CHIATECH JOURNAL · Registered Version of Record

Digital Transformation in Clothing Technology: Awareness, Practical Adoption and Barriers to Computer-Aided Design among Tailors in Jos Metropolis, Nigeria

1. L. K. Akila
2. Jacks Zongoro Anisah

Abstract

Background: Computer-aided design (CAD) has become integral to contemporary apparel design, pattern engineering, grading, specification development and digitally mediated production, yet adoption within informal tailoring enterprises can lag behind awareness. Objective: This study assessed awareness, practical use and barriers to CAD adoption among tailors in Jos Metropolis, Plateau State, Nigeria, and interpreted the findings within current clothing-technology and vocational-skills evidence. Methods: A descriptive survey design was used. A structured questionnaire was administered to a purposive sample of 150 tailors in Jos Metropolis. The analysis used descriptive percentages; two additional descriptive indicators—the awareness–use gap and use-to-awareness ratio—were calculated directly from the reported percentages. Results: CAD awareness was 68.4%, whereas only 18.2% of respondents reported practical use of CAD for pattern drafting and clothing-design work. The resulting awareness–use gap was 50.2 percentage points, and practical use represented approximately 26.6% of the reported awareness level. The leading barriers were the high cost of computer hardware/software (82.5%), epileptic power supply (76.0%) and lack of technical training (64.3%). These results indicate that knowledge of CAD is substantially more widespread than the capability to integrate it into routine tailoring practice. Conclusion: Digital transformation in the Jos tailoring sector is constrained by a combined affordability–infrastructure–skills problem rather than by awareness alone. Practical adoption requires shared or subsidised digital-fashion infrastructure, reliable power, modular hands-on CAD training and integration of digital pattern-making into informal apprenticeship and vocational education. The study provides locally grounded evidence for a staged transition from CAD awareness to routine, productivity-oriented digital clothing practice.

Keywords: computer-aided design; clothing technology; digital fashion; fashion entrepreneurship; pattern drafting; technology adoption; informal apprenticeship; vocational education; Jos Metropolis; Nigeria

Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published by CHIA TECH SOLUTIONS AND RESOURCES LIMITED. ISSN assignment remains pending.