＂Nonwoven＂ Versus ＂Engineered Fabric＂： the Impact These Terms Have on the 15- to 25-Year-Old Females＇ Intent to Purchase

Since the fall of 2004, textile and apparel students at a United States public university have been designing apparel with nonwoven fabrics. Over the last two years, the students' designs have sparked interest in the industry which has begun to create new and innovative fabric designs. The industry, however, still struggles over the best name for the fabric. This sparked the research question, "What impact 15- to 25-year-old's intent to purchase a garment?"Through a convenience sampling method, an online questionnaire was distributed to 15- to 25-year-old United States females. The questionnaire included questions regarding demographics and psychographics, and asked respondents to choose garments they would intend to purchase based on known attributes such as style, brand,price, place, and fabrication and fiber content. There were a total of 14 garments, seven tops and seven bottoms. Four of these garments, two tops and two bottoms were constructed of nonwoven fabrics.The respondents accepted the nonwoven fabrics when shown in garments in an online setting. This demonstrates that visually, these fabrics are comparable to traditional woven and knit fabrics. The "nonwoven" polyester and nylon blend fabric increased in popularity when the respondents were told the fabrication and fiber content.However, the "engineered" polyester and polyethylene blend fabric dropped to last place when fabrication and fiber content were known. This indicates that 15- to 25-year-old respondents do not understand or are not interested in fibers or fabrications described as "engineered fabric" with a polyester/polyethylene blend. More research will have to be done to determine if the fabrication term "engineered fabric"or if the polyester/polyethylene blend fiber content caused a lack of interest or decreased intent to purchase.Research has currently begun to determine the right combination of fiber content and fiber size to develop a nonwoven fabric with an acceptable hand for apparel fabrics.