2008 Woodie Awards
The World Wide thread
by Sabina Ellahi
Issue date: 9/9/08 Section: Mosaic
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The Fashion International Business Education Response Journal, or FIBER, is operated by the university's department of fashion and apparel studies. The project is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Education and focuses on the global apparel trade industry. With over 2,200 users from 12 countries, the purpose of the online journal is to enhance awareness of the apparel industry while examining the process behind the manufacturing.
Marsha Dickson, department chairperson and professor in the department of fashion and apparel studies, is the co-project director. She says the site is meant to augment understanding of international business.
"It will help bridge the knowledge between the university and the rest of the trade industry," Dickson says. "The project is meant to create more international learning in the classroom."
Project director and Editor Hye-Shin Kim says the goal of the site is to bring various facets of information to the readers.
"The goal is to provide apparel manufacturing and retailing industry professionals and interested stakeholders with current news, research and insights into the globalization of the industry," Kim states in an e-mail message.
Dickson says FIBER is not limited to professionals though. Many research journals are written in technical terms because they are geared toward readers who are graduate students or work in business. The bi-annual FIBER journal targets all kinds of readers who are interested in learning about the business of the apparel industry.
"We try to put the research in light terms so everyone can understand it and attract more readers," she says.
FIBER's current theme focuses on specific countries. Kim says the site will focus on five countries who are active players in the business.
"The apparel industry is truly global in nature," she says. "Most of the apparel we wear are manufactured outside of the U.S., so there is a need to understand the dynamics of the fashion industry within a global context."
Dickson says the members of the team eventually want to create seminars on the various countries and industries to be posted on the site. Thailand is the main feature in FIBER's latest issue, including interviews with people like the director general of Thailand's department of industrial promotion and a former U.S. ambassador to Thailand.
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