's sustainability department. The results indicate as potential the fact that the company already integrates sustainability into its corporate values, applies circularity in the development of new products, is supported by class institutions, research centers and universities and recognizes this collaboration as a decisive factor for the success of its business model focused on waste reuse. However, it points out as a difficulty the still high costs for the transition to the circular economy and the need for more effective communication actions to share the principles of circularity and generate greater awareness in its customers and other stakeholders. The results of the investigation can help other industries in the textile segment to realize the advantages of reusing their waste for a more circular textile economy with strong brands that can generate positive impacts on society.

Abstract: The fashion industry market is intrinsically dynamic and mutable. Emerging trends lead consumers and industry to a mindset transformation, through a deep shift in the paradigms of creation, production, and acquisition. The footwear industry recognizes the potential of this reality, focusing on the development of innovative strategies based on collaborative mass customization. In Portugal, despite footwear being a mature industry, it is necessary to continuously invest in innovation-based competitiveness. Thus, based on two surveys, one addressed to a group of seven Portuguese manufacturers (with no mass customization experience), and the other to a group of three Portuguese experts (specialized in footwear customization), critical information about expectations versus reality was gathered. The main objective was to obtain specific and exhaustive data, based on qualitative elements. In this way, it is aimed to contribute to the theoretical reflection of the collaborative design applied to the customization of footwear based on the overview of the Portuguese industry.

Abstract: The growing environmental crisis and the proliferation of social inequality, with affective ties to the movements of predatory neoliberal globalization, desperately claim for the constitution of a truly sustainable future. To this end, it is essential to implement ethical, empathic, and cooperative behaviors and the reorientation of the market to consider the coexistence of human beings with nature in harmony. In this context, the global fashion system, characterized by mass production, low cost, and promoting excessive disposable consumption, devalues the natural diversity of the biosphere - from the extraction of raw materials to waste produced in the post-consumption - and contributes, directly and exponentially, to aggravate social inequalities and fracture, increasingly, the imbalance of ecosystems. The concept and practices of the Circular Economy have often been addressed to implement a sustainable production chain; however, it still neglects the social and cultural dimensions. Founded on the fashion production chain processes and their impacts on the lives of those who manufacture garments, on the community and environment in which we live, the purpose of this article is to present a sustainable model for designing and manufacturing fashion products. Social Economy values such as the social development of the people and communities involved, holistic development of the human being, diffusion of feelings of cooperation, respect, solidarity, and commitment, and, above all, ethical behaviors are the groundwork of this study. This framework absorbs characteristics of the Social Economy in the fashion industry and values sustainable human development supported by educational programs for workers, socially responsible sewing workshops, collaborative design, recognition of local knowledge, and social entrepreneurship. Furthermore, this model will empower the wage-earner community that produces fashion by participating in the design and development of apparel products. The methodology used included a literature review and analysis of reports; after identifying critical points of Social Economy theories, this study aims to provide a fairer model for developing products oriented towards the humanization of productive relations, transparency, and sustainability. Despite including SE's humanistic components to fulfill the CE's social gaps, this plan for Social Circularity can only overcome a few of the recurrent problems in fashion production. Standing as an in-progress framework requires both validation and deepening of socio-ecological aspects in implementing a holistic economy in its total multidimensionality.

Abstract: The movements favoring sustainability have required new business models with innovative, disruptive, and decentralized characteristics. As the fashion industry is one of the main responsible for environmental pollution and scandals of an ethical nature, nothing will change if the linear production system maintains. Although awareness and research on sustainable fashion have increased significantly over the past decade, the question remains how to integrate the concept of sustainability into the fashion design process or how well-established companies can do the transition to a sustainable model or system. Therefore, this study aims to map and analyse "sustainable business models" based on the State of the Art and through a Portuguese textile company's case study to understand the challenges for implementing products' circularity.

Abstract: Recent technological advancements have a fundamental potential to transform 21st century textile engineering [1]. Thus, it is essential to further incorporate innovations in industry. In textile engineering education alike, innovative teaching methods, for instance, learning through virtual reality [2], learning by making [3], and game-based learning [4] are apt, and in fact, required methods to teach these subjects for Industry 4.0 in a more understandable and holistic way. Specifically, game-based learning is seen as beneficial in textile engineering education in the part of knowledge acquisition, student engagement and independent learning [4]. This paper presents a pilot study about how online textile games (‘ChoiCo’-Choices with Consequences) co-created with industry partners in the scope of an Erasmus+ KA2 project (T-CREPE), have been incorporated into a design engineering course in a university in Belgium. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the impact of using digital games in textile engineering education and students’ gains from this approach. Ten (n = 10) textile engineering students participated in questionnaires providing quantitative and qualitative data about the games. Also, reflection reports written by students for each game provided personal insights. The results have shown that games can be useful in textile engineering education by improving students’ 21st century skills (e.g., critical thinking, problem solving, self-learning).

Abstract: Education and research play a key role in Finland’s systematic transition towards a circular economy. LAB University of Applied Sciences (LAB) has been a part of several national and international circular economy research and development projects to develop teaching methods and learning environments in cooperation with industry leaders. This article presents the main results and discusses three different projects where LAB has been involved in the development of circular economy expertise in the textile and clothing sector.

Abstract: The textile industry has developed throughout the 21st century highly sustained by the accuracy of time control, reduction of waiting times and intensification of working time regimes. It is one of the industries where the times and methods were best tested and where mass production model was intensely developed. In parallel, the textile industry followed through a colossal transformation at the level of lifestyles, with the increase diversification of fashion consumption [1]. Currently, the textile industry is associated with various fashion consumer products, in addition to clothing. It is one of the most important in the world, with a relevant impact on the economy, at regional and national levels, such is the case of Portugal. In this context of high acceleration, the paper focus on two important ideas: i) companies are ever more facing the need to adapt to the ever-increasing time flexibility, mobility and fragmentation that characterize young graduates’ expectations and ways of live; ii) these cultural changes on values of time are demanding new modes of organizing and administering time and human resources in the organizations [2].