{"id":59156,"date":"2014-06-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-assistant-professor-on-cutting-edge-of-trends-in-global-clothing-industry\/"},"modified":"2014-06-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-24T00:00:00","slug":"uri-assistant-professor-on-cutting-edge-of-trends-in-global-clothing-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/06\/uri-assistant-professor-on-cutting-edge-of-trends-in-global-clothing-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 assistant professor on cutting edge of trends in global clothing industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tSheng Lu wins award from International Textile and Clothing Association<\/b><\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 24, 2014 \u2013 A year ago, 1,130 garment workers were buried alive when a factory built on swampy ground collapsed outside Dhaka, Bangladesh. The tragedy was one of the worst industrial accidents in history.<\/p>\n


\nBut did you know that most of the victims were women living in poor rural areas? Did you also know that foreign companies looking for cheap labor have flooded Bangladesh in recent years, making it one of the largest clothing exporters in the world?<\/p>\n


\nThose topics and more are covered in cutting-edge classes taught by 溏心vlog免费B站 assistant professor Sheng Lu, who recently won a prestigious international award for his scholarly work and teaching about the global textile and clothing industry and international trade relations.<\/p>\n


\nLu, who teaches in the Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design, or TMD, will receive the 2014 Rising Star Award from the International Textile and Apparel Association at its annual conference in Charlotte, N.C., in November. The award recognizes junior faculty members for research and teaching excellence.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cSheng Lu has been successful at teaching, publishing and proposal writing, and he is becoming a nationally recognized spokesperson for the textile and apparel industry,\u201d says TMD co-chair Linda Welters, who nominated him for the award. \u201cHe has had a phenomenal first three years at 溏心vlog免费B站.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI am deeply humbled and honored to receive this award,\u201d says Lu. \u201cI could not have achieved it without the great help and support from my colleagues at 溏心vlog免费B站. The TMD department is one of the top of its kind in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nLu is hosting a conference Sept. 22 on 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston campus about the importance of the textile and clothing industry. To register for the \u201c溏心vlog免费B站 Cotton Summit: The 21st Century Global Apparel Value Chain and Implication for U.S. Cotton in the World Marketplace\u201d visit 溏心vlog免费B站 Cotton Summit<\/a>. The one-day conference is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Lu at shenglu@mail.uri.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\nBorn in Shanghai, Lu joined 溏心vlog免费B站 in 2011 after receiving his doctorate in textile and apparel management from the University of Missouri. He is an expert in the global textile industry and international trade, with a special interest in how the industry drives economic growth, creates jobs and reduces poverty. <\/p>\n


\nOne of his most popular classes at 溏心vlog免费B站 is TMD 433, which examines the swiftly changing textile and clothing industry. Lu even has a lively and current blog for the class: TMD 433<\/a>. More than 21,000 have visited the site since it was launched in 2012.<\/p>\n


\n\t\tThe clothing industry goes far beyond fiber, yarn, fabric and clothing, Lu says. The industry triggered the first Industrial Revolution and still plays a critical role in today’s global economy. In the United States, clothing and shoe sales contributed $350 billion to the economy in 2012, more than new cars ($175 billion) and fast food ($75 billion).<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\u201cEvery American spends an average of $900 a year on clothes,\u201d Lu says. \u201cThe United States also imports clothes from more than 160 different countries, from China to Haiti. Even so, textile and clothing in the 21st century is a globalized industry. A T-shirt might have a \u2018Made in China\u2019 label, but that doesn\u2019t mean the entire production was in China.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\tThe cotton for the T-shirt was probably grown in the United States and shipped to Japan, which turned it into yarn, he says. Then, the yarn was shipped to South Korea to make into fabric. That fabric was shipped to China to cut and sew the shirt. The final product \u2013 a T-shirt \u2013 is shipped back to the United States to retail stores.<\/p>\n


\n\t\tLu says that more than 120 million people worldwide work in the textile industry, many of whom are women from developing countries, like those in Bangladesh. For most of these countries, the clothing and textile industry accounts for half to two-thirds of jobs and 60 to 90 percent of exports, most of which end up in European and North American retail shops.<\/p>\n


\n\t\tWith increased globalization, the textile industry is becoming more involved in public policy debates, Lu says. The Bangladesh building collapse in April 2013 \u2013 and a factory fire a few months earlier in the country that killed 100 workers \u2013 sparked a global outcry for improved safety standards in garment factories in poor countries. The tragedy also focused international attention on the working conditions in poor countries.<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\u201cClothing labels only tell us where the product is made, but don\u2019t reveal the conditions under which it was made,\u201d Lu says. \u201cAs consumers, we don\u2019t want to buy clothing made by people who are risking their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\tThe author of 40 scholarly articles, Lu is sought after by academics, business leaders and policy makers. He recently conducted a study with the U.S. Fashion Industry Association that detected trends in the industry. Executives from nearly 30 of the biggest American-based fashion companies were surveyed.<\/p>\n


\n\t\tThe study found that 89 percent were optimistic about the five-year outlook for the American fashion industry. Among the other findings were that 55 percent of the executives planned to increase their production somewhat in the United States in the next two years. Also, China will remain the dominant supplier, with Vietnam and Asia, including Cambodia and Myanmar, showing growth potential. <\/p>\n


\n\t\tDespite the tragedies in Bangladesh, companies are not leaving the country and are making a commitment to improve their compliance, the survey found. \u201cThis issue cannot be solved by simply leaving Bangladesh,\u201d Lu says. \u201cThat wouldn\u2019t solve the problem. Corporate social responsibility issues started from the first Industrial Revolution more than 200 years ago. Because of consumers\u2019 growing awareness, companies are now more willing to improve factory safety and build a long-term relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPhoto above: Sheng Lu, an assistant professor in the Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design at the 溏心vlog免费B站, with Julia Hughes, president of the U.S. Fashion Industry Association in Washington D.C. Hughes is one of the keynote speakers for the 溏心vlog免费B站 Cotton Summit Sept. 22 on 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston campus. Photo courtesy of Sheng Lu.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sheng Lu wins award from International Textile and Clothing Association KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 24, 2014 \u2013 A year ago, 1,130 garment workers were buried alive when a factory built on swampy ground collapsed outside Dhaka, Bangladesh. The tragedy was one of the worst industrial accidents in history. But did you know that most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}