Denim Jeans Research Articles

From Cattle Brand to Corporate Brand: Blue Jean Trademarks in Mid-century America

Abstract Cattle brands are physical imprints of ownership applied to the flesh of animals. They were, in the nineteenth century, indispensable to ranchers for differentiating their cattle from a competitors’ stock on the open range. The branding symbol’s utility as a legible marker of property ownership declined after widespread fencing delimited the plains. Yet cattle brands remained present in vernacular visual and material culture as decorative features and motifs signifying the Old West into the twentieth century. Cattle brand imagery, largely divorced from its functional origins, was recombined and repurposed to add decorative flourish to a variety of garments, wearable accessories, and domestic objects. This article explores the persistence of cattle brands as a popular trope in mid-century America and focuses on denim jeans, manufactured by Levi Strauss & Co., and, in particular, Lee, companies that fashioned their company logos in the guise of a brand. Through material culture analysis I will examine how clothing companies employed cattle brand iconography in advertising, promotions, and product design to consider a historical moment in the cattle brand’s semiotic shift from indexical trace of property ownership to corporate brand logo.

A Study on the Factors Influencing the Preference of Sri Lankan Consumers for the Use of Denim Jeans

Denim jeans in vogue these days amongst women as they were available in many fashionable styles. Statistics proved that women were becoming more fashion consumed than men and were inclined to buy denim jeans. Although the consumer preference for denim jeans in the global context has been addressed, thereby establishing certain norms in the market, none of this work has proved helpful in assessing the level of consumer preference in the Sri Lankan denim fashion apparel market. In view of this deficit, this paper focuses on determining the factors of buying denim Jeans for consumer preferences and identifying how it affects demand prevailing in the Sri Lankan denim apparel industry. The researchers used a questionnaire based on to evaluate factors of preference on buying denim jeans. A total of 88 consumers completed the questionnaire. An analysis of the data indicated that 85.5% of consumers expect high-quality when considering buying denim jeans. The results of this study support the multidimensional nature of consumers preference for denim jeans. Findings were analyzed and identified that some recommendations could be used in the product development to enhance the quality and appearance of denim jeans in the Sri Lankan denim apparel fashion market.

Performance and Analysis of UWB Aesthetic Pattern Textile Antenna for WBAN Applications

This article proposes a new aesthetic pattern-three petal flower patch antenna that operates at Ultra Wide Band (UWB) for Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) applications. The flower structure consists of three petals and a center circle patch with the partial ground plane at the bottom. A double-sided copper-coated conductive fabric, which is 0.08 mm thick, having a surface resistivity of 0.05 Ω/square, serves as the antenna patch and ground material. This conductive patch is placed in a denim jeans material with 1mm thick that forms the substrate. The utilization of a two-layer substrate and partial ground method enhances the impedance bandwidth of the antenna. The size of the antenna is 60 mm × 60 mm × 2.16 mm. The reflection coefficient, gain, efficiency, radiation pattern, and effects of bending were the various parameters analyzed for the flower antenna. The antenna radiates from 3 to 12 GHz, which covers the entire UWB frequency range from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz assigned by Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The measurement results validate the performance of a flower patch antenna.

Control quantity or toxicity of textile chemicals? A case study of denim jeans in the warp-dyeing phase

The extensive use and discharge of chemicals is one of the main factors leading to serious environmental pollution in the textiles and apparel industry. The chemical footprint (ChF) is a toxicity-based chemical management method that is used to quantitatively evaluate the potential toxic effects of chemical pollutants discharged during the production of textiles and apparel products on human health and environmental safety. Compared with the traditional quantity-based method, this method needs to simulate the entire process of chemicals from discharge to impact, involving a series of steps of fate, exposure and effect, which greatly increases the difficulty of modeling. A scientific question is whether it is worth spending so much effort to quantify the toxicity of chemicals. Taking the warp-dyeing phase of denim jeans as an example, this paper calculated the ChFs for both human and ecological toxicities of textile chemicals based on the USEtox model, and compared them with the values of discharge quantities. The results reveal that there is a certain inconsistency between the discharge quantity and toxicity of chemical substances. Relying solely on the amount of chemicals discharged can sometimes lead to misjudgments, emphasizing the importance of controlling the toxicity of chemicals.

