An innovative teaching approach to product development: creating tennis wear for female baby boomers
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: To approach innovative teaching, prototype development of tennis wear for female baby boomers was incorporated into the product development course. This semesterlong project, fully funded by Cotton Incorporated, guided students in identifying the needs of female baby boomers who play tennis and then designing appropriate tennis wear. Twelve female tennis participants aged between 55 and 66 were interviewed in a focus group. To mirror fashion industry practice, students worked in teams including with real-world clients. The functional, expressive, and aesthetic consumer needs model (Lamb and Kallal in Cloth Text Res J 10:42–47, 1992) provided the conceptual framework for the project, and the students took the FEA design criteria into account when developing tennis wear prototypes that met the needs of the baby boomers. At the end of the semester, a panel of faculty judges who fall within the age group of baby boomers and who play tennis regularly evaluated the student groups’ work and selected the three winning teams using the following criteria: creativity, quality (i.e., construction, tech pack [garment measurements], and fit), presentation (i.e., storyboard and oral presentation), and readiness for production.
Source: Fashion and Textiles
Author: May Chae
Institution: Montclair State University
Language: English
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,880
Funder: Cotton Incorporated
OpenAlex ID: W2605014244