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How can digital tech make fashion sustainable?

INTERVEIEW

What’s the problem with the fashion industry and sustainability?

Cyclicty, the notion that goods lose their meaning after a certain period of time and that over consumption and accumulation are somehow meaningful. Specially when these products come from the exploitation of natural resources and force work throughout the supply chain.

The fashion industry could suffer the same fate as the meat industry, as are and more previous consumers become vegetarian, or vegan, when exposed to their practices.

What impact is fast fashion having on the environment?

From the polluting the land with pesticides, tinting rivers with toxic dyes and draining an entire sea for cotton mass-production.

Fashion is arguably the second most polluting industry, after oil.

It has long been known as the maker of dreams, it is about time both the industry and the consumers face its reality.

The consumer must become aware that when buying a new garment, they are not paying for a piece of cloth - but for dozens, hundreds or thousands of salaries of skilled workers. Then the power of purchase grows beyond picking the best colour, and extends to consuming responsibly.

Digital skills are important when tackling big issues because the digital is a ever growing medium of interaction, through which information travels faster - as agents of change, the goal it to take power by surprise.

Can augmented reality be used to update garments and their content, so that it remains relevant and inclusive to the consumer, without further material waste?

It is time to reshape the mindset of what fashion means, or coming up with different terminology to the diverse ways consumers interact with it. Then designers could be more responsive and specialised to the different consumer needs.

If we just look at a cotton t-shirt:

It takes up to 2700L of water to grow enough cotton for one single t-shirt, thats is enough water to drink for over 2 years. Have you known that would you have as many t-shirts?

The over consumption of cotton in fashion fashion has led to the draught of the Aral Sea, and today camels walk where fish swimmed in the 60s.

Children in Bangladesh who bath in rivers flooded with toxic dyes, to allergic reactions due to clothing coated in toxic chemicals.

The Rana Plaza sweatshop factory, were over 1000 fashion workers died, there are still factories that operate on that model.

To understand more about these concepts technology is fundamental in the ways information is disseminated - BBC Documentary and True Cost documentary open the eyes to the dystopian side of fashion.

How do we fix this?
Fashion has long been known as the maker of dreams, it is about time both the industry and the consumers face its reality. It is time to reshape the mindset of what fashion means, or coming up with different terminology to the diverse ways consumers interact with it. Then designers could be more responsive and specialised to the different consumer needs.

In education Sustainability must be pilar to future fashion design practices. Fashion media, in general, should also be more critical on the lenses of sustainability, and focus on design practices in the same way it focuses on selling another little black dress. Become a fundamental arm to this change. Redefining the ways fashion is designed, communicated and experienced.

Technology is a crucial tool to understand what the consumer wants, expand our experience of fashion and foster innovation.

As consumers, we can fix this issue by closing the fashion cycle. Not buying into this veil of beauty, loving our clothes for as long as we do and then gifting them to friends or re-selling them. By closing the fashion cycle, cyclicality loses its purpose and real change can occur.

How can digital help solve this problem?

Above it all technology can help by giving easier access to information, as the consumer becomes more aware of their environmental impact, brands have to shift their narratives, although few shift their practices.

Digital social interactions are already alleviating the problem, through platforms like Depop and Ebay or Etsy where consumer can re-sell their goods and others can consume without further impact on the environment.

Specific technologies as Virtual and Augmented Reality, can be used as tools to see the garment as hardware, that is updated by digital content to be shared on digital environments. Like the Last Statement T-shirt by Carlings, one single t-shirt that displays different messages. Could we reach a stated of subscription-based clothes, that are updated by our favourite digital designers... Can augmented reality be used to update garments and their content, so that it remains relevant and inclusive to the consumer, without further material waste?

How did this problem originate?

Originates in the over production and over consumption of fashion.

The dystopian truth behind a t-shirt that: is made by unethically grown cotton, tinted by toxic dyes that pollute river, is sewed by an extremely underpaid individual and travelled across the globe, leaving a substantial carbon footprint behind should cost as much as a sandwich.

As Li Edelkoort says, the issue emerges when garments are treated as condoms, disposable. When in fact the natural resources and human labour that were imprinted onto them - are not.

How do we tackle people’s perceptions of affordability of fast fashion vs sustainable fashion?

