Defining digital fashion: Reshaping the

field via a systematic review

Eunsoo Baek; Shelley Haines; Omar Fares et al.

2022

Encompassing the six themes, we propose a working definition of

digital fashion that encapsulates these themes and that represents
the spectrum of the fashion value chain

Abstract
The field of digital fashion is rapidly evolving, yet what constitutes digital fashion, and how
it should be defined has not been firmly established. This study aims to conceptualize and
define digital fashion and its components (themes). Applying an inductive approach, we
initially identified 10 keywords linked to digital fashion via a Twitter analysis. Then, a
systematic literature review was conducted (n = 116 articles). Six themes related to digital
fashion were identified: design, consumer, virtual, body, printing, and supply. Themes
include topics relating to the advancement of digital technologies in the fashion design
process, innovation to enhance consumer ex periences, and improvements to the value
chain. Inspired by the six themes, we define digital fashion as “the virtual creation,
production, and representation of one’s identity via computer-generated design.” An
overview of each theme and its contribution to the field of digital fashion is discussed.
Future research developments to extend this domain are considered.

Study subjects
116 articles

Applying an inductive approach, we initially identified 10 keywords linked to digital fashion

via a Twitter analysis. Then, a systematic literature review was conducted (n = 116
articles). Six themes related to digital fashion were identified: design, consumer, virtual,
body, printing, and supply

Findings
Moderate positive correlations were found for body-design (r = .384, p < .001), printing-
body (r = 0.184, p = .038), and consumer-virtual (r = 0.303, p < .001)

A strong positive correlation was found between design-printing (r = 0.761, p < .001)
The only significant ef fect was found for body within the qualitative/quantitative research
type (B = 0.55, SE = 0.22, p = .007), which suggests that articles with more words in the
body theme are more likely to report quantitative research

While articles adopting qualitative methods were more likely include themes of design (F
(1,105) = 4.38, p = .04), supply (F (1,105) = 7.00, p = .010), and body (F (1,105) = 9.96, p
< .001), quantitative articles were more likely to include printing (F (1,105) = 0.30, p = .03)

Conceptual research showed more words in the theme of supply (F (1,96) = 14.78, p < .001),
while empirical research showed more words in the theme of virtual (F(1,96) = 7.64, p
= .007)

The results showed a significant negative effect of the score of the consumer on industry (B
= − 1.360, SE = 0.551, p = .014), revealing that consumer was more likely to reside within
Retail/Consumer

We found that articles in the Manufacturing/Production category included more works in

the themes of design (F(1,111) = 40.25, p < .001), body (F(1,111) = 7.91, p = .006) and
printing (F(1,111) = 52.22, p < .001)

On the other hand, articles for Retail/Consumer category included more words in the theme
of virtual (F(1,111) = 21.26, p < .001) and consumer (F(1,111) = 11.47, p < .001)

Scholarcy Highlights
 The field of fashion intersects with a diverse array of disciplines, including consumer
behavior (e.g., Floren, Rasul, & Gani, 2019; Rah man, Hossain, Hoque, Rushan, &
Rahman, 2020), retail (e.g., Karaosman, Morales-Alonso, & Brun, 2017; Yang, Song, &
Tong, 2017), and sustainable practices (e.g., Islam, Perry, & Gill, 2020; Wagner &
Heinzel, 2020)
 Our conceptualization of digital fashion is meaningful because it is not limited to
improving technical features of the garment design and development process or
boosting the shopping experience and facilitates embracing the expression of oneself
beyond age, gender, and ethnicity in a virtual world
 It lets customers try on new bodies, experiences, ideas, and lives, allowing them to
experiment with a multiplicity of identities and styles (Larosse, 2021)
 With the emergence of contemporary technologies, such as metaverse, 3D printing, the
Internet of Things, VR/ augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI), the
fashion industry is recognizing the importance of inte grating digital fashion into its
operation portfolio
 We identified six themes via a systematic literature review that are preva lent within
the digital fashion field: design, consumer, body, virtual, printing, and supply
 Encompassing the six themes, we propose a working definition of digital fashion that
encapsulates these themes and that represents the spectrum of the fashion value chain
Scholarcy Summary

Introduction
The field of fashion intersects with a diverse array of disciplines, including consumer
behavior (e.g., Floren, Rasul, & Gani, 2019; Rah man, Hossain, Hoque, Rushan, & Rahman,
2020), retail (e.g., Karaosman, Morales-Alonso, & Brun, 2017; Yang, Song, & Tong, 2017),
and sustainable practices (e.g., Islam, Perry, & Gill, 2020; Wagner & Heinzel, 2020).

