Due to the visual effect resulting from color, pattern, texture, etc. that appear on the surface of the fabrics, even those fashion products with the same design have a different sensibility and overall image. Such factors as color, pattern and texture causes sensibility by becoming a visual stimulation. Also, it becomes a sensibility expression factor that forms a fashion image. Fashion fabrics are an important element that expresses the design features of a fashion product. Moreover, it is an element that stimulates the emotional aspect of people just like vision, tactile sense, etc. On that account, it represents the overall image and quality of a fashion product and influences the value hereof.
Therefore, it is necessary to identify and reflect the relevance between the sensibility expression factors of the fabrics and the fashion image preferred by consumers in the planning of fashion products. As a result, this study was conducted with the objective of helping plan an effective fashion material that could increase the preference of consumers by providing preliminary data for the development of the fabrics reflecting the sensibility of consumers.
The survey subjects were the 477 men and women aged from 20 to 40 years old. This study utilized the questionnaire as a measurement tool. To measure the preference of sensibility expression factors of the fabrics, this study searched and collected the preferences, fashion magazines and Internet materials as to the 15 colors and 13 tones based on KS standard colors. From those 15 colors and 13 tones, this study extracted the 12 patterns and then composed the questions that would measure the preference as to these 12 patterns. Moreover, this study configured the sense image with the 21 sensory adjectives based on the previous studies in order to measure the preference on texture. This study evaluated the tactile sensation of the 10 kinds of the fabrics. Also, this study configured the 31 sensory adjectives with reference to the previous studies in order to determine the preference on fashion image. This study analyzed the difference in the demographic statistics of the preference on the sensibility expression factors of the fabrics by using SPSS 21.0 in relation to the collected data. Lastly, this study analyzed the relevance between the preference on the sensibility expression factors and the preference on fashion image.
This study classified the sensibility expression factors of the fabrics based on the previous studies. The tones were classified into vivid tone class, dark tone class, light tone class and moderate tone class. The patterns were classified into check pattern, strip pattern, dot pattern, traditional pattern, animal skin pattern and floral pattern. As for the sensory image, the textures were classified into softness, dryness, flatness, thinness, weightiness, hardness and roughness with reference to on the previous studies. As for the tactile sensation, it was classified into tactile sensation with high level of preference, tactile sensation with low level of preference and tactile sensation with moderate level of preference based on the tactile sensation evaluated from the fabrics.
The results of this study are as follows.
First, as a result of examining the preference for each sensibility expression factor, those achromatic colors were preferred more. Among the chromatic colors, blue was the most preferred color. Brown was the least preferred color. In addition, the vivid tone class was the most preferred tone class, whereas the moderate tone class was the least preferred tone class. The light tone class had a difference in gender, educational level and occupation, whereas the dark tone class and moderate tone class had a difference in accordance with gender. On that account, this study confirmed that the tone preference was largely influenced by gender among the aforementioned demographic characteristics.
As for the pattern, check pattern was the most preferred pattern, whereas floral pattern was the least preferred pattern. In regard to the preference on strip pattern and dot pattern, there was no difference in accordance with the demographic characteristics. In regard to floral pattern, there was a significant difference in gender, age, educational level, occupation, marital status and residence. Thus, this study found that floral pattern had a significant difference in accordance with the demographic characteristics.
In regard to the texture, softness was the most preferred sensory image, whereas roughness was the least preferred sensory image. In particular, this study confirmed that dryness, weightiness, hardness and roughness were the sensory images that would react sensitively to the demographic characteristics. In contrast, the tactile sensation with moderate level of preference had a significant difference in gender, educational level, occupation, marital status and residence. In particular, the women preferred the tactile sensation with moderate level of preference, whereas the men preferred the tactile sensation with low level of preference.
Second, as a result of analyzing the preference related to fashion image, this study extracted the 7 factors including dignity, distinctiveness, femininity, simplicity, mobility, romantic and masculinity. Among the aforementioned factors, dignity was the most preferred factor, whereas distinctiveness was the least preferred factor. A majority of the sub-factors of preference of fashion image had a significant correlation with the preference of sensibility expression factors of the fabrics. In particular, the highest correlation was found between distinctiveness image and flatness, between distinctiveness image and thinness, between femininity image and floral pattern and between masculinity image and weightiness.
As result of analyzing the impact of fashion image preference for each sensibility expression factor of the fabrics, tone preference, pattern preference and texture preference were found to have an impact on the fashion image preference. In particular, vivid tone class, dot pattern, flatness and tactile sensation with high level of preference were the sensibility expression factors that would have a significant impact on the fashion image preference. Thus, this study found that they were the variables that would cause various and complex sensibilities.
As a result of examining the relative impact of all the elements forming the preference of sensibility expression factors of the fabrics on the fashion image preference, this study confirmed that all of tone, pattern and sense image appeared as the explanatory variables simultaneously in relation to such images as distinctiveness, simplicity, activeness and masculinity. Moreover, those sensory images such as softness, flatness, weightiness, etc. were the explanatory variables that had the most significant impact on such images as dignity, distinctiveness, simplicity, activeness and romantic. Also, this study found that such patterns as floral pattern and dot pattern were the explanatory variables that had the most significant impact on the feminine and romantic images.