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A Theoretic Framework of Factors Influencing

Fashion Design in Hong Kong

Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au & Gail Taylor

To cite this article: Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au & Gail Taylor (2008) A Theoretic Framework of
Factors Influencing Fashion Design in Hong Kong, The Design Journal, 11:2, 183-202

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/175630608X329244

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A Theoretic
Framework of
Factors Influencing
Fashion Design in
Hong Kong
Andrew l. Tam

DOI 10.2752/175630608X329244
Freelance, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Joe S. Au and Gail Taylor

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon

ABSTRACT The fashion and textiles

industry in Hong Kong is going through
a rapid transformation period from
production to design servicing. By
investigating the design theory and design
process of Hong Kong fashion designers,
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this study aimed to find out how they

reacted to this phenomenon. A quantitative
research method was adopted in this
study. A questionnaire survey with factor
analysis and the principal components
method of SPSS was carried out to
investigate the design theory of Hong
183

Kong fashion designers. The results of

 Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au and Gail Taylor

this study indicated the definition of good fashion

design in which ‘design qualities’, ‘market value’
and ‘brand image’ were the three most important
attributes, dominating in the design theories of
Hong Kong fashion designers when creating new
fashion.

KEYWORDS: Hong Kong fashion, design theory, quantitative

research

Introduction

+ Hong Kong fashion designers are facing a new challenge

as a consequence of ongoing social transformation. This
form of transformation impacts upon economic and polit-
ical structures, historical experiences, philosophical and religious
values, cultural patterns and social relationships. Reference is made
to the discussion by Castles (2001) in his paper about the study of
social transformation, as follows: ‘Generally it implies an underlying
notion of the way society and culture change in response to such
factors as economic growth, war or political upheaval; and more
specifically “global interconnectedness” and its regional, national and
local effects.’ Further discussion, specifically in the context of the city
and related social issues (Sachs-Jeantet, 1995), demonstrates the
validity of the factors selected.
Contributing to the complexities of this transformation are the
changes seen within the industry. These include the changes from
original equipment manufacture (OEM) to original design manu-
facture (ODM) and original brand manufacture (OBM) in the Hong
Kong fashion and textiles industry. In context, ODM requires more
investment and risk than OEM; similarly, OBM involves significant
investment and well-developed corporate strategies.
ODM, as summarized by Berger and Lester (1997), implies a
greater degree of independence in the market place, arising from
value-added elements that reduce the negative impact of low-
cost OEM competition. Similarly, OBM permits higher profitability
– provided that manufacturers inject capital into brand building, and
all that implies.
Other changes include the rapid rise of the Chinese market,
the concept of a homogenized fashion culture (Lee, 2003; Gilbert,
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2000) and emphasis on both multicultural fashion and life style

encouraged by globalization (Puwar, 2002; Goodrum, 2001). Since
relevant literature concerning the theory underlying the creativity of
Hong Kong fashion designers is limited, the decision was made to
investigate this subject.
In order to gain insights into domestic fashion design theory, three
primary objectives were formulated for the purpose of this study:
184
 A Theoretic Framework of Factors Influencing Fashion Design in Hong Kong

• to investigate modern fashion theory, recent design theory of

different disciplines and factors influencing fashion designers;
• to investigate the major factors influencing Hong Kong fashion
designers when creating new fashion, and;
• to develop a theoretical framework for fashion design practice in
Hong Kong.

Review of Literature
Six major influential factors
In the analysis of fashion design inspiration and design process,
Au (2003) derived a series of influential factors of significance to
the inspiration and synthesis of the ideas that evolve during the
formulation stage of fashion concepts. The factors, which are dis-
cussed in the following paragraphs, were validated with reference to
writers on the subject of design and fashion theory and represent the
starting point for this investigation of fashion design.

The historical factor

Hong Kong fashion designers found their outlet for expression and
the projection of a distinct fashion image as a consequence of two
social phenomena. One is defined by the transition from colonializa-
tion to post-colonialization. The other is represented by the rapid
social transformation from the 1950s to the present day.
Historically, the success of the local textile and clothing industry
from its inception was marked by a period of decline when the textile
and clothing factories were relocated in mainland China in the 1980s.
Concurrently, the development of the local economy had the effect
that ‘the majority of Hong Kong people began to follow fashion and
the trend coincided with the growth of the industry, the emergence
of fashion outlets and the increasing import of fashion products . . .
they demonstrate a high degree of brand consciousness through the
consumption of fashion’ (Ling and Taylor, 2001).
Today, Hong Kong fashion designers meet the demands of the
brand-conscious local consumers, and follow the specifications
of buyers in their efforts to supply designs for merchandise for the
export market, characterized as global, homogenized fashion.

