Lorynn Divita, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Apparel Design and Merchandising | Baylor University
Waco, TX, UNITED STATES
Leading fashion researcher focuses on fashion forecasting, trend contagion & textile, apparel and retail industry topics
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Biography
Dr. Lorynn Divita is an Associate Professor of Apparel Merchandising in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at Baylor University, where she has taught since 2002.
Divita has taught courses on principles of art and design, merchandise planning and control, retailing trends and issues, fashion forecasting and apparel quality analysis. Her academic research focuses on fashion forecasting and the influence of contemporary culture on trend contagion.
Divita is U.S. editor of the Bloomsbury Fashion Business Case Studies series and author of the textbook, Fashion Forecasting (Bloomsbury) and coauthor of The Why of the Buy: Consumer Behavior and Fashion Marketing (Bloomsbury).
Her publications have appeared in academic journals, including the Journal of the Textile Institute, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, and Clothing Cultures published in England; Clothing and Textiles Research Journal and Journal of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management, published in the U.S.; and International Journal of Costume and Fashion, published in Korea.
Areas of Expertise (8)
Fashion Forecasting
Fashion Contagion
Fast Fashion
Contemporary Culture and Fashion
Fashion Merchandising
Textile Sciences
Apparel
Retailing
Education (3)
University of North Carolina at Greensboro: Ph.D., Textile Products Marketing
University of Missouri: M.S., Apparel Manufacturing Management
California State University, Chico: B.A. degrees, Fashion Merchandising and French
Links (3)
Media Appearances (7)
These jeans that make you look like you wet yourself cost $800 – and sold out. Why?
USA TODAY online
2024-05-14
Lorynn Divita is quoted in this article about a controversial pair of jeans from a high-end fashion brand with a “wet stain” on the front.
How Can Dry Cleaners Connect with Gen Z? (Part 2)
American Dry Cleaner online
2023-09-12
Lorynn Divita offered an online workshop, “Connecting with Gen Z — The ‘Values’ Generation,” for the National Cleaners Association to help dry cleaning businesses understand how to connect with Generation Z.
Why Is It Trending?: Fashion Forecasting Expert Dr. Lorynn Divita Breaks Down the Apparel Industry
Her Campus
2023-02-25
Lorynn Divita is interviewed about the ways in which industry and social media influencers forecast trends.
How online shops mobilized to sell products featuring images from the James Webb Space Telescope
Marketplace online
2022-07-16
Lorynn Divita was interviewed by Marketplace about how images taken by NASA’S James Webb Space Telescope have sprung up quickly on light-up signs, sweatshirts, fanny packs, mugs and more.
'Coastal Grandmother' Is the Style Comforting TikTok
Paper Magazine online
2022-04-27
Lorynn Divita provides insight on the new “Costal Grandmother” aesthetic trend.
Muslim entrepreneur brings modest fashion to her Maine community
Marketplace online
2022-03-08
AUDIO: Lorynn Divita was interviewed about how a young entrepreneur’s fashion start-up is tapping into a Muslim customer base that has long been underserved by the mainstream fashion industry.
Makers of modest clothes find a niche in U.S. fashion
Share America
2021-10-21
Lorynn Divita provides insight for Share America - the U.S. Department of State’s platform for communicating American foreign policy worldwide - about how the increase in modest fashion reflects the fashion industry’s understanding that diverse fashion choices will increase profit.
Articles (3)
The Why of the Buy: Consumer Behavior and Fashion Marketing-with STUDIO
Bloomsbury Publishing USAPatricia Mink Rath, Stefani Bay, Penny Gill, Richard Petrizzi, Lorynn Divita
2023-03-09
Even as the fashion industry changes rapidly with new technologies, styles and trendsetters, one thing remains constant: the customer is key. But with more competition than ever before, how do fashion brands reach elusive customers and even more crucially, establish loyalty? This thoroughly updated third edition introduces core concepts of consumer behavior through a unique fashion perspective. Ideal for fashion merchandising and marketing courses, this text explains the motivation behind consumer choice and purchase written in a clear manner with industry examples. This text will cover updates in technology and social media, which have changed the landscape of the fashion market.
Texas Cowboy Boots: America's Material Culture Melting Pot
The Journal of American CultureDavid Loranger, Lorynn Divita
2023-03-02
Cowboy boots are some of the most recognizable dress icons in the United States and symbolize the American West. The mythology of these material culture objects has been built over hundreds of years in many types of oral and written narratives. The purpose of this study was to combine secondary sources focusing on specific dimensions of cowboy boots with interviews of bootmakers and firm owners, developing a clearer understanding of the multicultural evolution of this material culture icon.
Predicting consumer intention to purchase clothing products made from sustainable fabrics
Clothing CulturesJeong-Ju Yoo, Lorynn Divita, Hye-Young Kim
2018-06-01
The goal of this study is to investigate the differential influences of environmental concern and fashion opinion leadership on consumer intention to purchase clothing products made of sustainable fabrics. In doing so, this study examines the mediating role of environmental attitude towards clothing consumption.
