1998-2000 Synthesis Board

View our synthesis poster board

feedback form

Psychographic

Consumer Values

-Men and Fashion

Men have long been subjecting themselves to business suits and practical office-wear, without paying attention to fashion and the apparel industry. Studies are concluding, though, that more and more men are rejecting the old attitude towards shopping and becoming more knowledgeable about who and what they are wearing. Not only are they embracing Brooks Brothers and Hermes, but they are looking for better fit, better quality, and more comfortable takes on the old business suit. This new acceptance of natural fibers and high-end prices has greatly affected the apparel industry, with womens wear companies such as Donna Karen and Liz Claiborne creating menswear lines to tap into this growing market.

View Article

Consumer Buying Habits (Within the Music Industry)

To increase future sales, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) researched why and how consumers buy "prerecorded music." The data is a comparison between two types of consumers; it includes what compells them to go to a retail store for music, if they bought anything, and why. Within this study, they found two types of consumers: those who browse, and those who intend to buy. Most often, the reason for not making a purchase was based on availability, and the cost of the item was hardly ever an issue. The Graphs above show that radio was a huge influence on people in 1998 over their reason for shopping for music, and that seeking music based on knowing a favorite artist or band was a close second. In the retail world, this can also hold true; seeing new designs and trends will spur a sale from the consumer, but brand loyalty is just as important. The interaction between these ideas is what designers and design companies must connect to form an ongoing interest from the consumers. New and fresh design trends, while still in keeping with the essence of the brand, will continue brand loyalty from the consumers.

View Article

Fiber/Fabric/Finish (Fabric Production)

This graph depicts the revenue of textile mills in the United States. Prior to 1998, revenue was decreasing, and post 1998, revenue is still decreasing. This is mainly due to increase in imported goods. Labor cost is simply cheaper in developing nations.

This fact, however, is contrary to what economists believed in 1998.

[An] increase in the economy at the end of 1998 gives a the North American textile industry a chance to gain some of the buisness they’re losing to foreign imports back.

Clearly, the increase in the U.S. economy had no effect on the success of the textile industry.

View article

Fiber/Fabric/Finish (Fibers)

Lycra is a brand of elastanne that belongs to Du Pont E I De Nemours & Co. It was originally designed as a rubber replacement in girdles, but has expanded into much more. It has the ability to stretch up to 600 percent , recover to its original shape, and not tear at critical points. Lycra can be blended with many other fibers (natural and manufactured) to add increased serviceability characteristics in performance and fit for many categories of apparel.
CoolMax, a moisture management performance lycra, was introduced in 1986. In 1991, a fast-drying thermal fabric, Thermolite base, was introduced, and in 1998 X-Static was introduced. X-Static is silver-coated nylon that offers anti-microbial and anti-static properties to fabrics and garments. it was originally used for medical purposes, but its characteristics were found to be useful in knits, wovens, nonwovens, and yarns.

As time progresses, more advancements are being made with synthetic fibers. So many different characteristics can be achieved, and they just keep getting better and better. For this reason, it seems that man-made fibers are on an anything's-possible road to success.

View article

Technology (Motor Vehicle Styles)

In the general fashion market retro styling is a current trend. 1970's flare jeans are back, as well as shoes from the 1960's. Car trends are following suit. Retro styles from 30 to 50 years ago are making a huge comeback. Vehicle manufacturers are reviewing trends of the entire century to incorporate much of the old into the new. "There is little evidence of the futuristic shapes that designers once imagined buyers would demand by the end of the century."
examples: remake of the Thunderbird, increased Vespa sales, and the new Volkswagon beetle.
Even Mitsubishi's concept car that can drive itself has integrated retro aspects.

Everything old is new again
BYLINE: KIM SWEETMAN
View article

Technology (Household Products)

Materials used in household products

One of the simplest household products is the sponge. Every American seems to have one in their home. For this reason, millions of sponges are used each year. Most sponges are made out of urethane and do not decompose in landfills, and emit toxic gases when burned. Another common sponge material is cellulose. These sponges are made of wood and depleat forests.

In 1998, a company called Chafflose Corp. created an eco-friendly, bio-degradable sponge. This sponge is made out of grass and chaff. These sponges can be used for washing dishes, cars, bathing, and cleaning household surfaces.

View article

Although the majority of the "green" movement didn't start until the 2000's, it is obvious that small steps have been taken in that direction for years. Thinking green has been on the minds of consumers and producers for many years, and will remain so for many years.