The marketing factor

Global fashion and lifestyling started to emerge in the 20th century,
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together with a wider wave of capitalism that accommodated

global consumers to the local market. This process of globalization
in the fashion industry was progressively seen as an identifying
characteristic of the present day cross-national and cross-media
marketing (Puwar, 2002; Goodrum, 2001; Gilbert, 2000).
Globalization encouraged the homogenization of fashion
styling due to the development of e-commerce, the multimillion-
185

dollar fashion export and import trade, and the success of mega
 Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au and Gail Taylor

chain stores like McDonalds (Lee, 2003; Gilbert, 2000). In view

of this, the interconnectedness of the different fashion centres
simultaneously shaped fashion identities. Fashion is constantly
evolving and mobilizing, fuelled by the trends (Goodrum, 2001;
Lee, 2003). Hong Kong is a global city, therefore the local fashion
designers are establishing their individual identities in an atmosphere
of homogenized fashion looks, mobilizing identity, and ever-changing
fashion trends.

The aesthetic factor

Individual identity is partly constituted by the designer’s context, gen-
erally defined in terms of socio-cultural factors such as geographic
location, ethnicity, religion and custom. It is also partly shaped by
demographic and psychographic characteristics, inclusive of age,
body features, gender, personality and level of education. These two
sets of factors affect the determination of an individual’s aesthetic
preference, defined as ‘the sensitive selection or appreciation of
formal, expressive, or symbolic qualities of the product or environ-
ment, providing non-instrumental benefits that result in pleasure or
satisfaction’ (Fiore and Kimle, 1997).
Designers’ individual tastes, in the classical humanistic tradition,
are the determinants of the product characteristics (Gronow, 1997).
When determining consumers’ desires, designers rely on their
individual taste for judgement, but also keep an open mind to others’
styles. Fashion designers’ personalities and freedom of expression
are seen in the light of theories which have emerged from the field of
socio-psychology, as discussed below.

The psychological factor

Designers’ individual identities are regarded as their outward values.
As such, the psychological factor is significant in supplying emotional
content and hence intrinsic appeal to the fashion statement. Keenan
(2001) observed that dress represented one form of social freedom,
allowing individuals to separate themselves from their social groups.
However, he was of the opinion that overt expression in the form
of unique dressing style pushed the boundaries of tolerance and
freedom in society. In the process of achieving harmony of mind
and body, freedom of expression produces an ideal state of socio-
psychological comfort in that one expresses externally, that which
one feels inside (Holiday, 1999).
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The cultural factor

One of the distinguishing characteristics of Hong Kong fashion
design is the cultural background of the designers, with its consequ-
ential symbolism and rich sources of inspiration. The cultural back-
ground, being essentially of the Orient or ‘East’ is briefly discussed
with reference to selected literature, thereby demonstrating the
186

importance of this factor.

 A Theoretic Framework of Factors Influencing Fashion Design in Hong Kong

Said (1978) defined Orientalism as ‘ . . . a style of thought based

upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between
“the Orient” and “the Occident” . . . in short, Orientalism as a Western
style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the
Orient’. He also stated that inter-culturalism is a kind of Orientalism
that brought about the Orient’s involvement in Western learning,
Western consciousness and Western culture.
In postmodern Orientalism, the modern Orient participated in
Self-Orientalizing, making a powerful expression of Orientalism
in politics, global economic, and social and cultural exchange
(Sardar, 1999). The matter is elaborated upon by Leshkowich and
Jones (2003) who summarized the Self-Orientalizing phenomenon
as follows: ‘When Asians reinterpret, produce, and consume the
same kinds of essentialized images of what is presumed to be
their own heritage, they would appear to be remaking themselves
to match Western fantasies of the Oriental Other. They are, thus,
engaging in Self-Orientalizing . . . Self-Orientalizing can be a privilege
that enhances the status of those who employ it by signalling their
familiarity with global discourses, such as the ideas of fashion and
style’.
Oriental style is one of the multitude of statements that can
be seen in the global fashion market. Despite the overwhelming
influence of Western dress and references, Hong Kong fashion
designers’ fashion theories and design processes may be eventually
influenced by Self-Orientalizing, in order to produce commercially
acceptable, globalized fashion.

The practical factor

Stone (1999) summarized three practical considerations of fashion
designers in their design processes. Firstly, from the business per-
spective, designers must produce clothes at a profit and within
the firm’s predetermined wholesale or retail price range. Secondly,
when selecting the material, designers must consider the availability
and cost, and the particular image that the firm wants to maintain.
Finally, designers must take into account the available production
techniques, as well as the cutting and sewing labour costs.