Fashion and information communication technologies (ICTs) have become increasingly

interrelated (e.g., Faria, Providencia, & Cunha, 2020, November; Joo & Ha, 2016; Yezhova,
Pashkevich, & Gryn, 2019).

The fashion industry is witnessing rapid integration of digital technologies such as smart
and wearable technol ogy, artificial intelli gence (Luce, 2018), virtual and augmented reality
(Kim & Cheeyong, 2015; Park, Im, & Kim, 2018), 3D printing (Vanderploeg, Lee, & Mamp,
2017), 3D body scanning (D’Apuzzo, 2007), and biomaterials (Gupta & Dave, 2021; Kalia &
Paul, 2021; Peng, Sweeney, & Delamore, 2012).

Recent advancements in the field necessitate a review of what constitutes digital fashion
and how it is

Objectives
This study aims to conceptualize and define digital fashion and its components

Methods
Design Supply Virtual ConsumerBody Printing design, technology, future, trend, tradition
supply, blockchain, innovation, sustainable, quality virtual, human, interaction, physical,
space consumer, brand, customization, experience, purchase body, fit, size, pattern,
software printing, cloth, material, fabric, textile Mean SD1.76 1.57 2.38 2.13 printing-supply.

Body Printing design, technology, future, trend, tradition supply, blockchain, innovation,
sustainable, quality virtual, human, interaction, physical, space consumer, brand,
customization, experience, purchase body, fit, size, pattern, software printing, cloth,
material, fabric, textile Mean SD.

We coded research type using two variables: qualitative/quantitative and

conceptual/empirical.

A logistic regression was performed with qualitative/quantitative research type (0 =

qualitative, 1 = quan titative, else coded as missing) as the dependent variable and the
scores of the six themes as the independent variables.

While articles adopting qualitative methods were more likely include themes of design (F
(1,105) = 4.38, p = .04), supply (F (1,105) = 7.00, p = .010), and body (F (1,105) = 9.96, p
< .001), quantitative articles were more likely to include printing (F (1,105) = 0.30, p = .03).
"aesthetic" and "augmentation" were identified as signifi cant variables impacting
behavioral intentions (e.g., Wang, Ko, & Wang, 2021)

Results
Thematic analysis is a systematic approach to identifying, analyzing, and investigating
trends in qualitative data.

Thematic analysis allows investigation of current trends and informs future directions
(Taylor & Taylor, 2009).

We utilized Leximancer software to identify research themes within the 116 remaining
articles in an objective and replicable manner.

Leximancer uses a textual mining approach to identify concept frequencies and co-
occurrences between concepts to generate a conceptual map and a relational map.

A “concept” in Leximancer refers to a combination of words that are related to one another.

The reference to concept co-occurrence refers to the number of times that concepts appear
together within two sentences, while the percentage of concept association means the
conditional probability that concepts will appear next to each other (Leximancer, 2019)

Discussion
Acknowledging the paucity of research and the complexifying definition of digital fashion in
academia, we took an inductive approach to identify search keywords as a starting point for
the sys tematic literature review.

We identified six main themes by textual data mining: design, consumer, virtual, body,
printing, and supply.

Based on the six themes uncovered via this systematic literature review process, we define
digital fashion as the following: “Digital fashion is the virtual creation, production, and
representa tion of one’s identity via computer-generated design.”.

The definition is inspired by encompassing the six themes: Digital fashion is the virtual
creation, production, and repre sentation of one’s identity via computer-generated design.

