Zebra Effect in Fashion Design: Challenging Consumer Stereotype on Striped Clothing

Abstract

Stripes have long been a popular design element in clothing. It is a fact that striped clothing has great impact on customer's preference in fashion design field. The retailer stores usually sell striped clothing because the needs from consumers. Some well-known brands such as: MUJI, UNIQLO, NET, MOSCHINO, and Tommy Hilfiger, consistently supplying line clothing in the 2013 Spring Collections. However, we found out that the aesthetic feeling are actually depending on personals favorite and connected to the theory of Zebra Effect. In this research, we are investigating the influence of Helmholtz Illusion in dress patterns and fashion cognition between both consumers and subjects. Visual illusions have been widely applied in many areas of design. Some studies showed that human body is best revealed by horizontal, not vertical lines, and that the depth and curvature of the body are crucial for conveying its shape. After the reasons of different dimension present the effect of illusion, they identify that the depth and curvature of the body are crucial for conveying the shape. Nevertheless, this study exist few tools or methods to support reasoning about the influence of line fashion through interact experience. It is an experimental procedure for subjects to observe the four female shapes in two different line shirts, in order to undertake people's real considerations between their notion of stereotype and perceptions. Normally, we think that vertical lines would make people look taller, so wearing vertical stripes should cause the figure to look slimmer than when wearing horizontal stripes. On the other hand, horizontal lines usually give the feeling of sideward extension, resulting in the visual effect of a wider and heavier appearance. Under the same condition, the four differently shaped females in this study, tall, short, heavy, and thin, were asked to try on both vertical and horizontal striped clothing to compare the visual effects, based on certain formula and within the same experimental environment. Therefore, the result of this study is hoped to examine the stereotype to consumers and visual illusion of perception to subjects, also to see the Zebra Effect in this study that is whether differences would be made due to different body shapes.