Phygital Fashion and Immersive Technologies
Research group coordinators: Bethan Alexander and Minji Seo
Projects
Metaverse Spaces and Customer Experience
Metaverse theoretical research is burgeoning, but empirical studies are lacking, especially related to fashion and customer experiences. The project addresses this research gap by exploring metaverse fashion, customer experience and the customer purchase journey. Activities include a paper presentation at the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI) 2024 Conference, at EWHA University, Seoul, South Korea and onward publishing in peer-reviewed journal articles.
Project Lead
Project Researchers
Dr Bethan Alexander (London College of Fashion, UAL)
Dr Marta Blazquez (University of Manchester)
Dr Courtney Chrimes (University of Manchester)
Dr Rosy Boardman (University of Manchester)
Digital Fashion in Practice: Applications and Longevity Workshop
This Research and Knowledge Exchange collaborative project between London College of Fashion and Winchester School of Art, culminated in a workshop to explore Digital fashion in practice with various stakeholders including academics and practitioners researching and working in the field of digital fashion. Four key topics were discussed: producing digital fashion, using digital fashion, engaging audiences and educating for the future. Outcomes from this interaction will lead to a provocation paper and research agenda to inform future projects.
Project Lead
Project Researchers
Dr Nina Van Volkinburg (London College of Fashion, UAL)
Alice Janssens (University of Southampton)
Customer Experience in Fashion Retailing: Merging Theory and Practice
Dr Bethan Alexander’s research interest on places and spaces that people experience including online, offline and phygitally, converge in the publication of her first book, ‘Customer Experience in Fashion Retailing: Merging Theory and Practice’. Merging three core perspectives – academic, creative agency and retailer - the book takes a chronological approach to tracing the evolution of customer experience from the physical store, to omnichannel through channel convergence to consider the future of fashion retailing and customer experience. Beginning with the theoretical perspective, customer experience evolution in a fashion retail context is traced, considering the definition of customer experience, physical retail, the digitalisation of customer experience, omni-channel retail, in-store technologies and envisioning future retail CX.
Project Lead
Blockchain in Marketing: Crypto’s, NFT’s, Metaverse and the New Marketing Revolution Workshop
This collaborative project brought together academics from various UK Universities to conceive and develop a workshop on technologies and marketing that was facilitated at the Academy of Marketing Conference in 2023. Networks were established and cultivated to pave the way for progressive research in this dynamic field.
Project Researchers
Dr Bethan Alexander (London College of Fashion, UAL)
Dr Chrysostomos Apostolidis (Durham University)
Dr Marta Blazquez Cano (University of Manchester)
Dr Abdul Jabbar (Leicester University)
Dr Nora Alomar (Durham University)
Dr. Rosy Boardman (University of Manchester)
Dr Courtney Chrimes (Manchester Metropolitan University)