Design theories from other design disciplines

A design theory, that being the ‘Problem Solving Theory’, was dev-
eloped for application in the fields of architecture and engineering
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design, in which design was generally defined as a process of

problem solving (Archer, 1984; Darke, 1979; Jones, 1984; Thomas
and Carroll, 1979; Wertheimer, 1959). The core concept of this theory
was that, by analyzing the problem in the first stage and subsequently
applying the methods of synthesizing or conceptualizing, the
proposed solution could be found, and subsequently an evaluation
proposed in the form of a statement of the problem instead of a final
187

answer (Archer, 1984).

 Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au and Gail Taylor

In visual design fields such as fashion, a question may be raised

about the definition of a problem according to the concept of the
‘Problem Solving Theory’. The nature of the potential problem is
generally somewhat dissimilar from the practical and function-oriented
nature of architecture and engineering. They are potentially related
to a non-definitive, universal in scope, subject matter of particular
conditions or specific circumstances. The subject was elaborated
upon by Horst Rittel in the 1960s, who stated that designers should
act as problem solvers who have a full set of responsibilities and
roles in order to suggest solutions to non-definitive problems (Rittel,
1984[1972]).
In addition to the ‘Analysis-Synthesis-Evaluation’ design process
model (Archer, 1984; Darke, 1979; Jones, 1984; Thomas and Carroll,
1979) developed from the concept of the ‘Problem Solving Theory’;
a similar model ‘Generation-Deduction-Evaluation’ (Lloyd and Scott,
1994) was also used for architecture and engineering design.

Design process
Three major models of the design process based on the well-
established architecture and engineering design processes were
found and are summarized below. The ‘Functional-Expressive-
Aesthetic’ model (Lamb and Kallal, 1992) and ‘Watkins’ design
process’ model (Watkins, 1988) referred to the design process of
architect Koberg and graphic designer Badnell (1973). ‘Regan,
Kincade and Shelden’s design process’ model (Regen et al, 1998)
was based on Lewis and Samuel’s (1989) engineering design
process theory.
In order to broadly interpret the fashion design process, two
models of design process from design education and product design
were also studied. The ‘Issue-Concept-Form (I-C-F)’ model (Oxman,
2004) was originally developed by a design educator, Rivka Oxman,
as a computational model rooted in the theory and method of Case-
Based Reasoning for the representation of conceptual knowledge
of designs in 1994. In his model, a design issue is domain-specific
semantic information related to the goals and issues of the problem
class; a design concept is a domain-specific formulation of a solution
principle; and a design form is the specific design artefact that
materializes the solution principle. The subsequently derived I-C-F
‘story’ provides linkage between issues of the design problem, a
particular solution concept, and a related form description of the
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design.
For Nagai and Noguchi (2003) who wrote about the creative
thinking process in product design, the creative design process
was described as a conversion process starting with the description
of a goal and ends. Their ‘Keywords-Concept-Form’ conversion
model consisted of two main paths: 1) based on the collected visual
images from designers’ personal experience, designers explore their
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creative minds and follow complex lines of thinking when evolving

 A Theoretic Framework of Factors Influencing Fashion Design in Hong Kong

forms; 2) involved designers’ direct thinking process about the use

of conceptual prototypes when interpretatively searching for forms.
They concluded that when key words were difficult to convert to
visual images, designers would attempt to decompose the meaning
of the projected design goal – thus offering a cue to the creative
process (Nagai and Noguchi, 2003).
In both design process models, the ‘Issue-Concept-Form’
model and the ‘Keywords-Concept-Form’ conversion model, the
evaluations of the end-product were not specifically assigned as
those in the design process models for architecture and engineering
design. Instead, the balance of creativity and practical reality through
the design process was stressed.

Evaluation in fashion design

The success of fashion design is hard to appraise, as it is dependent
upon the resonance of the design with the cultural/social concerns
of the day, the commercial realities in the market, and the creativity of
designers (Maramotti, 2000; Syrett and Lammiman, 2002). As design
is generally regarded as a creative process, evaluation could usefully
be applied through the process and on the process itself. In the
context of fashion, the creativity challenge is to express unconscious
collective desires that have been summarized as two motivating
forces: ‘cultural desires’ and ‘ideal lifestyle’ (Maramotti, 2000).

Methodology
A quantitative research method was adopted in this study. A
questionnaire survey with factor analysis and the principal comp-
onents method of SPSS was conducted to investigate the design
theory of Hong Kong fashion designers.

Stratification of samples
A disproportionate stratified sampling was used to build up the
sample sets representing the local fashion industry. The sample
population was divided into three categories according to the criteria
of selection as below, the proportions having been determined by
the composition of the local industry, and concentration of firms in
the given categories:

• Brand name fashion designers (5%) – committee members or full

members of Hong Kong Fashion Designers Association.
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• Fashion designers from local retailers (10%) – persons who have

been working as fashion designers with more than five years’
solid working experience in the local fashion retailing market; and
employed by a company having more than five shops in Hong
Kong.
• Fashion designers from trading companies or manufacturers
(85%) – persons who have been working as fashion designers,
189

product developers or fashion consultants with more than five

 Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au and Gail Taylor

years solid working experience in the local or overseas fashion

market; and employed by a company with more than 30
employees in Hong Kong.