Recombinant cellulase of Caulobacter crescentus: potential applications for biofuels and textile industries

Caulobacter crescentus (C. crescentus) has a single celA gene encoding the bacterial cellulase (EC 3.2.1.4) of the GH9 family that is induced at transcriptional levels (q-PCR) by agroindustrial residues. Corn straw (1%, w/v) was more efficient in inducing bacterial mRNA-celA expression than corn cob (1%, w/v) and a parallel protein expression profile was observed, since enzyme activity was also higher in presence of corn straw in the bacterium. In order to evaluate the biotechnological role of cellulase from C. crescentus (NA1000), the celA gene of 1,878 bp (CCNA_02310) was cloned in the pTrCHisA vector and successfully expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant cellulase CelA purified showed 73 kDa, specificity to CMC, optimal pH of 5.5 and pH stability of 6, optimal temperature at 40 °C and thermostability at 35 °C, KM = 0.66 mg/mL and VMax = 2.41 U/mg/min. CelA was strongly activated by ions Mn2+ (70%), Sn2+ (49%) and Co2+ (46%) and was efficient in the hydrolysis of corn straw and corn cob (1%; w/v) releasing 2.62 µmol/mL and 1.02 µmol/mL of reducing sugar, respectively, being an alternative for the production of chemicals and biofuels. CelA was applied directly to the jeans fiber and scanning electron micrographs (SEM) generated showed a clean and smooth surface of the fibers compared to the control, indicating the application of enzyme for the biopolishing of denim jeans. This work supports a set of biotechnological capabilities of cellulase from C. crescentus suggested by the bacterial genomic sequence that has not been described yet.

A study on the factors influencing the preference of Sri Lankan consumers for the use of denim jeans

Aim: This paper focuses on determining the factors of buying denim Jeans for consumer preferences and identifying how it affects demand prevailing in the Sri Lankan denim apparel industry. Denim jeans in vogue these days amongst women as they were available in many fashionable styles. Statistics proved that women were becoming more fashion consumed than men and were inclined to buy denim jeans. Although the consumer preference for denim jeans in the global context has been addressed, thereby establishing certain norms in the market, none of this work has proved helpful in assessing the level of consumer preference in the Sri Lankan denim fashion apparel market.Method: The researchers used a questionnaire based on to evaluate factors of preference on buying denim jeans. A total of 88 consumers completed the questionnaire.Findings: An analysis of the data indicated that 85.5% of consumers expect high-quality when considering buying denim jeans. The results of this study support the multidimensional nature of consumers preference for denim jeans. Findings were analyzed and identified that some recommendations could be used in the product development to enhance the quality and appearance of denim jeans in the Sri Lankan denim apparel fashion market.Implications/Novel Contribution: Despite the popularity of denim jeans among Sri Lanka consumers, the studies that explored the consumer preference of such a popular product category are a dearth of research. This study reveals some important facts of denim apparel brands and factors of preference of such consumers that will enhance the future retail fashion in Sri Lanka.

Compact wearable dual wideband circularly polarized L-strip fed slotted textile antenna with parasitic elements for ISM band applications

This paper presents an L-strip fed compact wearable dual wide band circularly polarized textile antenna (DWCPTA) with a pair of parasitic elements and dual wide band operations at frequencies 2.45 and 5.80 GHz for industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band applications. The antenna is printed on top of denim (jeans) substrate having dielectric constant 1.7 and thickness of 1.43 mm with wide slot ground plane on back side. The proposed DWCPTA of size 40 × 40 × 1.43 mm3 achieves -10 dB simulation impedance bandwidth of 89.16% (2.3 – 6.0 GHz) and 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) of 47.55% (2.34 – 3.80 GHz) and 12.60% (5.20 – 5.90 GHz) and essentially, low specific absorption rate (SAR) values of 0.8 and 0.95 W/Kg over 10 g of human tissues for wide band operations at frequencies 2.45 and 5.80 GHz respectively. The proposed DWCPTA is designed, fabricated and tested, which shows good agreement between measured and simulated ones.

On a knife edge: A preliminary investigation of clothing damage using rounded-tip knives

Bladed weapons are frequently encountered in violent crime offences including street based and armed robberies, murder, sexual assaults and terrorism. A study was conducted involving four frequently encountered clothing fabrics: t-shirt (knitted cotton), denim jeans (twill woven cotton), long sleeved top (knitted synthetic blend), and skirt (non-woven faux leather) and five knives to investigate any damage resulting from a downward stabbing motion, with 300 stabs in total. Any resultant penetrating severance damage was then photographed, measured and analysed. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between the stab hole size and shape, as a consequence of the design of a bladed weapon (in particular, the tip shape) that caused it. There is a notable correlation between the Assure knife (rounded tip) and no resulting severance damage, as the fabric surfaces were not breached with this knife. This suggests a clear alternative to pointed tip knife blades. These findings will be of interest to investigators of knife crime offences, crime-reduction units, knife manufacturers and practitioners, who share the goal of identifying a safer alternative to conventional knife blade design.

