Technique, Technology, and Tradition Related To Design and Aesthetics of Textiles and Apparel

Volume 22 #1/2 2004 1 This focused issue of the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal consists of scholarship on technique, technology, and tradition related to design and aesthetics of textiles and apparel. In the call for manuscripts, the guest editors (Ann Marie Fiore and Kathy Mullet) proposed technique, technology, and tradition to be broadly defined to attract scholars from different disciplinary foci. The contributing authors to this focused issue have diverse textile and apparel backgrounds including consumer behavior, design, history, marketing, socio-cultural studies, textiles and quality assurance which fosters the multi-disciplinary nature of the journal. In light of a growing sentiment among members of the International Textile and Apparel Association to offer textile and apparel designer members an avenue for disseminating their written scholarship, the guest editors proposed the focused issue of Clothing and Textiles Research Journal that would concentrate on design and aesthetics. In line with the current policies of the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, the guest editors encouraged submission of reviews of literature; critical analyses; and reports of research analyzing practical problems, theoretical issues, or methodological problems related to design and aesthetics. New for the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal was the call for papers addressing critical analyses of design objects with an emphasis on the object’s aesthetic, artistic, cultural, or social significance, and papers explaining design techniques and their effect to allow replication of the techniques by others. During the review process, Kathy Mullet and reviewers, many of whom are active designers, helped shape the standards for these two new types of submissions. The guest editors offer the present focused issue as a beginning step in the process of defining standards and criteria for the written form of design scholarship. We suggest that a multi-disciplinary group of International Textile and Apparel Association members convene to define standards and criteria for the written form of design scholarship. The Clothing and Textiles Research Journal needs to differentiate itself based on level of rigor of scholarship from that found in textile and apparel design publications such as Surface Design and Threads. The Clothing and Textiles Research Journal needs to provide designers with not only the how to but also the why which presents the rationale and critical thinking process involved in design. FOCUSED ISSUE Technique, Technology, and Tradition Related To Design and Aesthetics of Textiles and Apparel