By means of systematic sampling, the fashion designers from trad-

ing companies or manufacturers were systematically picked up
from every fourth record in the sample population. This sampling
technique is extremely practical when the sample frame does not
include a discrete listing of all elements in the population (Maxim,
1999). The named-brand fashion designers and fashion designers
from local retailers were all selected in the sample set, as the sample
population size of these two categories was predictable within 10–
20% of the population.

Data collection
The mail questionnaire survey was considered to be the most suit-
able method to identify the patterns by which the Hong Kong fash-
ion designers define fashion and good fashion design, what they
experience in designing fashion, how they interpret their experiences,
and how they structure the design process when creating new
fashion collections. In this study, 600 structured questionnaires were
sent to Hong Kong fashion designers from different categories. The
mail questionnaire survey provided the key advantages to eliminate
the bias and the response effect of the researcher’s interviewing skill.
It also gave the respondents sufficient time to consider the issues
and to provide data.
The method of data collection was chosen to give as close a
picture as possible of what was happening in the local fashion
market and addressing the wide target group of fashion designers
in Hong Kong. However, its disadvantages were that there was no
control over the return rate and time, no opportunity to follow up
directly, no consistency check, and less flexibility due to the limited
choices of predefined answers. In order to eliminate the drawback of
inflexibility and to identify problems associated with the questionnaire
design and question wordings, a pilot survey of 60 questionnaires
was conducted in advance. The findings of the survey were solely
used to refine the questionnaire; hence the data from the pilot was
not included in the overall analysis for this research study.
The respondents were requested to answer a set of behavioural
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and attitudinal questions with nominal, ordinal and ratio measurement

in which the Thurstone and Likert scales were used. The questionnaire
comprised of 23 closed questions in three sections, namely,
‘Company Information’, ‘Fashion Issues’ and ‘Design Issues’.
The ‘Company Information’ section of the questionnaire targeted
the nature of the business, current markets to which products were
supplied, the number of employees in the company, and the contact
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details of respondents.
 A Theoretic Framework of Factors Influencing Fashion Design in Hong Kong

The ‘Fashion Issues’ section asked for a definition of fashion

(five options provided, plus ‘other’), comments on the influences
of globalization on the Hong Kong fashion industry (three
options, plus ‘no comment’), and indication of agreement with
the statement that the fashion culture was homogeneous as a
consequence of globalization (five options). Each of the specific
terms used in context was defined and footnotes were supplied
for reference (life style, identity, globalization, homogenized).
Respondents were also requested to state their opinions about
influential style, socio-culturally constituted identity, characteristics
of Hong Kong fashion culture, and the influence of Oriental style
on fashion. Respondents indicated whether their designs included
oriental elements, and whether the ‘East meets West’ style was
representative of Hong Kong fashion designers. Final questions
targeted the image of Hong Kong fashion designers, and their
most distinctive characteristics.
The section ‘Design Issues’ investigated the respondents’ opin-
ions on the subject of design issues, and questions included those
targeting the different roles of fashion designers, major influential
fashion design creation factors, major design constraints, methods
for gathering inspiration when generating new designs, and methods
used to analyze information collected in preparation for generating
new design ideas. The respondents were also asked to define terms
such as ‘design qualities’, ‘market value’, and factors used to evaluate
good fashion designs. The respondents further rated the balance of
creativity and market value for their design work, commented upon
whether they used any form of design process model when creating
new designs, and selected options for the sequence of stages in
the design process (planning, conceptualizing, and so on). The final
questions on design issues asked about individual versus collective
work, the composition of the creative team, assorted expertise
(design, management, marketing and production), and the ideal ratio
of knowledge for the Hong Kong fashion designers.

Data analysis
Factor analysis and the principal components method of SPSS
were adopted to analyse the collected data. The purpose of using
this analysis method was to group different variables or attributes
into several factors that had either strong positive or negative cor-
relation with one another. Positive associations are ones in which an
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increase in the values of one variable are associated with an increase

in the values of a second variable. Negative associations are ones
in which an increase in the values of one variable are associated
with a decrease in the values of a second variable (Kendrick,
2005). Pearson correlation coefficient with a 95 per cent confidence
level was used to assess the strength of the linear association
between variables. The absolute value of the correlation coefficient
191

indicates how tightly the points cluster around a straight line of

 Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au and Gail Taylor

linear association (Norusis, 2002). Varimax rotation was employed to

improve the interpretability of different factors.

