{"title":"Sri Lankan Fashion Designers: Self-Directed Learning in the Apparel Industry","authors":"Sumith Gopura, A. Payne, D. Bandara, L. Buys","doi":"10.1177/0887302X211049516","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The Sri Lankan apparel industry is currently in transition from apparel assembly to manufacturing original designs as a value addition. Design teams work closely with Western brands, buyers and designers to offer advanced creative and technical design services. The purpose of this article is to investigate how Sri Lankan designers acquire personal, high-value fashion knowledge and design skills in this crucial time of industry transition. The study adopts a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews conducted with 28 fashion design and product development professionals in the industry. Based on an inductive thematic analysis, the study finds that Sri Lankan designers’ acquisition of high-value fashion knowledge and skills comes primarily through their self-directed learning. This study proposes the Designers’ Self-Directed Learning Cycle to illustrate how designers’ learning happens and is applied in their professional practice. The findings are significant in understanding the designers’ practice in the export-oriented apparel value chain.","PeriodicalId":47110,"journal":{"name":"Clothing and Textiles Research Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2021-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clothing and Textiles Research Journal","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302X211049516","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The Sri Lankan apparel industry is currently in transition from apparel assembly to manufacturing original designs as a value addition. Design teams work closely with Western brands, buyers and designers to offer advanced creative and technical design services. The purpose of this article is to investigate how Sri Lankan designers acquire personal, high-value fashion knowledge and design skills in this crucial time of industry transition. The study adopts a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews conducted with 28 fashion design and product development professionals in the industry. Based on an inductive thematic analysis, the study finds that Sri Lankan designers’ acquisition of high-value fashion knowledge and skills comes primarily through their self-directed learning. This study proposes the Designers’ Self-Directed Learning Cycle to illustrate how designers’ learning happens and is applied in their professional practice. The findings are significant in understanding the designers’ practice in the export-oriented apparel value chain.
期刊介绍:
Published quarterly, Clothing & Textiles Research Journal strives to strengthen the research base in clothing and textiles, facilitate scholarly interchange, demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of the field, and inspire further research. CTRJ publishes articles in the following areas: •Textiles, fiber, and polymer science •Aesthetics and design •Consumer Theories and Behavior •Social and psychological aspects of dress or educational issues •Historic and cultural aspects of dress •International/retailing/merchandising management and industry analysis