fashTECH 2009 – Fashion, Technology and The Woman

In collaboration with the International Center for IT and Development (ICITD), Southern University (USA) and the University of Ghana Business School, Ewuraba, under the sponsorship of the PearlrRichards Foundation, organized the first ever fashion and technology workshop in Africa – fashTECH ’09. fashTECH is a forum which seeks to explore the interaction between fashion and technology in today’s information economy.

The keynote speakers were:

• Phoebe R. Apeagyei, Fashion Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
• Irene Armah, Jewellery/Fashion Accessories Designer, INKA Accessories, Ghana, http://www.pluraleinka.com/

The key questions addressed were:

1. What are the opportunities for fashion designers in both developing and developed countries?
2. What the challenges in using the Internet and other forms of technology?
3. What does the future look like and where do we go from here?

This first workshop was organized in Ghana at the University of Ghana Business School and had 125 attendees (58 per cent being women). The attendees were MBA Scholars and entrepreneurs from diverse disciplinary backgrounds including MIS, finance, HR, and Public Administration.  The workshop chair was Dr Richard Boateng, founder of Ewuraba.com. The workshop is a pre-conference event for 2010 International Conference on ICT for Africa (ICIA), which be held in Yaounde, Cameroon, 25-28th March, 2010 (see www.ictforafrica.org).

Workshop Presentations

1. fashTECH Brochure
2. Information Technology in Ghana Fashion Industry (presentation) - Irene Armah
3. Information Technology in Ghana Fashion Industry (View Point Article) -  Irene Armah
4. New Technologies in Fashion – 3D Scanning Technology (presentation) - Phoebe R. Apeagyei
5. Pattern Customizing Technology (Research Paper) – Phoebe R. Apeagyei (Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management)
6. Researching the Human Body (Research Paper) – Phoebe R. Apeagyei (Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management)
7. The Cult of Size Zero (Research Paper) – Phoebe R. Apeagyei (International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education)

Outcome of the Workshop

The African fashion industry face a major challenge in the standardization of size measurements, cataloging, pricing and financial management of resources used in design and production of garments and fabrics. More research is needed to define context specific solutions in these resource poor environments. The PearlRichards Foundation, Ewuraba and ICITD are committed to setting up a research agenda in the development of standards for size measurements and a software for managing African fashion enterprises. This research agenda will stem from collaboration with African fashion designers and local educational institutions.

The research will go a long way to contribute to the mass customization and virtual shopping of African garments and designs. This research has opportunities for economic development for entrepreneurs and African nations and new markets for fashion houses in the developed world. The research will be led by ICITD (www.icitd.com) under the supervision of Dr Richard Boateng and Prof. Victor Mbarika (of ICITD, USA), and with our speakers, Phoebe R Apeagyei (MMU, UK) and Irene Armah (INKA, Ghana) as lead consultants. The 2010 fashTECH workshop will be held in Ghana.

Workshop Media : | Click here for Pictures |