Results and Discussion

Profile of respondents
From the descriptive statistics of this survey, a 13% response rate
was achieved, that is, 78 of the 600 targeted companies returned
completed questionnaires. The ratio of female to male respondents
was 53.7:46.3. The majority of respondents were from the category of
trading companies or manufacturers with the company size ranging
from 30 to 500+ employees, while 40% of the respondents were
from the categories of named-brand designers and local retailers.
The average number of years spent working in design was 11.5.
Their target markets included the local market, mainland China,
Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand,
the Middle East and Africa.

Major influential factors

The results of the factor analysis (see Table 1) showed four major
factors influencing the design theories of Hong Kong fashion
designers. They were ‘Practical Consideration’, ‘Business Attitude’,
‘Personal Fulfilment’ and ‘Socio-cultural Attitude’. According to the
total variance explained values of the results, Practical Consideration
accounted for 18.3% including ‘clients’ requirement’, ‘new produc-
tion technology’, ‘material/colour trend’, ‘costing’ and ‘production
limitation’ as the attributes. Business Attitude accounted for 15.3%
of the variance. Attributes included ‘market characteristics’, ‘clients’
requirement’ and ‘past sales history’. Personal Fulfilment related
to ‘personal aesthetic/taste/life experience’ and ‘psychological
desires’, and accounted for 13.7% of the variance. Socio-cultural
Attitude contributed 13.3% of the variance. Attributes included
‘customers’ life style and taste’ and ‘communication with clients’.
The factor of Practical Consideration can be further explained
by Rittel’s (1984[1972]) problem solution concept of the ‘Problem
Solving Theory’ and Stone’s (1999) practical considerations of
fashion designers. The clients of the majority of Hong Kong fashion
designers, who work for trading companies or manufacturers, were
mainly overseas buyers from international designer labels, high
street fashion markets, department or supermarket stores, and mail
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order catalogues, and they generally requested original equipment

manufacturing or original design manufacturing business services.
From the survey, it was found that 46.4% of the respondents
considered ‘clients’ requirement’ to be one of the major influential
attributes in designing. According to Rittel (1984[1972]), brand
image, market understanding, targeted costs, and design and
production specification – the elements found in the attribute
192

‘clients’ requirement’ – are not the core issues of concern to design

 A Theoretic Framework of Factors Influencing Fashion Design in Hong Kong

Table 1 Factor analysis of design theory of Hong Kong fashion designers

Attributes/Factors Practical Business Personal Socio-cultural

Consideration Attitude Fulfilment Attitude

Market characteristics .669

Past sales history .749
Clients’ requirement .496 .435
New production technology .437
Material/colour trend .445
Costing .888
Production limitation .838
Personal aesthetic/taste/life experience .809
Psychological desires .840
Customers’ life style and taste .840
Communication with clients .807

Total variance explained 18.3% 15.3% 13.7% 13.3%

professionals. Fashion designers act as the problem solvers with

a full set of responsibilities and roles to create new designs which
fulfil the requirements of their clients. From the results of this survey,
however, it was found that almost three quarters of the respondents
considered understanding the characteristics of the targeted market
to be their most important role. Brand-positioning, understanding
the costing and production processes and trend analysis were also
considered to be important responsibilities.
This survey showed that over a quarter of the respondents
searched for ‘new production technology’ to develop new designs
and to reduce manufacturing costs. However, over half of the resp-
ondents thought that ‘production limitation’ and ‘costing’ were the
major constraints in designing. According to the Pearson correlation
coefficients with two-tailed significant level of this survey, ‘production
limitation’ had the highest positive value (0.671) for ‘costing’ and
a value of 0.362 for ‘clients’ requirement’. In addition ‘material/
colour trend’ had positive values of 0.257 and 0.295 for ‘production
limitation’ and ‘costing’ respectively. Stone (1999) indicated that
fashion designers must produce clothes at a profit within the clients’
predetermined wholesale or retail price range. When selecting the
material, they must consider the availability, cost and trends that are
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suitable for their clients’ requirements. In the study, it was found that
the selection of suitable material at the low cost requested by the
clients was the major production limitation of the Hong Kong fashion
designers.
On the other hand, 64% of the respondents regarded ‘cutting
and workmanship’ to be one of the major elements in defining
good design quality in fashion, whereas ‘material/colour trend’ also
193

