The Creativity Gap in Chinese Knitwear Industry

A-DEWS 2015: Design Engineering in the Context of Asia, Asian Design Engineering workshop, 29th - 30th October 2015, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Year: 2015
Author: Zhang, X.; Gale, C.; Eckert, C.
Institution: 1Birmingham City University 2Open UniversityBirmingham Milton KeynesUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Section: Business
Page(s): 173-178

Abstract

As products have become more homogenous, the
Chinese knitwear market has been shrinking during the last
decade. This paper argues that this is due to a lack of design
creativity in Chinese knitwear brands. This research focuses on
the internal creativity culture in knitwear companies and the
influencing factors in design processes. In addition, it explores
the reasons why design creativity is undervalued in design
management and design education in China. The aim is to help
the Chinese knitwear industry to deal with their problems
throughout the development of their designs and images.

Keywords: design creativity; knitwear design; Chinese brands; innovative culture.