Exploring apparel design and fit for older women: a technology intervention

ABSTRACT

With the rapid growth of the older population, older women represent high purchasing power in the fashion market. However, the lack of attention from the fashion industry makes older women hard to find appropriate apparel in terms of fit and style. The purpose of this study was to explore ways to improve apparel fit and design attributes for older women by investigating practical design applications through the use of various emerging technology in the apparel industry. Findings indicated that integrating 2D and 3D computer-aided design technologies into the apparel design process can provide flexibility and effective visual analysis as well as save time and materials compared to the traditional design method of cut and sew. Therefore, our study presented a case for a particular target population in terms of technology integration methods to better respond to the current needs.

KEYWORDS:

• Older women
• apparel fit
• virtual prototyping
• 3D parametric avatar

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Youngji Lee http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5953-8575

Fatma Baytar http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6666-2902