• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.73-86
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• 2024

Addressing the environmental impact of textile waste, this study explores upcycling as a sustainable fashion solution, particularly focusing on the upcycling of discarded fishing nets, which are a significant source of marine pollution. In 2018, South Korea alone produced 193.3 tons of clothing waste, refelcting a global trend, where textile waste exceedsed 92 million tons. The research methodology involved a literature review and case studies on upcycled fashion, focusing on discarded fishing nets. Designs for three outfits targeting women in their twenties were proposed and a survey was carried out to assess the their perception of upcycled fashion and the design's appeal and practicality. Under the theme, 'Marine Spirit,' the study aimed to raise awareness of marine pollution, drawing inspiration from the ocean's vibrant life. The designs diverge from the monotonous 'Casual Glam' trend, and incorporate vivid colors and asymmetrical structures for visual appeal. The practical application of fishing nets varied across the pieces, serving as fillers in transparent PVC padded coats and decorative elements in skirts and puff dresses. The distinctive properties of fishing nets provide a unique aesthetic, which resonated well with the target audience. Despite challenges in adopting eco-friendly dyeing methods and assessing mass production feasibility, the study underscores the need for continued research in sustainable textile processing. The study reaffirms the importance of sustainable fashion, highlighting the creative potential of fishing nets as a material.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.732-738
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• 2023

This study delves into the realm of upcycling beauty design by repurposing discarded CDs, magazines, and fabrics. The study outlines a meticulous process for transforming waste into beauty designs. We created three upcycling beauty design works as part of this investigation. The first creation, called Silver Leaf, uses the silver section of CDs to craft leaves and stems. Achromatic colors are used as makeup to achieve cyber-inspired imagery. After carrying out silver-gray eye makeup, the lips were completed by affixing a CD component. The second creation is a firebird crafted by cutting or folding fashion magazines to create essential items. The colorful firebird image was completed using vivid color makeup of shades such as red and yellow. After proceeding with red eye makeup, the lips were completed by cutting and pasting magazine cutouts. The third piece is a spring flower, which involved selectively cutting lace patterns to complete a beauty design extending from head to face. The colors are spring-themed and encompass pink, yellow, and blue. Pink, blue, and green eyeshadows were applied on the lace, attached from head to face, chest, and lips. This study advocates for the prospect of upcycling beauty design using sustainable materials by repurposing waste resources. It also introduces the possibilities of creative activities in this field through upcycling. The study aims to play a role in changing the perception of environmental conservation, a concern of our times, through the use of sustainable resources.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.899-918
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• 2018

Upcycling is the process of repurposing abandoned resources or useless products into products of better quality or higher environmental value. Upcycling products are evaluated to be sustainable because they demonstrate environmental values. However, domestic upcycling companies are operating on a small scale with a slow growth rate. This study aims to examine the value and risk factors of upcycling products from previous literature and clarify the effect of these ambivalent characteristics on purchase intention. This provides direction regarding factors upcycling companies should focus on. The data were collected via an online experiment with women in their 20s and 30s residing in South Korea, nationwide. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 18.0. Analysis of this data suggests that environmental, design, and self-expression value positively affect purchase intention. This extends previous upcycling literature by identifying design and self-expression value as important antecedents of purchase intention. However, in contrast to previous literature, no significant effect of performance or diversity risk was found. These results indicate that ethical attitude has a moderating effect on the relationship between environmental value and purchase intention. This study confirms that consumers intend to purchase upcycling products when they possess not only environmental value but also design and self-expression value.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.168-177
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to investigate sustainable fashion flows and to outline their characteristics by analysing Esthetica as the largest trade-based sustainable fashion exhibition in the UK. Most of the researchers have focused on its ethical meaning rather than on fashionable criteria or marketable value. This pioneer work could be helpful in order to plan and study sustainable fashion flows. The research method is to identify characteristics of sustainable fashion trends through literature reviews and case studies focused on the UK, Esthetica events and participating brands. The following results were obtained. Upcycling suggests the extension of a product's lifecycle, a trend on the increase. Transparency is the crucial issue in sustainable fashion. Estethica shows that nurturing sustainable brands is one effective way of boosting the sustainable industry, as well as encouraging the production of sustainable products. Sustainable fashion has come to be included in mainstream fashion in terms of aesthetics and commercial competitiveness. Finally, sustainable fashion highlights quality of garments. Thus, Esthetica shows the present of sustainable fashion and its future, that is, sustainable fashion not just as a trend but a lifestyle for both its consumers and the industry. As the sustainable industry is a growing sector, it would be useful to carry out separate in-depth case studies on leading sustainable brands and qualitative aspects.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.1-16
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• 2023

Due to the current seriousness of environmental pollution and the eco-friendly movement of the fashion industry, research on sustainable fashion design is being actively conducted. In this study, consumer perception of upcycling products, are divided into image, function, and meaning; and image is further divided into shape, color, and material. It was redefined as pattern, and image recognition was evaluated among men and women in their 20s and 30s, and men and women in their 40s and 50s used as subjects. First, factors that determine each image were extracted based on qualitative analysis of the precedent cases of upcycling bags, and quantitative analysis of the subjects was induced through a questionnaire. As a result of the analysis of evaluation items related to image association, the average frequency analysis of all subjects for each stimuli and the cognitive variance of the frequency analysis by generation by gender were found to be similar. However, awareness of some stimuli by generation showed a significant difference. Overall, in the three stimuli with high overall preference, common features, such as the basic box-shaped symmetrical structure, the monochromatic color of the Munsell system, solid and practical texture, and appropriate use of patterns were identified. In addition, it was confirmed that there was a difference with factors such as femininity, simplicity, touch, and splendor in the measurement factors. In conclusion, it is considered that the main significance of this study is that it excluded the recognition and meaning of upcycling products and explored the original design and image elements of products. Therefore, it is expected that this study will be used as a basic data for responding to the gender image of each generation as an alternative method of sustainable fashion design, and it will be an opportunity to expand the scope of the study to a detailed study beyond the biased topic.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.34-47
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• 2024