Predicting U.S. Adolescents’ Purchasing of Denim Jeans using Quality Attributes, Behavioral Characteristics, and Sociodemographics

Jeans were predominant in American closets until the early 2000s when athleisure grew and passed denim in sales. Currently, athleisure is leading the mindshare of adolescents and has been since spring 2014. Youth have as much discretionary spending as college-students, but youth have fewer to no financial responsibilities. This study sought to establish a predictive model of the factors that contribute to the decision-making process when purchasing denim by 13- to 19-year-old adolescents living in the United States. A conceptual model was developed from the buyer-decision process, quality attributes, behavioral characteristics, and sociodemographics to predict an adolescent’s denim purchase intention. An opt-in panel of 460 adolescents living in the United States took a researcher-developed questionnaire online. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to predict the intention to purchase denim jeans using product attributes, sociodemographics, and purchasing behaviors of denim jeans. The statistically significant predictors of intention to purchase denim were intrinsic attributes-appearance of fabric on body, cognitive attributes, if denim had a tighter fit, and if denim was purchased in the last three months. Predictors that decreased respondents’ intention to purchase denim jeans included if the price for one pair of denim was increasingly more than $40 and gender. The findings suggest the factors adolescents consider important when purchasing denim jeans so that manufacturers could adjust production and marketing as needed. Research efforts should include interpersonal and media influences in the conceptual model to predict denim jean purchases. Qualitative research should have youth evaluate product attributes when denim jeans are present.

The Denim jeans As a Refashionable and Redress Creative Style Art

To gain a profound understanding of what composes consumers thinking, denim jeans, therefore, were used as an investigation vehicle and an analytical research method was utilized to illuminate implicit consumer motives. Denim is always a fashionable representation and is forever in this direction in all seasons. The present research is an attempt to develop denim fabrics appropriate in the manufacture in all of the types of garment and even accessories. The current study is to redefine the role and meaning of Jeans as fashionable reshape style through an extravagant and stringent attitude towards fashion designs. The present research is a comparable approach as taken to describe the main phases of the redesign research process concerning contemporary Art and Environment Creative Style of jeans course to fashion design students especially, and fashion designer beginner's denim fabrics in general. This phenomenon through a shadow on the needs to study the redesigning and developing denim convenient for the customer as well as an educational part of the student of ready-made garment fashion design to emerge a curriculum to promote this education area. The present research, therefore, is to establish a new standard trend of infinite reuse by reducing excess denim fabric at both artwork and educational process levels

Silica-related diseases in the modern world.

Silicosis is an ancient and potentially fatal pneumoconiosis caused by exposure to respirable crystalline silica. Silicosis is historically a disease of miners; however, failure to recognize and control the risk associated with silica exposure in contemporary work practices such as sandblasting denim jeans and manufacturing of artificial stone benchtops has led to re-emergence of silicosis around the world. This review outlines the mineralogy, epidemiology, clinical and radiological features of the various forms of silicosis and other silica-associated diseases. Perspective is provided on the most recent studies shedding light on pathogenesis, including the central role of innate immune effector cells and subsequent inflammatory cascades in propagating pulmonary fibrosis and the extrapulmonary manifestations, which uniquely characterize this pneumoconiosis. Clinical conundrums in differential diagnosis, particularly between silicosis and sarcoidosis, are highlighted, as is the importance of obtaining a careful occupational history in the patient presenting with pulmonary infiltrates and/or fibrosis. While silicosis is a completely preventable disease, unfortunately workers around the world continue to be affected and experience progressive or even fatal disease. Although no treatments have been proven, opportunities to intervene to prevent progressive disease, founded in a thorough cellular and molecular understanding of the immunopathology of silicosis, are highlighted.

CHECKERBOARD ELECTROMAGNETIC BAND GAP (EBG) STRUCTURED S-SHAPED ANTENNA FOR WEARABLE APPLICATIONS

A miniaturized wearable antenna with a compact EBG with checkerboard structure is designed. The structure is placed on a denim jeans material with thickness of 0.7mmand having dielectric constant of 1.7 and a loss tangent of 0.02. The antenna operates at a frequency of 2.5 GHz and has 0.33GHz bandwidth and 13.2% impedance bandwidth for ISM band applications. The prototype is robust as well as compact and adheres to the wearable applications. The EBG is used to improve the gain and reduces the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) which is an essential in wearable applications. The gain of 6.5dBi and SAR of 0.0312W/Kg is achieved, satisfying the required conditions of the antenna in the presence and absence of EBG to assess the changes caused in the performance of the antenna due to the insertion of EBG.