had a positive correlation coefficient value (0.240) for ‘cutting and

 Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au and Gail Taylor

workmanship’. This can be explained by the long development of

the Hong Kong clothing and textiles manufacturing industry from
the 1950s until the present time. Hong Kong fashion designers have
established their identities to create fashion merchandise of good
quality and value for the global fashion market. From the commercial
perspective, their overseas buyers or local customers request low-
priced and trendy designs which are well made. In order to cater to
their requirements, Hong Kong fashion designers make use of new
materials and production technology to improve the quality of their
designs and to reduce production costs.
When the factor Business Attitude was examined, it was found
that over half of the respondents regarded ‘market characteristics’
as significant when generating their new designs. Sweetman (2001)
and Goodrum (2001) stated that homogenized fashion culture and
mobilizing identity inherent to the globalization process encouraged
constant evolution in the various fashion markets. The results of
the survey indicated that more than half of the respondents saw
the effect of globalization as being highly significant for the Hong
Kong fashion industry, and agreed that the present homogenized
fashion culture was due to globalization. Therefore local fashion
designers must constantly update their market information including
the socio-cultural elements such as potential customers’ life style,
taste, psychological desires and spending power, and also the
geographical elements such as weather and customers’ physical
characteristics, when designing their new collections.
‘Clients’ requirement’ and ‘past sales history’ were additional
attributes considered in the category of Business Attitude. From the
correlation analysis, it was found that ‘clients’ requirement’ had the
most positive value (0.399) for the ‘past sales history’. This finding
indicated that, when Hong Kong fashion designers referred to the
requirements of their clients, there was a high tendency to consider
the past sales history of their designs. By reviewing their clients’
requirements and the best and worst sales records of their previous
designs, they analysed the design details or elements which resulted
in higher market value from the standpoint of commerce. Over
80% of the respondents defined the market value of their designs
according to the acceptance of their clients or customers. The
descriptive statistics of this survey showed that Hong Kong fashion
designers balanced the issues of market value and creativity by
the average rate of 60 to 40 in their design theories. Over one third
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of the respondents thought that ‘good balance of commerce and

creativity’, ‘good understanding of fashion business, marketing and
production process’ and ‘quick response to the changes of market
and trend’ were their most distinctive characteristics.
However, more than half of the respondents considered ‘balance
of commerce and creativity’ to be one of the major constraints when
creating new designs. This can be explained by the fact that the
194

success of fashion design seems hard to appraise, depending as

 A Theoretic Framework of Factors Influencing Fashion Design in Hong Kong

it does upon the resonance with the desires of the consumers, the
commercial realities in the market, and the creativity of designers
(Maramotti, 2000). Designing highly profitable fashion merchandise
seems to be the primary responsibility of Hong Kong fashion
designers due to the highly competitive atmosphere of the global
fashion industry, the requirements of their clients and their personal
satisfaction.
The third major influential factor in the design theories of Hong
Kong fashion designers was Personal Fulfilment in which ‘personal
aesthetic, taste and life experience’ and ‘psychological desires’ were
the most important attributes. According to the correlation analysis
of this survey, ‘personal aesthetic, taste and life experience’ had the
most significant, positive coefficient value (0.462) of all indicators for
‘psychological desires’. Over a quarter of the respondents assessed
design inspiration according to their personal aesthetic, taste and life
experience. In addition, almost one in five respondents considered
their psychological desires when drawing inspiration. Gronow (1997)
indicated that designers’ individual aesthetic sensibilities were the
key determinants of the product characteristics. From the findings,
it may be seen that his theory was correct, as the factor Personal
Fulfilment contributed to the creation of their designs through
important elements such as the selection of preferred visual images,
socio-cultural or historical topics, current issues, global trends or
new technology.
Alternatively, Personal Fulfilment could be interpreted in the
sense that the fashion designers were creator-user characters, who
combined their insights about life, aesthetic, taste, clothes, body,
and status, in keeping with the concept of ‘Performance Practice
Theory’ proposed by Leshkowich and Jones (2003). Local fashion
designers seemed to associate themselves with their designs by the
factor Personal Fulfilment so as to represent their individual styles
and identities to the public. Conversely, they would not solely rely
on their individual aesthetic and taste preferences when determining
their consumers’ needs, taking into account the life styles and tastes
of their potential customers, information gathered from the market
place, and what the global trends were when designing.
Socio-cultural Attitude, the fourth major influential factor in the
design theories of Hong Kong fashion designers, consisted of
the attributes including ‘customers’ life style and taste’ and ‘com-
munication with clients’. The results of this survey showed that over
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half of the respondents considered ‘customers’ life style and taste’

and ‘communication with clients’ to be inspirational when designing.
Most of the respondents defined fashion as the expression of life
style at a specific point in time. Apart from this, the two tailed
Pearson correlation analysis indicated a positive coefficient value
(0.459) between them. On the other hand, ‘customers’ life style
and taste’ and ‘communication with clients’ had positive correlation
195