This study aimed to enhance public awareness of the growing issue of automobile waste and promote environmental protection by developing visually appealing and innovative clothing designs. By leveraging successful examples of upcycled fashion design and products that could recycle automobile waste, this study proposed four garment designs utilizing various materials such as seat belts, leather seat fabrics, and airbags from automobile waste. Ultimately, two of these garments were produced as physical prototypes. Findings of this study are summarized as follows. First, the development of upcycled fashion products utilizing automotive waste opened new possibilities for sustainable fashion design. This approach demonstrates potential to meet demands of modem consumers who prioritize environmental values and social responsibility. Second, the study established an important foundation for understanding market acceptance and consumer perception of upcycled fashion products using automotive waste. As consumer awareness of environmental protection grows and demand for sustainable products increases, these upcycled products are likely to gain significant traction in the fashion industry.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.73-85
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to conduct more practical subsequent research by identifying research areas through a systematic analysis of sustainable fashion design research trends. For this study, 117 journals domestic journals published between 2010 and 2020 were selected using the keyword, 'sustainable fashion'. With the research materials, six top keywords, 'zero waste', 'sustainability', 'eco-friendly', 'upcycling', 'recycling', and 'ethical', were derived. The research status was examined by year, keyword, keyword and year, and research topic. The analysis results are as follows. First, looking into the studies by year, it was found that research on sustainable fashion increased in general. Compared to 2010, the research tripled in 2020, and it was found to have increased steadily from 2018. Second, regarding the research by keyword, eco-friendly was the most common. It can be seen that research tended to focus on recycling or eco-friendliness before, but in later material design development was heading towards upcycling. Third, concerning the research by topic, case studies were found the most before, but research on design development tended to increase recently. Based on that, it is expected that the areas of sustainable fashion design that need more research will be investigated further.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.572-584
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• 2021

The emergence of environmental and social issues has led to global discussions for the realization of sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to propose a method of sustainable fashion design using waste Hanbok, focusing on men's Hanbok with cultural values. The study utilizes literature research and fashion design development. From the literature study, reform was judged to be a higher concept encompassing reduction, recycling, and upcycling. Reduction is a design method through removal, and recycling design transforms from its original form into a completely different product. Upcycling design focuses on improvement and change in functionality. Accordingly, nine redesigns using men's Hanbok were developed from which three were produced. Consequently, the reduction design demonstrated a small range of variation without changing the item, and cultural sustainability was confirmed through the design that removed the components and recombined the Hanbok. Second, recycling redesign can be reconstituted into a different item. Third, upcycling enables various designs through module assembly, which prolongs the lifespan of the product and confirms its value as a raw material for waste Hanbok. This study is meaningful in realizing sustainable fashion and suggesting practical measures for the sustainability of Korean traditional culture and creative fashion design planning.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.80-89
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• 2024

This study aims not only to address environmental issues caused by indiscriminate fashion consumption, specifically in the context of Fast Fashion but also to find an alternative and a sustainable solution that is 'Upcycling' using the 3D clothing simulation program Z-weave. Upcycling products have limitations in that it is difficult to produce samples since finished products must be produced directly with limited materials and resources like waste clothes. To overcome these limitations, a 3D clothing simulation program is introduced to effectively utilize the limited resources of waste clothing. The purpose of this study is to confirm the similarity between a virtual fabric created through Z-weave and a real fabric, through this, to evaluate the possibility of application in the actual fashion industry. As a research method, surveys and interviews were conducted with related majors on virtual clothing created as similar as possible to actual clothing by adjusting the physical properties within the Z-weave program. This study attempted to describe the impact of digital technology on the fashion industry and how 3D clothing simulation programs can be used in sustainable fashion production.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.890-911
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• 2020

This study proposed a base framework for creating sustainable designs with textile production waste and unused neckties with the "design thinking" approach, which is an iterative process. It aimed to set an example of how fashion designers can plan and manage their clothing design processes in a more sustainable way by recycling textile production scraps and unused neckties into unique clothing pieces with the upcycling method. Unused neckties and upholstery scraps were turned into skirts, blouses, and dresses by using creative techniques in line with current fashion trends. In addition, the five-stage iterative design process followed was explained, and the way in which the waste textile materials gained value by being converted into unique garments was discussed in terms of the user and the designer. Through the study, it was observed that the smallest amount of textile waste can be transformed into upcycled clothing via the iterative process, and original, value-added products enjoyed by consumers can be created. In addition, it was observed that the design thinking approach improves the understanding of the context of the problem, creativity in the generation of insights and solutions, skills to materialize those solutions through iterative prototyping, and the ability to combine these factors. Promising ideas to help designers develop recycling strategies were also provided.