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This paper aims to explore marketing practices related to online halal maternity wear by examining the characteristics of halal maternity wear promoted to Muslim women (Muslimah) and how these differ between sponsoring websites.

A qualitative content analysis of 24 websites promoting halal maternity wear to pregnant customers was undertaken.

Several issues related to the availability and promotion of halal maternity wear online, particularly when addressing the needs of Western Muslim women, were found. Successful marketing solutions to the problems of halal maternity wear require solving a number of tensions arising at the intersections of the following distinctions: mahram versus non-mahram settings, crude versus stylish fashion and the normative perceptions of immodesty versus modesty.

Careful research and attention need to be taken before promoting and targeting products as appropriate for Muslimah maternity wear. Those brands that display the requisite skills and knowledge necessary to determine whether a product meets the needs of modesty, fashionability and local climate/weather conditions in their maternity lines have much to gain from the Muslimah maternity market.

The availability of maternity wear that makes Muslimah feel comfortable and satisfied with their appearance will contribute to a positive pregnancy body image. Positive pregnancy body image is associated with positive pre and postnatal infant attachment by the mother, which in turn leads to beneficial outcomes for mother and baby.

Research to date has focused on Islamic fashion in general, with a dearth of research on Islamic maternity wear. This paper addresses the gap by focusing on maternity wear and associated marketing practices, from the Islamic point of view.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the significant factors important for prickle discomfort properties of commercial wool knitwear and to analyse information on variability of garments manufactured over two decades, a total of 177 purchased garments were tested.

The relationship between the attributes of the reversed engineered garments and garment comfort, as assessed by Wool ComfortMeter, was determined.

The results indicate that: mean fibre diameter had the most significant effect on prickle assessment; the coefficient of variation of fibre diameter interacted with fabric thickness in affecting prickle discomfort; and rib knit structures were pricklier than single jersey structures.

The results provide objective evidence that the consumer surveys reporting dissatisfaction with the prickle discomfort of wool are based on real consumer experiences of prickle discomfort and are not based on “prejudice” against wool garments.

This paper describes research undertaken at the Nottingham Trent University which investigated body movements and their relationship to garment design. The study identifies the difference between ergonomic measuring positions and the natural postures used by real figures in real activities. A new approach to the identification and coding of upper body postures has been made. A body coding system and a simple piece of equipment was designed that enables extended natural body positions to be recorded, thus achieving repeatability. This work enabled comparisons of aesthetic appearance and the functional comfort of women's tailored jackets to be examined.

This paper aims to investigate how different trajectories can be detected and classified in business models (BMs) at the level of their underlying product development value-structure (value-creation and appropriation), and what are the drivers. Such BMs are run by multinational firms to accommodate various technologies and innovations; however, this is stressful because of inherent incompatibilities and conflicts.

An explorative study of six product cases from Du Pont’s Textiles Fiber Division (DTFD), namely, nylon yarns, knits and wovens, DTFD blockbusters, Coolmax^®, MicroMattique™, filling materials and Supriva™, is conducted.

In value-creation, technology push or market pull yields resultant technology-forward or market-back trajectories. For value appropriation, new growth opportunities or continuous market expectations lead to breakthrough or continuous innovations. Consistent and inconsistent combinations of these trajectories yield four differential drivers: technological breakthrough, market-back technology, continuous technology and continuous market-back. This is supported by relevant supply chain strategies, either focused through joint ventures and licensees for commodities or vertically integrated for specialty products.

The paper adds to the analysis of ambidexterity in the value structure of BMs along constituent value-creation and appropriation, thus providing a logical lens to understand various complementarities that exist in terms of opposing technology trajectories and product innovation repertoire.

This study contributes to the knowledge of product innovation management in the textile industry, where both large-scale innovation and operational excellence are challenged over the past few decades.

The lessons learnt address the fundamental issue of higher value generation through configuration of multiple contrasting value-structure elements.

In the search for on or off‐line methods for condition monitoring of wear sensitive components, Thin Layer Activation (TLA) has much to offer. It is possible to measure very small surface losses directly, and by the use of double layer, or direct, or indirect sentinel layer modifications, wear of material to any depth can be measured. The technique can be applied to most materials and extended to virtually all materials and components by the use of treated plugs or inserts. Material loss can often be measured under operating conditions without dismantling equipment. The technique is reliable and of known useful life, ie there can be no electrical or mechanical failures of the implanted layer. The total radioactivity is very low and no modification of material surface properties is likely. The use of TLA in condition monitoring will speed up the identification of incipient faults.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived thermal comfort experienced by active Muslim women (AMW) wearing hijabs determined by their experience of comfort sensation while doing sports activities or regular exercises. This study also examines whether the casual hijabs which are widely used among AMW are able to supply the appropriate comfort for active purposes.