Understanding US millennials' perceived values of denim apparel recycling: insights for brands and retailers

Given the importance of denim jeans recycling in the sustainability movement of today's apparel industry, in the context of rising consumer environmentalism, this study aimed to identify the key factors influencing the US millennial consumers' willingness to recycle their denim apparel to brands or retailers that offer recycling services. Consumer perceived value (CPV) model provides the theoretical framework and guides the primary data collection. Based on analysis of 15 in-depth interviews, five main values identified are the perceived social, financial, emotional, convenience and ecological values of denim apparel recycling. Each of these main values has sub-themes. The findings can help apparel brands and retailers to better design and execute their recycling programs by targeting millennials who are considered as the primary drivers of fast fashion consumption. Through revealing consumer perceived values from recycling denim apparel, this study adds theoretical insights to academia and suggests practical solutions to companies.

The effect of the acid/dithionite/peroxide treatments on reactively dyed cotton and indigo dyed denim and the implications for waste cellulosic recycling

Previous studies have established that the application of crosslinking dyes and easy care finishes to cotton can significantly reduce the dissolution of waste cotton in swelling solvents and limit potential recycling of cellulosic materials through Lyocell fibre regeneration process. In this study, a sequential hydrolysis/reduction/oxidative treatment was investigated as a potential method to completely strip all types of reactive dye chromophores from cotton. It was established that the treatment could completely strip off colours from the reactively dyed fabrics and post-consumer denim jeans fabric resulting in a white, NMMO-dissolvable cellulosic material, which could be used as a feedstock for Lyocell fibre regeneration. The white cellulose had an acceptable degree of polymerisation and the regenerated fibres had structural and mechanical properties similar to those of fibres regenerated from conventional wood pulp. Blending conventional wood pulp and recycled cotton pulp allowed manufacturing of regenerated Lyocell-type fibres with acceptable properties.

Effects of Waste Denim Fibre (WDF) on the physical and rheological properties of bitumen

About 15% of the denim jeans are waste materials during the cutting processing in the manufacturing. That is considering a huge waste need to be managed and recycled in a sustainable manner. In this research, waste denim fibre modified binders were prepared at 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2% concentration of waste denim fibre by weight of bitumen. Effects of waste denim fibre on physical and rheological properties of bitumen were investigated by conducting penetration, softening point, ductility, temperature susceptibility, complex modulus, phase angle and permanent deformation parameters evaluations. Results show that the addition of waste denim fibre reduces the penetration, ductility and temperature susceptibility and increases the softening point of bitumen, which indicating improved permanent deformation resistance of bitumen. Based on dynamic shear rheometer analysis, it was found that, waste denim fibre improved the rheological properties of bitumen from a temperature range of 40°C to 70°C. Furthermore, rutting parameter evaluation indicated that denim fibre modified bitumen has high resistance to rutting due to the enhancement of its elastic behaviour with increased of denim fibre content in the modified binder. It was also noted that 2% WDF is the optimum content for improving the rutting resistance of base bitumen.

A practical study on direct PCR amplification using the GlobalFiler™ PCR Amplification Kit on human bloodstains collected with microFLOQ™ Direct swabs

Rapid DNA profiling of casework samples is a powerful tool that can support law enforcement agencies in the quick apprehension of perpetrators before they re-offend or escape the jurisdiction. This present study evaluated the feasibility of direct PCR amplification, using the microFLOQ™ Direct swab, for generating DNA profiles (from bloodstains) within 3 h. The swab tip is coated with nylon fibers pre-treated with cell lysing agent, which allows for the direct PCR amplification of collected samples without DNA extraction and quantification, thereby shortening the time required to obtain a DNA profile. Samples collected were directly amplified using GlobalFiler™ PCR Amplification Kit with and without the presence of a PCR additive. Addition of the PCR additive enhanced the peak heights of DNA profiles by approximately 2 fold. Hence, an additive could improve results obtained in the absence of a DNA purification step, especially since casework samples may contain PCR inhibitors. Subsequently, these swabs, amplified using the GlobalFiler™ PCR Amplification Kit with PCR additive, were evaluated on common substrates encountered in routine casework samples submitted with bloodstains, such as denim jeans, knife blade, tissue paper, leather belt, shirt, and blood swabs. The minimum peak heights observed were generally above the analytical and stochastic thresholds established by the laboratory. Finally, the microFLOQ™ Direct swab workflow was compared to the laboratory’s standard workflow of DNA profiling comprising of conventional processing steps such as extraction using the DNA-IQ™ chemistry on Maxwell® 16, followed by quantification, amplification and capillary electrophoresis. The average peak heights of the DNA profiles generated by direct PCR amplification were similar or exceeded those generated using the standard workflow. This study clearly demonstrates that direct PCR amplification using microFLOQ™ Direct swab can be used in a rapid workflow to obtain DNA profiles from casework samples.