Fiber/Fabric/Finish (Fabric Production)

Consoltex operates 14 manufacturing plants in North America. In 1998, they began to implement a fully automated inspection and inventory tracking system. This system will greatly decrease defects in fabrics by optimizing data collection. This is a state of the art system, and the first of its kind to ever be impemented into a mill.

View article

The textile industry is beginning to experience a loss in skilled labor and is responding by creating more automated systems.

Cultural

Media:
Oscars fashion were slinky dresses, long length in greens, lavender and icy blues were the it look.
The final stop on the fashion circuit each season, New York ratifies the trends that began in Milan and Paris and gives the news an American slant, in clothes geared to the way women live now. For fall, the recurrent theme was luxury, even in the most casual sportswear, played out with a certain glamorous audacity in the way the clothes were combined -- a soft dress with a tailored coat, an evening gown with a sweater.

Societal and Environmental Changes

Natural Disasters in 1998(world)
The Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, or the earthquake in Sichuan province of China, left hundreds of thousands of people dead and millions homeless.
Hurricane Mitch in Honduras and Nicaragua more than 10,000 people dead and ruined crops from excessive rain, 900,000 people left homeless

From the New york Times Newspaper

Social

Going green/ health awareness
The eco styles have made a huge turn around from the 1970’s to the 1980’s. From sack and tent like silhouettes with rugged tie-dyes fabrics to recent years with fashionable eco apparel. In 1998 textile experts recognize that clothes can be made better using less chemicals. Fears of retardants on synthetic fabrics and pesticides used on cotton, were the leading factor for a change in eco fashions for many designers in the UK to find better alternatives to creating non toxic fabrics.

Fabric/fiber/finish

Natural fiber floor coverings are a better option than synthetics and gaining popularity due to them being less harmful to the environment like synthetics. The types of natural fibers used for floor coverings consist of coir, jute, rush, seagrass or sisal fibers. These natural fibers are usually woven to make outside floor coverings but are becoming more popular for inside use for the fact that they are more sustainable and do not lack warmth compared to synthetics. Although natural fibers are becoming much more popular they lack in terms of resilience and durability. They stain easy, are very absorbent, come in limited colors and are not as soft as the synthetic floor coverings.

Coir Fiber is very coarse, strong but less flexile. It is made of coconut husks and is cellulose. They have a rough texture and are usually woven very loose; being susceptible to snagging.
Jute fiber is the least expensive natural fiber and is manly used for inexpensive fabrics. Jute is less durable than other natural fibers and does not hold up well, but is much softer.
Rush fibers are the thinker of natural fibers. They hold up well but are slick and smooth.
Seagrass is very durable and tough and is highly resilient to spills and soiling. It is smooth and comfortable and wears well. It does not dye well but naturally has a beautiful range of green and tan colors to choose from.
Sisal is a very versatile material that can be woven many different ways to make patterns. They are also very great for floor treatments because it is very durable, anti-static and do not need to be stain protected and take to dye well.

Personal Shopper; For Summer, Furnishings That Weave a Tropical Spell
The use of natural fibers is becoming very popular for furniture, floor coverings, and textiles. They are fairly more expensive, but more sustainable and better for the environment.

The use of organic and natural fiber clothing is better for the environment and for the person wearing them. Texas is slowly expanding the market for organic cotton. While hemp clothing is trying to break through, restrictions in the US make it difficult because of its THC levels and belonging to the same species of marijuana. Hemp farming was legalized in 1998 in Canada and is grown in much of Europe and Asia. There are list of natural and organic fibers such as organic wool, hemp, linen, silk, bamboo and soy and better ways to buy clothing that is healthier for us and the world we live in. There are also a list of stores to buy these kinds of apparel from. (national geographic.)

Political/Economic (1998)

Conspicuous Consumption

Different nations spend their money on different necessities. American’s prefer to consume unnecessary items such as cosmetics, while Europeans prefer to consume unnecessary items such as ice cream. Developing countries are not able to consume unnecessary items and are stuck using old technologies for their energy sources; that is a process called “leapfrogging”.

The more a neighbor spends, the more you are going to spend. Dr. Robert H. Frank's theory talks about how we compare our lavish items to those around us and, therefore, end up spending more on unnecessary items because we are in comparison.