We believe that this unified definition encapsulates and best represents

Conclusion
Fashion has always been a means of self-expression. People express themselves through
clothing, sneakers, and everything related to fashion.

Our conceptualization of digital fashion is meaningful because it is not limited to improving

technical features of the garment design and development process or boosting the shopping
experience and facilitates embracing the expression of oneself beyond age, gender, and
ethnicity in a virtual world.
It lets customers try on new bodies, experiences, ideas, and lives, allowing them to
experiment with a multiplicity of identities and styles (Larosse, 2021).

Encompassing the six themes, we propose a working definition of digital fashion that
encapsulates these themes and that represents the spectrum of the fashion value chain.

Understanding that these themes represent a unique subset of the Digital Fashion field, we
deemed it important to explore the past, present, and future opportunities con cerning each
of the themes

Confirmation of earlier findings

Moreover, we deployed machine learning, textual data mining, and textual analysis
techniques to minimize subjectivity and to provide a comprehensive overview of research
themes and trends in the literature. The use of multiple analysis techniques lends
reliability to the findings through data-analysis triangulation (Thurmond, 2001)

Contributions
Fashion has always been a means of self-expression. People express themselves through
clothing, sneakers, and everything related to fashion. Self is what makes clothing into
fashion by adding a layer of values embracing one’s desire, emotions, and meanings
(Sproles, 1974). Our conceptualization of digital fashion is meaningful because it is not
limited to improving technical features of the garment design and development process
(e.g., fitting) or boosting the shopping experience (e.g., virtual try-ons) but also facilitates
embracing the expression of oneself beyond age, gender, and ethnicity in a virtual world. It
lets customers try on new bodies, experiences, ideas, and lives, allowing them to experiment
with a multiplicity of identities and styles (Larosse, 2021).Digital fashion is more than
simply a virtual representation but is a movement that acknowledges the influence it has on
manufacturing, production, retail, and consumers. With the emergence of contemporary
technologies, such as metaverse, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, VR/ AR, and AI, the
fashion industry is recognizing the importance of inte grating digital fashion into its
operation portfolio. In our research, we identified six themes via a systematic literature
review that are preva lent within the digital fashion field: design, consumer, body, virtual,
printing, and supply. Encompassing the six themes, we propose a working definition of
digital fashion that encapsulates these themes and that represents the spectrum of the
fashion value chain (manufacturing, production, retail, consumer). We believe this is our
biggest contribution as there is a current lack of a standardized definition of digital fashion.
Further, we dive deeper into the six themes. Understanding that these themes represent a
unique subset of the Digital Fashion field, we deemed it important to explore the past,
present, and future opportunities con cerning each of the themes.
Limitations
We acknowledge several limitations of our approach to our system atic literature review.
First, our inclusion and exclusion criteria included only peer-reviewed papers. While the
inclusion of non-peer-reviewed papers may have provided broader insight, we focused on
providing insight based on high-quality, relevant, and scientific-based papers. Second, the
utilization of Scopus and the WoS as our only databases may have narrowed our findings,
while databases such as Education Re sources Information Center (ERIC) or Business
Source Complete and other peer-reviewed databases may have provided additional
findings. However, we note that WoS and Scopus have been used consistently to
complement one another in social science research (Aghaei Chadegani et al, 2013; Mongeon
& Paul-Hus, 2016). Third, the machine learning approach taken during this study required
training based on researchers’ evaluation, which may lead to bias. However, to overcome
this chal lenge, two independent researchers trained the machine and identified some of the
excluded/included articles.

Future work
Future research developments to extend this domain are considered.

A concerted review may be necessary to further define and conceptualize the term digital
fashion, understand the scope of this field, and propose directions for future research in this
field.

This study seeks to contribute to the growing field of digital fashion by defining and
conceptualizing digital fashion, and proposing future research for concretizing the concept
of digital fashion. We seek to fill the research gap by focusing on the digital fashion sector
and to provide a more comprehensive analysis involving multiple modes of analysis via a
systematic literature review.

We referred to the rigorous and accelerated data reduction technique Watkins (2017) to
investigatedeficits in future research and provide future recommendations.