This study used the quantitative method using survey questionnaires to collect 100 primary data obtained from AMW respondents who are university students located around the Klang Valley region in Malaysia.

Based on the overall results, this study suggests that the common hijabs that are used for casual applications do not offer sufficient comfort to Muslim women while performing sports activities or regular exercises.

The outcome of this study will help to gain a better understanding on hijab preferences and comfort experienced from the viewpoint of regular hijab users. The information will assist industries to consider the selection of the right materials when developing sportswear hijabs to provide better comfort for more AMW in the near future. The method used in this study is useful to gain information on consumer’s profile and value-added details about the discomfort aspects of hijab which are scarce in the existing literature on thermal comfort.

This study was conducted to explore the type of hijabs commonly worn by AMW while performing sports activities and to obtain their views on the perceived thermal comfort.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the thermal‐physiological comfort performances of a sport shirt made of a polyester (PES) fabric with incorporated activated carbon. After having characterized the modified PES fabric in Part I, the results of a wear trial campaign are shown and discussed in this work.

The wear trials have been carried out under a controlled physical activity. A short‐and‐intense effort and an intermittent effort of milder intensity were carried out twice by each volunteer: once wearing a shirt made of the modified PES fabric and the other one wearing an analogous shirt made of a conventional PES fabric.

When sweating was moderate, the modified PES shirt was judged as more comfortable on the average. As the effort became harder, the modified PES fabric turned out to be less comfortable than the conventional one. In the final recovery stage, the conventional PES was still more comfortable than the modified PES. This behaviour was justified according to the findings of Part I: at the beginning, the prevailing effect was the adsorbing ability of carbon particles that buffer sweat impulses, giving the user a pleasant dry sensation. Then, when sweating became intense, the lower evaporative cooling of the modified PES fabric became the key factor governing the physiological comfort of the garment. This is confirmed by a slightly higher skin temperature measured during the modified PES fabric trials. Finally, a post‐exercise chill sensation was felt with the modified PES fabric, due to a longer drying time.

The paper presents a comprehensive study of the thermo‐physiological comfort of a fabric containing activated carbon particles.

The activewear industry would benefit from an evidence-based understanding of how activewear is incorporated into women’s lives and their changing participation in physical activity. Activewear brands may be missing the trend of women moving from organised sport to non-organised and individualised sport and recreation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the degree to which academic and industry research understood patterns and influences on female’s activewear consumption and identified what significant gaps are evident in understanding the drivers and industry trends that pertain to female consumers of activewear.

The systematic literature review sought academic and industry research papers. Articles were selected if they included female participants; and/or addressed consumer related information; and focussed on active wear. Article findings were thematically analysed.

Most literature exploring activewear consumption fails to take gender into consideration or explore unique female consumer profiles. Females are bringing activewear into other parts of their wardrobe and place more value on fashion, even for sports attire. Research identified the need for activewear brands to consider lifestyle, emotional and personality elements of consumer behaviour. However a specific focus on women’s branding was absent. Women’s age and generation influenced their activewear consumption. Although some industry reports discussed the shift in use of activewear, no studies explored the impact of the critical shift in women’s physical activity patterns on the activewear industry.

This review identifies the gap in knowledge regarding women’s activewear consumption patterns and needs, and the importance of reflecting the changes in female physical activity participation. It also links marketing and design of women’s activewear to the needs of female consumers based on their actual patterns and trends in physical activity. The findings are relevant to activewear researchers, brands, marketers and producers.

WHEN METALS ARE SHEARED or “cut” a compressive force of high intensity is applied to the metal by the cutting tool. The metal crystals are subjected to this force and the resulting stresses cause certain crystals to slip or flow in various directions along planes of slippage, the direction of slip normally being along planes of greatest atom density.

This report aims to study the influence of applied potentials on the corrosion-wear behavior of 316L stainless steel (SS) in artificial seawater.

In this study, wear-corrosion behavior of 316L SS had been studied under different applied potentials in artificial seawater by using a reformed pin-on-disc test rig. The applied potentials were selected ranging from –1.2 to 0.3 V (vs Ag/AgCl). The friction coefficient, mass loss rate and current density were determined.

It was indicated that mass loss was determined by the combined effect of mechanical wear and chemical corrosion. The wear-corrosion process was synergistic effects dominate while mechanical wear contributed the major material mass loss.

The results helped us to choose the appropriate metals for application under the specified environment.

The main originality of this research is to reveal the corrosion-wear behavior of 316L SS under different potentials, which would help us to understand different states of 316L SS under different corrosion environments.