coefficient values (0.317) and (0.321) respectively for the category

 Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au and Gail Taylor

‘global trend analysis’ when they were gathering inspiration. By

analysing the global trends and communicating closely with their
clients or customers, local fashion designers obtained information,
such as the changes of their customers’ life style and taste.
Conversely, communication as a means of social activity meant
that local fashion designers keep a close relationship with their
clients or customers by sharing their insights into global trends and
socio-cultural changes.
When evaluating good fashion design, ‘customers’ life style and
taste’ and ‘communication with clients’ also had positive correlation
coefficient values (0.243) and (0.279) respectively for category
‘market value’ In addition, ‘communication with clients’ had positive
correlation coefficient value (0.283) for ‘brand image’. The rising
demand for ODM and OBM, and the incentive of increasing the
market value of the local fashion designs, in the context of ‘com-
munication with clients’ has resulted in a greater understanding
on the part of local fashion designers from trading companies or
manufacturers of the brand images of their clients and the needs,
life styles and tastes of their targeted customers. Local named-
brand designers and the designers from the local retailers likewise
found their designs would be more acceptable to their customers
as a result of keeping their brand images more in tune with their
customers’ life styles and tastes.

Design process model

According to the descriptive statistics of this survey, over 88% of
the respondents followed a particular path of design processes
when creating their new collections. Figure 1 shows a design pro-
cess model of Hong Kong fashion designers, and comprises of
four stages including ‘Planning and Collecting’, Conceptualizing
Ideas’, ‘Synthesizing Ideas’ and ‘Evaluation’. Over a third of the
respondents considered Planning and Collecting – reviewing the
brand positioning, product mix, design details of past collection,
past sale records, customers’ feedback and marketing strategies as
well as gathering inspirations, current global trends, targeted market
characteristics, customers’ life styles and tastes, new materials and
advanced technology – as the first stage in their design process. In
this stage, the results indicated six collection methods mostly used
by local fashion designers to plan their new collection and to gather
inspiration: 1) collecting the visual images from magazines/websites/
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books (75.3%); 2) global trend analysis (60%); 3) communication

with clients/consumers/vendors/colleagues (57.6%); 4) exhibition or
show visits and market research trip (57.6%); 5) studying customers’
life styles and tastes (51.8%); 6) openness to different issues (for
example, culture) (49.4%).
The two tailed Pearson correlation analysis showed that they were
closely correlated with each other in a positive linear relationship,
196

whilst methods 3 and 5 were summarized as the most important

 A Theoretic Framework of Factors Influencing Fashion Design in Hong Kong

Planning andCollecting
Planning and collecting
Communication
Communication with with clients
clients
Research trips
Research trips
Visual images
Visual images
Global trend
Global trend analysis
analysis
Customers’ life
Customers’ life styles
styles and
and tastes
tastes
Openness to
Openness to different
different issues
issues

Balance
Balanceof
Conceptualizing ideas
Conceptualizing ideas

of Commerce
Market
Market characteristics
characteristics

Commerce and
Brand Image
Brand image

andCreativity
Synthesizing
Synthesizing ideas
idea
Sketching
Sketching
Creativity

Evaluation
Evaluation
Suitability
Suitabilityofofmaterial
material and colour
and colour
Cutting and
Cutting and workmanship
workmanship
Wearability and
Wearability and comfort
comfort
Newness in design
Newness design details
details
Acceptance by
Acceptance by clients/customers
clients/customers
Brand image
Brand image

[fig]Figure 1
Design process model of Hong Kong fashion designers. In the model of the design
process, the two-way
Figure 1 arrows represent the iterative process which involves successive
stages Design
of conceptualization
process modeland subsequent
of Hong revision
Kong fashion in the light
designers. of new
In the information,
model of the and
subsequent
designevaluation. The
process, the one-way
two-way arrows
arrows and broken
represent lines demonstrate
the iterative process whichthe bringing
together of factors
involves which isstages
successive represented by the ‘balance
of conceptualization andofsubsequent
commercerevision
and creativity’.
in the
light of new information, and subsequent evaluation. The one-way arrows and
broken lines demonstrate the bringing together of factors which is represented
by the ‘balance of commerce and creativity’.

attributes of the major influential factor Socio-cultural Attitude in the

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design theories of Hong Kong fashion designers.