A Compact Metamaterial-Inspired Antenna for WBAN Application

In this paper, a compact split ring resonators (SRRs) based antenna is proposed to operate at 2.45 GHz for wireless body area network application. The proposed antenna comprises two SRR rings and an inverted L-shaped stub. This stub is mainly introduced to reduce the size of the antenna by 7.5%. Further, the reduction in the size of the antenna is noticed when a denim jeans cloth is inserted between the antenna and the phantom. The proposed antenna consists of dimensions 0.36 λg × 0.21 λg ×0.01 λg and fabricated on RT Duroid 5880 substrate. The proposed antenna is designed on a homogeneous phantom equivalent of pork muscle for simulation analysis. To validate the simulation on-body performance, the antenna is tested on pork muscles as well as on human-arm, which shows minimum frequency difference on both of the mediums. The measured impedance bandwidth on the pork muscle tissue at 2.45 GHz is 480 MHz (2.14–2.62 GHz) and the peak gain is 1.86 dBi. The simulated and measured results of the proposed antenna are in a good agreement.

Antecedents of brand consciousness in youth for denim jeans: evidences from the largest young consumer base in the world

Consumers nowadays start recognising the brands at a very young age, in fact, at the very initial years of their teenage years. Moreover, they are mostly done with the establishment of their brand preferences by the time they are between 15 to 25 years. So, if a brand wants to be successful in the long-run, it is the youth where it should put some serious efforts at. Doing so becomes more obvious in those products categories which youth is presently the buyers of and will continue to buy throughout their life. The present study evaluates the brand perceptions of youth from India in one of such product categories. Particularly, it studies their brand consciousness and checks if there is any sort of influence of quality consciousness and self-consciousness on their brand consciousness. Besides it, it also attempts to verify the influence of product involvement on their brand consciousness.

Antecedents of Brand Consciousness in Youth for Denim Jeans: Evidences from the Largest Young Consumer Base in the world

Consumers nowadays start recognising the brands at a very young age, in fact, at the very initial years of their teenage years. Moreover, they are mostly done with the establishment of their brand preferences by the time they are between 15 to 25 years. So, if a brand wants to be successful in the long-run, it is the youth where it should put some serious efforts at. Doing so becomes more obvious in those products categories which youth is presently the buyers of and will continue to buy throughout their life. The present study evaluates the brand perceptions of youth from India in one of such product categories. Particularly, it studies their brand consciousness and checks if there is any sort of influence of quality consciousness and self-consciousness on their brand consciousness. Besides it, it also attempts to verify the influence of product involvement on their brand consciousness.

A Study on the Evaluation of Brand Positioning and Identification of Key Branding Strategies W.R.T. to Moustache in the Kolkata Market

In this research the researchers tried to study the brand positioning of Moustache, an entry level denim wear brand from Kolkata. Around 22 branding dimensions were studied in a Likert scale with a total of 109 parameters which resulted in extracting out some important factors, through exploratory factor analysis which influenced the decisions of the consumers in terms of their brand choice. The factors extracted were, namely, Brand Loyalty, Brand Satisfaction, Brand Renown-ability, Brand Knowledge, Brand Promise, Brand Performance and Brand Assurance. All these factors in totality help to shape the position of the brand in the minds of the consumers. These factors collectively explain 60.789% of reasons dictating the branding strategies which affect the purchase behaviour of the consumers of Moustache. A perceptual mapping, through multi-dimensional scaling, of the brand along with its competitors, namely, Mufti, Hoffmen and Passport were done in order to determine how the well the brand is perceived by its consumers in its segment. It was seen that among all the consumers, Moustache was perceived as a brand which has very low perception in Product Innovativeness and Product Promotion. Lastly all the responses of the consumers of the Likert scale was subjected to a mean score analysis in order to understand the mean agreement or disagreement of each branding dimension with respect to the Moustache brand in the mind. It was seen that around 7 branding dimensions namely, Brand Love, Behavioural Commitment, Brand Respect, Action Loyalty, Cognitive Loyalty, Affective Loyalty and Brand Symbolism were the dimensions which according to the consumers, Moustache was lagging behind as compared to its competitors. This research shall help in a better understanding of the denim jeans brand market and shall help further researchers and organisations based out of Kolkata to work upon these characteristics before launching their brand or product with respect to the brand Moustache.