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This is the first of two papers in which the design theories underlining the work of contemporary European and Japanese fashion designers are explored. In this paper, four general, major influential factors are discussed; specifically, the historical factor, the aesthetic factor, the cultural factor and the marketing factor. In order to investigate the underlying design theories of European fashion designers, two European fashion designers with international reputations are discussed, namely, Christian Lacroix and Karl Lagerfeld. These design theories are contrasted with those of two Japanese designers, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo. The images of their customers, sources of inspiration, and possible underlying design theories are analysed with reference to their contemporary work.

Bridge lines represent a way for designers to expand their business, because typically designer merchandise is supplied to a limited number of stores. With bridge lines, the prices are lower and the line can be supplied to more stores. The bridge line market has been rapidly evolving in recent years. Retailers are paying close attention to this sector, particularly in the light of the stagnant demand for more expensive designer ready‐to‐wear collections. Despite the general economic recession, the culture of wearing fashion in the 1990s has paved the way to the growth of bridge lines.

In the last decade, apparel companies mainly focused on achieving the best FOB (freight on board) price, the best quality, and the shortest lead time for their products in order to achieve commercial success. As a result they sourced globally to optimise their costs. However, there arose a growing awareness of different sourcing criteria in the textiles and apparel industry. For instance, human rights issues and environmental requirements emerged as crucial factors in the selection of business partners. Addressing consumer concerns has recently become a very important strategy for apparel companies. They are therefore more concerned about products sourced from the Third World whose manufacture violates human rights and causes environmental damage. As a result, ethical and green consumerism will become the trend in the future. An increasing number of people prefer to buy products and services from companies that are socially responsible, and they are willing to pay a premium for them. Concurrent with the changes in individual purchasing behaviour under the influence of ethical and green consumerism will be the increasing collective consumer pressure on producers of goods and services to produce ecologically friendly products using ecologically friendly materials and processes which do not violate human rights or use child labour. The increased awareness of these issues has forced apparel companies, especially those with brands, to develop specific guidelines or a code of conduct to ensure that their business partners comply with these newly established requirements. In the research under discussion, an industry survey was carried out to identify the essential criteria for selecting and evaluating business partners. Subsequently, evaluation models were derived for the selection of business partners. Feedback from the industry highlighted the fact that there is a need for a standardised, recognised evaluation method to be developed. If such a method were widely adopted, ethical standards would be raised and ultimately the quality of life of the communities in which garments are manufactured, sold and worn would be improved.

This paper reveals an under researched phenomenon: the ways that export-oriented, original equipment manufacturing (OEM) clothing companies upgrade to original brand manufacturing (OBM), and the implementation challenges involved, especially at the high end of the market. In order to provide an in-depth understanding of this particular phenomenon, this research adopts a qualitative form of methodology and features a case study of recent business practice in Hong Kong.

The background of the Hong Kong clothing manufacturers is examined from the perspective of the global commodity chain (GCC). A review of OBM opportunities in Hong Kong is conducted and the possible explanations for initiating OBM are also identified.

The insights from the Fenix case study reveals the advantages of adopting an indirect path towards achieving OBM, factors governing decisions and actions during the transformation, inherent obstacles of branding in the high-end market and the synergies of running the OEM and OBM business models in one company. These insights serve as an example of success in both transforming the enterprise from OEM to OBM and diversification of markets to sustain OBM business activities.

This paper discusses recent research into the role of interactive fashion in human communication. The focus is on sound and the possibilities of how fashion can interact with sound to contribute to a new way of initiating social interaction and expressing one's emotions. Innovation for the application of sound in fashion design has been undertaken in order to explore the creative possibilities of developing a sound-fashion-human interactive system. A series of experiments have been conducted and innovative prints are designed. A fashion collection has then been designed and presented in the form of illustrations. This realizes the processes of interpreting human-sound-fashion interaction in fashion, highlights the feasibility of application to contemporary design and facilitates further analysis of its contribution towards the development of the fashion industry. The feasibility of applying interactive fashion in a collection is evaluated by using a mixture of methods, such as questionnaire survey and self evaluation. Finally, predictions about the potential influence of the experimental work on the future fashion industry are made.

The first author is currently registered as a doctoral research student at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. This paper is derived from the findings of a full-time doctoral research programme relating to the design theory of international fashion designers. The researcher stayed in London for three weeks for the purpose of data collection. The method of data collection included in-depth interviews, observations and questionnaire survey. The purpose of this paper is to formulate the underlying design theory of British fashion designers by using the qualitative research method of grounded theory developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967) and Glaser (1978). Different factors influencing fashion designers when creating new fashion are examined. A framework of factors influencing fashion designers is developed. Constructs for a grounded theory of fashion designers are synthesised from in-depth interviews, observations and questionnaire surveys of 25 fashion designers, students and educators in London. The design theory of the British fashion designers is portrayed through the major constructs subsequently identified, namely, ‘psychological satisfaction’ and ‘aesthetic presence’.