After the development of ideas and concepts in the form of
themes, the designers prepared fabric and colour boards in the
Conceptualizing Ideas stage. Over half of the respondents considered
‘market characteristics’ and reviewed ‘brand image’ to be very
important when analysing the collected information. The results did
not show any correlation between ‘market characteristics’ and ‘brand
197

image’, although, ‘market characteristics’ had a positive correlation

 Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au and Gail Taylor

with collecting methods such as global trend analysis, exhibition

or show visits and market research trips, as well as openness to
different issues. On the other hand, ‘brand image’ had a positive
correlation with the collecting method ‘communication with clients’
in the category of Socio-cultural Attitude. Then, the Synthesizing
Ideas stage would consist of sketching to visualize the new design
concepts and ideas.
Almost half of the respondents agreed that Evaluation was the
last stage of their design processes, in which they judged their
designs. This survey indicated that over 80% of the respondents
ranked ‘design qualities’, ‘market value’ and ‘brand image’ as the
three most important attributes to evaluate good fashion designs.
Furthermore, the correlation analysis showed that they were closely
correlated with each other in a positive linear relationship. When
defining the ‘design qualities’ in fashion, almost two thirds of the
respondents considered three practical elements – suitability of
material and colour, cutting and workmanship, and wearability and
comfort. On the other hand, over half of the respondents regarded
creativity – newness in design details – as one of the important
elements in the ‘design qualities’.
The survey also demonstrated a balance of practical reality and
creativity through the different stages of local fashion designers’
design processes. Almost 80% of the respondents were of the

Figure 2
Time management of Hong
Kong fashion designers.
The figure shows the
consolidated results of
answers arising from
questions posed in the Management
attribute
quantitative research for
19.6%
this topic, specifically how
designers allocate their Design
time when involved in their attribute
professional tasks. When 36.1%
seen in the light of design
constraints – the balance of
creativity and commercial Technical
considerations – the attribute
percentages assist in the 19.6%
understanding of the role
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and responsibilities of the

creative personnel.
Marketing
attribute
24.7%
198
 A Theoretic Framework of Factors Influencing Fashion Design in Hong Kong

opinion that a successful Hong Kong fashion designer should be a

multi-disciplined expert in the fields of design, management, market-
ing, and production, and they agreed that designing fashion was a
collective process of their creativities in those fields. Local fashion
designers divide their time between design, management, marketing
and technical matters (see Figure 2). The percentages derived from
the survey put the responses to questions on subjects such as
design constraints into context – for example, balance of creativity
and commercial considerations.

Conclusion
This quantitative research concluded that Planning and Collecting,
Conceptualizing Ideas, Synthesizing Ideas and Evaluation are
four common stages in the design process of Hong Kong fashion
designers, and the definition of good fashion design – incorporating
‘design qualities’, ‘market value’ and ‘brand image’ – plays an
important role in their design theories.
In the 60/40 split discussed in quantitative findings, a bias
towards business is indicated, and the issues of specialism and
concentration of personnel in a particular field arises. Rather than,
for example ‘composing’ or carrying out creative tasks as a minor
rather than major preoccupation in the workplace, designers may
benefit from a review of complimentary skills and specifically, those
possessed by members of the creative team. The findings reveal
a skew towards practical, managerial and marketing issues (see
Table 1). In a well-ordered business with sufficient resources for the
specialization of professional expertise, this skew could usefully be
corrected to achieve, for example, the ‘balance’ proposed in Figure
1, of the summary of the quantitative research.
In conclusion, the paper draws upon theory and practice in the
broader contexts of industrial enterprise and the specific arena of
Hong Kong fashion design, with unique and original proposals for
the adjustment of work practice in the creative sphere. Although
grounded firmly in the context of the existing production and export
oriented fashion business, rapid transformation inevitably has
consequences for human resources – and hence, training, as well
as performance in the profession. Further study might encompass
fashion design theory and fashion design practice in alternative
geographic territories, and the relevant elements to innovative
strategy to be incorporated in the research design.
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Biography
Andrew L. Tam obtained his BA(Hons) in Fashion Design from the
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Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in 1997 and his MA
in Design from the Middlesex University in 1999. He is currently a
freelance fashion designer working in Hong Kong.

Dr Joe S. Au is currently an Assistant Professor of the Institute of

Textiles & Clothing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His
research interests include design theories of fashion and creative
201

fashion pattern cutting.

 Andrew I. Tam, Joe S. Au and Gail Taylor

Gail Taylor is currently an Associate Professor of the Institute of

Textiles & Clothing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her
research interests encompass a wide range of topics including
fashion and marketing.

Addresses for Correspondence

Andrew L. Tam, Flat H, 7/F., 59A Hip Wo Street, Kwun Tong,
Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Tel: (852) 9866-0714
Email: fashiondot@yahoo.co.uk

Dr Joe S Au, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong

Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Tel: (852) 2766 5529
Fax: (852) 2773 1432
Email: tcjoeau@inet.polyu.edu.hk

Gail Taylor, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong

Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Tel: (852) 2766 6485
Fax: (852) 2773 1432
Email: tctaylor@inet.polyu.edu.hk

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for
funding this research project, and all interviewees who provided the
information used in this study.
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