Honors Thesis Spotlight: Alex Holmes' Journey into Transformable Fashion

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Holmes models the jacket prototype; photo by Theo Nims

For most students, a weekend getaway is a time to relax and escape the busyness of college. For senior operations and information management major Alex Holmes, it was the origin of an Honors Thesis idea that bridges high fashion and data-driven consumer research.

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Holmes models the bag prototype; photo by Theo Nims

Her thesis, titled “Exploring Barriers to Consumer Adoption of Transformable Apparel: Insights into Perception, Usability, and Design Preferences”, explores consumer behaviors and strategies to adopt transformable clothing into a fashion staple.

Sleepless in Montreal

Inspiration struck Holmes in the unlikeliest of places, on a club dance floor in Montreal. While visiting the city with friends, Holmes found herself constantly frustrated by having to carry her coat and her bag. Bringing both items to a crowded club was an inconvenience but going without them was unthinkable.

Inspired by her frustrations, Holmes began to formulate a solution to her problem, right there and then.

"I realized I could literally just make a jacket that turns into a bag," Holmes recalled. "It would solve a storage problem, a mobility problem, and a waste problem all at once."

A Creative Crossroads

Holmes credits her time at an internship in Maryland for providing the necessary skills for this “Aha!” moment. She found herself living alone in a new area, so she decided to pick up a hobby to fill the quiet evenings. She picked up sewing, something she had watched her grandmother do for years.

By the time she returned to UMass Amherst, she had shifted her mindset from just a consumer of fashion to a producer as well. However, Holmes admits that she initially believed she wasn’t going to be able to pursue her creative endeavors while also fulfilling her major and honors requirements.

"I actually wrote in my diary that I was sad," Holmes admits. "I had all these plans for a creative portfolio to grow my skills, and I was worried that regular thesis research might be boring. I didn't think I could do both."

Photo by Theo Nims

However, with the support of her advisor Muzzo Uysal, Carney Family Endowed Professor of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Holmes found a way to bridge her creative passion and research. Holmes explained that she originally signed up for his Honors Thesis Seminar, SCH-MGMT499E/F, just to fulfill both her honors and business requirements. But, with Uysal’s guidance, Holmes was able to use her sewing skills to build a demonstrative product for her research, spending hours after class designing and prototyping.

Holmes credits having a structured course with deadlines that kept her accountable and motivated her to create.

“I honestly loved having a deadline because it forced me to sew every single day after class, sew multiple prototypes, and learn new design platforms… I think it was really important that I found a way to make something that I enjoyed and was driven to complete it.”

Consumer Behaviors and Transformable Clothing

With the help of her self-produced prototype, Alex surveyed over 200 participants to test consumer behaviors surrounding transformable clothing. She used different framings like sustainability, utility, and exclusivity and recorded interest levels from consumers of all lifestyle groups.

"A lot of people say they’re interested in the products, but then they don’t purchase them," Holmes explains. "I want to see what makes people actually willing to buy something... whether style and sustainability make them feel better about it, or if they just prioritize style and price."

Honors photographer Theo Nims works on images of Alex Holmes with her prototype transformable bag, Photo by Anda Alemanji

Holmes found that participant behavior was most influenced by price, but the participants did appreciate the utility of transformable clothing. Holmes also found that participants were more motivated to purchase if the transformable clothing was launched as limited editions.

Over a third of the participants signed up for updates on future limited edition “drops”, which Holmes notes, demonstrates legitimate interest for items like these.

In her research, Holmes also noted that her unique design style clashed with the traditionally plain designs used in transformable clothing usually found in the market. She hopes that this research will embolden other researchers to experiment with other design styles that don’t necessarily follow traditional designs, opening up a new world of transformable clothing.

Holmes aims to embolden the transformable clothing niche into marketable and desirable items of clothing, with this data providing valuable insights into which styles and price points consumers prefer.

Reflections

For students looking to explore creative avenues, the jacket-to-bag prototype serves as an excellent example of the limitless possibilities one can pursue with their thesis. By turning frustration at a club into a full-fledged research project, Holmes’ story proves that some of the best and most rigorous research often comes from personal passions and desires. Her advice to Honors students stays true to this.

"You can always find a way to frame something around what you like to do. Finding a way to make it enjoyable makes you driven to complete it."