The current literature has yet to address NFTs, future research on supply will inherently be
connected to NFTs stored on the blockchain. NFTs will transform the way we view digital
fashion. Blockchain technology will allow digital designs and modeling of realworld clothing
to be sold as NFTs and distributed to consumers in the virtual as well as the real world. As
virtual garments become curated as NFTs, consumers will become unique owners of them,
providing addi tional value. Consumers will be able to wear, sell, and trade, as they would
with their physical possessions.

Future research & limitations.

Opportunities and growth in future research. As mentioned, we employed the rigorous and
accelerated data reduction technique proposed by Watkins (2017) to investigate the deficits
in future research and provide future recommendations. Ap pendixes A-E outlines future
research recommendations by theme, as well as a detailed overview of future directions and
a detailed list of our recommendations by theme. We elaborate below: With respect to the
design theme, we recommend future research be dedicated to the design processes and
design education. This may include the introduction of new technologies and tools (e.g.,
portable object scanner) into design practice, as well as improvement to currently existing
technologies and tools. In addition to the continued improvement of digitalization of design,
we recommend testing and validating proposed guidelines to improve design efficiency. The
potential of this theme comes from recognizing design as an empowered creative engine;
the goal is to drive innovation within the fashion value chain (Bertola & Teunissen, 2018)
(Appendix A).

Future research may benefit from developing more rapid, realistic, and accurate virtual en
vironments (e.g., simulate more complex clothing and/or represent realtime performance)
for the fashion industry. Future re searchers can examine how the emergence of virtual
environments (e.g., metaverse) may contribute to and transform the digital fashion experi
ence. We suggest investigating the possible application of virtual technology (e.g., virtual
wear trials) to continue testing its viability for practical use (Appendix D).

Future research should explore other relevant opportunities, such as automated artificial
intelligence or robot applications (Appendix E).

Going forward, we suggest future research to explore the utili zation and validation of the
models in practical contexts. Fashion retailers may employ blockchain in sales forecasting,
increasing transparency and accuracy. We suggest that future researchers extend the
current findings related to supply in terms of its depth and breadth (e.g., quantitative data,
different types of brands) to explore new dimensions of blockchain implementation (e.g.,
social welfare). We recommend investigating factors that will impact the effectiveness of
blockchain adoption in the fashion supply chain (e.g., pricing or risk-related matters)
(Appendix F).

Include more emerging industry leaders, academic scholars and educators; Generalize the
consumer groups Investigate some special cases of demand uncertainty. Conduct usability
test with eye-tracking; larger sample size; samples of other countries; research on other
demographics; longitudinal study Conduct future research in other regions; different data
analysis methods Extend the geographic location; other target markets; Exam ways to
motivate design students to design for plus-size bodies. Include larger and more diverse
sample; background effect; clothes on avatar; various applications Consider more digital
technology; examine the role of service orientation in digital service innovation; include
customer characteristics as a moderator Examine AR experiences’ effect on satisfaction;
examples of different age groups; industries other than fashion Examine different stimuli;
other populations.

Produce realistic and accurate avatar representation for real-time performance in a virtual
environment Examine the efficacy of the model proposed in this study Employ other
simulation programs; more fabrics with versatile fabric properties Investigate more fabrics;
have technical designers to do close investigations of virtual fit Technologies will become
more and more immersive and will need further research Explore more varieties of textile
chemistry experiments; enhance the degree of VR and apply more technologies Use clearer
guidance Propose a live modular ecosystem for personalizing 3D VR stores; understand
consumers’ perspectives in co-designing 3D VR stores; configure 3D VR stores under
influence of social and gaming virtual world The use of automated technologies should be
understood as a continuum of sociotechnical systems Help companies save time, labour and
cost.

The scenographic imagination for audio-visual design in the theatre can only benefit from
this. Enable people to choose garments based on their own requirements; establish a basis
for the generation of CAD systems; virtual wear trials Benefit to other fashion companies
utilizing 3D technology and social media Include symbolic representation and diversity with
long-term experiments Conduct future research in other academic courses and other
countries Measure Level of integration; consider different categories of products/services
and the geographical scope.