Study on denim dress designs in apparel industry for sustainability and cost-effectiveness

Abstract

Denim is considered a versatile fabric due to its subsequent usage by the population of all ages. However, it also leads to a large amount of fabric wastage in the apparel industry. Therefore, this research explored 13 denim dress designs for women's top wear for fabric efficiency and sustainability. 2D patterns of all selected dress designs were drafted and virtual markers were generated through Garment Gerber Technology (GGT) to investigate the sustainable designs. Results revealed that denim bustier was ranked top with fabric efficiency (89.01%), while denim shirt dress ranked 2nd (88.64%), triple pleat blouse ranked 3rd (87.10%), denim bodysuit ranked 4th (86.88%), western style shirt ranked 5th (86.79%), long sleeve jacket ranked 6th (86.76%), rock and roll jacket ranked 7th (86.74%), light shade jacket ranked 8th (86.58%), fitted denim shirt ranked 9th (86.39%), denim dungaree 10th (86.16%), crop jacket ranked 11th (85.79%), lace-up ranked 12th (85.74%) and oversized jacket ranked 13th (85.59%). Denim bustier was ranked 1st style with minimum fabric consumption (7 meters) and fabric wastage (11%), while oversized jackets and lace-up shirts ranked last with fabric consumption (33 and 39 meters) and fabric wastage (14.41% and 14.26%). ANOVA test p-value shows that the results were close to significant. Thus, the research is beneficial to the apparel industry for the execution of sustainable and cost-effective dress designs