Capstone 2021: Obsidian Workwear
OBSIDIAN is a natural glass formed by a fast-cooling lava flow. Prized for its usefulness, this material has been known to produce the sharpest stone artifacts. The clothing in this line is directed towards women who, like obsidian, overcame much in their lives and have been shaped into someone who knows how to get a job done well.
Competitor Research
Dovetail Workwear
Silverts
Carhartt
Tommy Hilfiger
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Contemporary brand with a line of adaptive apparel for people with disabilities
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Casual dresses, shirts, pants
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Moderate price range, $25-$135
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Targeted towards fashion-forward people aged 25-35 with disabilities.
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This line offers adaptive clothing with the style and image of a well-known brand.
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Uses draw cords, easy open necklines, magnets, pull loops, extended zippers, etc.
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Women’s workwear brand created by gardeners
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Work pants, overalls, tops, jackets, and accessories
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Moderate price point ($30-$200)
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Target Market: Women ages 25-35 who work in construction, landscaping, etc.
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This brand claims to have filled “the fit, function, and durability gap”.
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Uses lots of cotton and spandex blends
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Tailored to fit women’s bodies
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Their pants and overalls have plenty of pockets and straps for carrying anything needed
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Workwear
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Work pants and shirts, boots, t-shirts, jackets, etc.
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Moderate pricing, $17-$250
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Sells to men, women, and children of all ages who live in rural areas and, either through work or recreation, need heavy-duty clothing.
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Known for their tough clothing that has been proven to last.
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Rugged flex, Force, Storm defender, Rain defender
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Creates and sells adaptive clothing to people living with disabilities
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Wheelchair pants, open-back pants, side snap pants, open-back shirts
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Moderate price range, $30-$160
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Sells to people with disabilities, with a large part of their market older than 50.
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This company makes use of a variety of opening features, including snaps, velcro, magnets, and zippers.
Non-Adaptive Brands Adaptive Brands
Duluth Trading CO
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This company has a “No Bull” attitude towards their merchandise offering. They create tough clothing that work hard in tough jobs, period.
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Work pants and shirts, work leggings, casual tops and bottoms, jackets
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Moderate pricing, ($15-200)
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Targeted towards workers and craftsmen and women ages 30-40
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Fabric technologies such as Fire Hose fabric, DuluthFlex, Buck Naked, Armachillo, Dry on the Fly, etc.
ReboundWear
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“Reboundwear's mission is to provide fashionable and functional clothing for the everyabled”
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Athletic shirts and pants
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Moderate price- $65-$95
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Target market: all genders and all ability levels ages 25-35
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Long zippers on all garments
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Athletic-style apparel that incorporates zippers to assist with donning and doffing. Most items are composed of polyester and spandex.
Personas
HOW CAN WORK CLOTHING BECOME MORE FUNCTIONAL AND STYLISH TO EMPOWER WOMEN LIVING WITH DISABILITIES?
INCLUSIVE DESIGN
In order to feel empowered, women in the workforce who live with disabilities need clothing that not only protects them and helps them do their job, but is able to adapt to different abilities. On top of all this, these clothes need to fit well and look good. My garment line features a feminine silhouette, strong invisible zippers running down the outside leg seams of the bottoms and the underside of the arms of the tops, and stretchy elastic sections in the waistbands that help the wearer don and doff their workwear.
COTTON PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY
This line uses both Tough Cotton and Storm Cotton fabric technologies. These technologies protect the wearer from the harsh elements and demanding work environment, and help to elongate the lifespan of the garments.
Inspiration
Equally as tough as the women who wear them, the materials and trims of this clothing line are fit to endure life's most challenging obstacles. From brass rivets and buckles to Tough Cotton denims and heavy-duty invisible zippers, these garments are fit to last a lifetime.
MATERIALS AND TRIMS
MOOD BOARD
The theme of my capstone project is helping women who work with their hands. The jagged roughness portrayed throughout this board symbolizes the grit and determination of these women, qualities both admirable by many and necessary to get the job done.
Point of Sale
Prototype
My prototype, the “Carnelian Jean” is a pair of jeans that have been modified to include 30” invisible zippers running along both out seams, from the bottom of the waistband to the hem of the leg. These make the jeans easy to don and doff without an overly complicated separating zipper. Made With 100% cotton twill denim fabric and the cotton performance technologies “Storm Cotton” and “Tough Cotton”, the carnelian jean Is the perfect jean for wearing around town or out on the farm.
Backbone PLM Technical Reports
We have been learning to use the PLM service "Backbone", which streamlines the creation of component utilization reports, costing, line sheets, and technical packages.
Component Utilization Report
This report helps the product development team see how components can be sourced more efficiently.
Costing
The costing spreadsheet takes into consideration the material costs, freight charges, and import duties. Once the cost to produce the item is figured out, I calculated the MSRP by multiplying the cost of goods by 3 (to cover labor and manufacturing overhead), added 12% for marketing, 45% as a dealer margin, and then multiplied that number by 2.
Line Sheet
The line sheet shows the color options and sizes for each item in the product line.
Technical Packages
Technical Packages put most everything together in one document: colors, bill of materials, size specs, points of measure, and all related images.
Amber Overalls
Aventurine Pants
Carnelian Jeans
Mica Jacket
Jasper Pullover