Program of Research

My 22 years of experience in the fashion industry has led my central research inquiry:
How can researchers shatter the mainstream illusion of the fashion industry to amplify all voices participating in the global apparel supply chain? I address this question from three perspectives that are interconnected through the global apparel supply chain (a) creators, (b) producers, and (c) consumers.

Hidden Voices in the
Global Apparel Supply Chain

**a selection of publications

Creators

This area of research focuses on designing and developing apparel for underserved markets utilizing user-centered design theory. This design theory allows the actual user to co-design and develop the products they want and need. Dr. McAndrews has focused on designing and developing apparel products for children and people with disabilities as hidden creators. Published works in this area are “A Child’s Canvas” (McAndrews, 2022) where Dr. McAndrews used children’s coloring pages to co-design textile surface designs to then be used as a wearable garment for the child. In addition, Dr. McAndrews interviewed people on dialysis to gain insight into their dressing experiences to help create design strategies that aid in the creation of clothing for the hidden market (McAndrews & Brooks, 2020). Further, Dr. McAndrews wants to continue to co-design with children to create gender-neutral garments with surface designs utilizing the Mutoh sublimation printer.

Another aspect of researching creators’ voices are the hidden cultures and local artisans globally that have their art taken and used for mass production by fashion brands. Therefore, Dr. McAndrews explores fashion designers’ inspiration sources and uncovers the hidden creators that are misappropriated. A published work in this area examined how fashion designers and brands misappropriate marginalized communities' art, culture, and symbols for profit (Hogans & McAndrews, 2022). Future work in this area is decolonizing past designers’ inspiration sources and giving recognition to the appropriate hidden creators.

McAndrews, L. & Brooks, E. (2020). One size does not fit all: A qualitative study exploring the apparel wants and needs of people on dialysis. Disability and Rehabilitation. doi: 10.10.1080/09638288.2020.1846215

Hogans, K. & McAndrews, L. (2022). Away from violence towards justice: A content analysis of cultural appropriation claims from 2013-2020. Fashion Practice. doi: 10.1080/17569370.2022.2118333

McAndrews, L. (2022). “A Child’s Canvas” [Juried Exhibition]. Denver, Colorado: International Textile and Apparel Association 79(1). https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.15847

Level: Professional – International
Retrievable:https://cdn.ymaws.com/itaaonline.org/resource/resmgr/publications/ITAA_2022_Design_Catalog_v2.pdf
Acceptance Rate: 39.3%, Submissions: 61, Accepted: 24

Producers

This area of research uncovers the hidden people that make our clothing. The hidden producers of fashion are the factory workers, the designers, and even the students who are future apparel and textile supply chain members. Our society does not see or chooses not to see the people behind the clothing. Globally, there are 430 million apparel and textile supply chain members whose experiences are hidden until a tragedy like the Rana Plaza collapse is reported in the news. Dr. McAndrews’ research seeks to tell the stories of these hidden producers and use their experiences to create empathy and compassion in FM students to improve the working conditions of all supply chain members.

The hidden producers in the apparel and textile supply chain comes from Dr. McAndrews’ personal experience working in the fashion industry. This area of research began in exploring the work and life balance of women working in the New York fashion industry (McAndrews & Ha-Brookshire, 2015), growing to the investigation of different intelligences of these supply chain members on their job and career satisfaction (McAndrews & Ha-Brookshire, 2020), and finally applying the knowledge learned in those previous studies to structure and execute capacity building workshops in developing regions of the apparel and textile supply chain (McAndrews & Ha-Brookshire, 2022).

McAndrews, L. (2023). A content analysis to understand the cross-functional nature of the merchandising constituency in the behavioural theory of

the apparel firm. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology, and Education. doi: 10.1080/17543266.2023.2261022

McAndrews, L. & Ha-Brookshire, J. (2022). A case study of capacity development in El Salvador's Textile and Apparel Industry. Fashion and Textiles, 9, 37. doi:10.1186/s40691-022-00311-x

McAndrews, L. & Ha-Brookshire, J. (2020). Apparel employees' creative, analytic, and emotional intelligences and their job and career satisfaction. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 24(1). doi: 10.11.08/JFMM-11-2018-0149

McAndrews, L. & Ha-Brookshire, J. (2015). Between the devil and the deep blue sea(m): A case study exploring the borders between work and life domains described women's in the U.S. apparel industry. AshEse Journal of Business Management, 1(2), 017-027.

McAndrews, L.E. & Ha-Brookshire, J.E. (2013). A (our) nitty, gritty reality: Meanings of success described by textile and apparel women educators. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 43, 195-209.

Capacity Building in El Salvador

This study shows that educational theory could be used successfully for human capacity building in developing nations and supply chain training.

Publication

Apparel employees' creative, analytic, and emotional

intelligence

This study is one of the first to empirically investigate the apparel work environment by assessing employees’ analytic, creative and EIs and their relationships with job satisfaction and career success.

Publication

This area of research for Dr. McAndrews comes from a result of her vast collaboration with graduate students who also have an interest in hidden consumers including underserved markets like maternity consumers, sustainable consumers, and early technology adopting consumers. A significant portion of this area of research comes from Dr. McAndrews’ continued work with her first graduated PhD student Briana Martinez at Baylor University. Together they have quantitatively investigated hidden early adopters of fashion mobile applications (apps) (Martinez & McAndrews 2021; Martinez, et al., 2023) and mobile payments. Specifically, the pair launched two large data collections in 2019 and 2021 to investigate how the pandemic changed consumers’ use of mobile payments (Martinez & McAndrews, 2022; Martinez & McAndrews, 2023).

Further research in the hidden consumer area have included projects that explored and examined niche (hidden) target markets (Meacham, McAndrews, and Medvedev, 2020; Weigle & McAndrews, 2021; Bingham, McAndrews, and Hogans, 2022). Findings from these projects have given insights to the wants and needs of underserved consumers and because these consumers are outside the “mainstream” their clothing consumption practices give practical sustainable implications to the apparel and textile supply chain.

Martinez, B., Smith-Glaviana, D., McAndrews, L., & Manrique, A. (2023). “Eye shopping” on fashion mobile apps: An exploratory study design features. International Journal of Costume and Fashion, 23(1).

Martinez, B. & McAndrews, L. (2023). Investigating U.S. consumer’s mobile pay through UTAUT2 and generational cohort theory: An analysis of mobile pay in pandemic times. Telematics and Informatics Reports. 11, 100076.

Bingham, S., McAndrews, L. & Hogans, K. (2022). What apparel impulse buying says about our society: The mediation effect of consciousness for sustainable consumption on fashion clothing involvement and apparel impulse buying. Journal of Family and Consumer Science, 11(4).

Martinez, B. & McAndrews, L. (2022). Do you take...?: The effect of mobile payment solutions on use intention: An application of UTAUT2. Journal of Marketing Analytics. doi: 10.1057/s41270-022-00175-6

Weigle, E. & McAndrews, L. (2021). The future of maternity wear: Generation Z's expectations of dressing for pregnancy. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. doi: 10.1108/JFMM-11-2020-0244

Martinez, B. & McAndrews, L. (2021). The influence of mobile application design features of consumers' emotional response and stickiness intentions. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management. doi: 10.1108/IJRDM-06-2020-1846215

Meacham, S., McAndrews, L. & Medvedev, K. (2020). The clothing consumption process of the vintage consumer and sustainable practices for mainstream consumers. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 112(3).