Fabric/Fiber/Finish (Raw Materials)

The above graphs depict changes in the cotton industry in the U.S. The top graph shows the increasing amount of exporting from US, most of which goes to Mexico and Canada under NAFTA. The middle graph shows the drastic increase in consumption of imported cotton goods. The bottom graph shows the amount of US product, US trade product, and imported product, comparatively. In 1993, where the bottom graph begins, the amount of US product was significantly more than imported product. As time progresses, this reverses. 1998 is the first year that imports outweighed US product. This trend continues on the graph. The majority of this change is accounted for in the increase in the amount of product that is traded, as opposed to being used by US consumers.

View full article

Economic

Real (adjusted) GDP for the United States
source: BEA (dept of commerce)
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/GDPC1.txt

This data shows that in 1998, the real and unadjusted GDP for the United States are very close to the same. This means there is little inflation or other economic factors skewing the GDP.
Unadjusted GDP is climbing at an exponential rate.








Unemployment Rates in the US for 1998 by state

According to this graph, most of the United States had an average unemployment rate of 3%-4.9%. The Pacific Northwest region (Oregon, California, Idaho, and Montana) had a higher unemployment rate of 5%-5.9%.

Demographics

Income of Households in the US for 1998
US Census Bureau
1st number= number (in thousands)
2nd number= value (in dollars)

All households............................ 103,874 38,885

Type of Household

Family households........................... 71,535 47,469
Married-couple families.................. 54,770 54,276
Female householder, no husband present... 12,789 24,393
Male householder, no wife present........ 3,976 39,414
Nonfamily households........................ 32,339 23,441
Female householder....................... 17,971 18,615
Male householder......................... 14,368 30,414

Race and Hispanic Origin of Householder

All races 1/.............................. 103,874 38,885
White....................................... 87,212 40,912
Non-Hispanic White........................ 78,577 42,439
Black....................................... 12,579 25,351
Asian and Pacific Islander.................. 3,308 46,637

Hispanic origin 2/.......................... 9,060 28,330

Age of Householder

15 to 24 years.............................. 5,770 23,564
25 to 34 years.............................. 18,819 40,
35 to 44 years.............................. 23,968 48,451
45 to 54 years.............................. 20,158 54,
55 to 64 years.............................. 13,571 43,167
65 years and over........................... 21,589 21,729
Nativity of the householder

Native born................................. 92,853 39,677
Foreign born................................ 11,021 32,963
Naturalized citizen....................... 4,877 41,028
Not a citizen............................. 6,143 28,278

Region

Northeast................................... 19,877 40,634
Midwest..................................... 24,489 40,609
South....................................... 36,959 35,797
West........................................ 22,549 40,983

Residence

Inside metropolitan areas................... 83,441 40,983
Inside central cities..................... 32,144 33,151
Outside central cities.................... 51,297 46,402
Outside metropolitan areas.................. 20,433 32,022

EARNINGS OF FULL-TIME, YEAR-ROUND WORKERS

Male........................................ 56,951 35,345
Female...................................... 38,785 25,862

PER CAPITA INCOME

All races 1/.............................. 271,743 20,120

White....................................... 223,294 21,394
Non-Hispanic White........................ 193,074 22,952
Black....................................... 35,070 12,957
Asian and Pacific Islander.................. 10,897 18,709

Hispanic origin2/........................... 31,689 11,434

1998
U.S. Census data

Number of firms: 5,579,177
20+ 10.6%
100+ 1.7%
500+ 0.3%
Number of paid employees: 108,117,731
20+ 81.2%
100+ 63.3%
500+ 49.1%
20+ = firms with 20+ employees
100+ = firms with 100+ employees
500+ = firms with 500+ employees

The majority of people running households in 1998 were between the ages 35-44, and lived inside metropolitan areas in the South. The average earnings, for full-time, year round employees were as follows: Male: 56,951, Female: 38,785. The total number of households and the income per household increased. This means that people had more money, and with more consumers in the market demand for goods increased, which , in turn, would decrease prices. These factors allowed consumers to buy more goods, and more expensive goods.

Color

Color (1998)

The seasonal colors are represented by a palette that has moved from predominantly cool colors to warm, seasonal ones. The five color groups are Poolside, Spa, Reef, Ruins and Cafe. Fabrics consisted of Poetry, Beyond the Rules, Pure -N-Simple, the Next Wave, and High Energy; all of which were types of fabrics used to get a response from the crowd during fashion week.

Calvin Klein's Seventh Avenue Showroom displayed many variable colors for the season. Royal blue, dark purple, grey (fashion's favorite color of the year), black, brown, aqua, and silver were among the many colors that he portrayed. The article states that although grey is chic, it doesn't compliment skin tones. Klein used grey for his swimsuit collection that he walked down the runway for 1999.