Sustainable fashion is more expensive than fast fashion. I sum any fashion tends to be more expensive than fast fashion because they rely on regrettable practices. The consumer must become aware that when they pay for a garment, they are not paying for a piece of cloth - but for dozens, hundreds or thousands of salaries of skilled workers. Then the power of purchase grows beyond picking the best colour, and extends to consuming responsibly.

On the other hand affordability is a crucial step towards sustainable fashion, while Luxury brands indulge in sustainable practices, they are not accessible or inclusive of the general public. Consumers are often in the paradigm between buying an ethically expensive £400 t-shirt, or a £4 on Primark. Alternatives are urgently needed, and the growing focus on vintage and second-had fashion can be a great one.

Do you think people know the extent of impact that fashion has on climate change?

I don’t think that the general public know the impact that fashion has no the environment. Every day there are new looks, new philosophies, new materials and techniques to explore and capitalise. The other side of the coin is rarely show and practically hidden.

Nevertheless acquiring these information is a matter of seeking information, and the consumer is ever more aware and therefore empowered, and willing to, at least temporarily, #boycott brands when these issues are exposed.

Set in a digital age, information is accessible and consumers should develop a natural instinct to research before they purchase, because in such a capitalistic reality, there is where their power is.

From your research, what were some of the misconceptions of digital fashion that you found?

That it projects a future where people walk around naked, dressed in holograms - that would be pretty cool. Or hat it somehow dismisses the craftmanship behind material fashion.

Craft is beyond the process of making, it becomes an extension to our modes of self-representation and creates new meaning, as computers are an increasingly used tool they too can become tools of craft.

For me, digital fashion is all about exploring new mediums of experimentation and expression. Under the current fashion-system, that produces billions of garments per year ravishing the natural resources of our planet, it is relevant to imagine how craft can evolve to meet the contemporary needs, without further material waste.

Are any of the major fashion houses/brands actively combating climate change?

The Kering group is definitely an highlight when it comes to climate change:

Stella McCartney is a pioneer in sustainable fashion practices, such as becoming fur/leather free and using ethically sourced materials.

Gucci has Gucci Equilibrium which is their arm completely dedicate to balancing aesthetics with ethics, where they share their journey and accomplishments with consumers - Like becoming carbon neutral, ethically sourcing precious metals and stones, or planting 2000 trees in Milano.

More than combating climate change, it is important that brands challenge others to do the same.

How are you instigating change within fashion using digital?
My creative work focuses on the urgency of new fashion practices. Because of its environmental impact. Because it ought to explore creative ways to adorn the virtual body when performed of on a digital stage, for a virtual audience.
Using AR to “hack” into, or update the material and analogue fashion consumption. By disrupting the ways in which fashion is worn and expressed, our aim is to expand the guidelines in which fashion is conceptualized, designed and produced.

For me understanding the connection we have with clothes that are not left behind, is a crucial step towards sustainability as a general practice in fashion.

By exploring the connection between an individual and their garment, I aim expands the sensation of fashion beyond its materiality, a way of deepening the bond between consumer and object and therefore turning that object into a fundamental rather than disposable.

But which is the formula of consumer-object connection, when will objects be as valuable as the brand logos they carry?

Who are some of the game changers you’ve worked with in digital fashion?

I generally work alone, but admire: Catty Tay, Autonomy, The Fabricant, Carlings with the recent Statement t-shirt. The overall Digi_GXL community is an immense inspiration - such a diversity of creative voices, mindsets and artistry.

LFW received some backlash from protest groups due to its unsustainable nature – how will these global events change in years to come?

These events have already been changing the past decades, by adding more seasons to the calendar (Cruise and Pre-Fall) or making the runway show more “opened" to the public (livestream shows and influencers). This changes took place to produce more, communicate more… in sum, sell more.

Perhaps now it is time for change to occur on a different direction.

What would fashion week look like if Climate protesters and Fashion Houses came together to a plan to present collections while also taking ethical accountability?

Fashion Weeks could become events driven by beauty and by transparency, where open debate can flourish. A also in terms of fashion media, fashion week can become an occasion of scrutiny beyond the visual aesthetics, an opportunity to ask all the “wrong” questions.

How do you think digital/technology can be used to improve the sustainability of fashion, and ultimately contribute less to climate change?

-Making consumer more aware of fashion’s practices by disseminating information.

- Empower consumers with tools to buy outside of, or to continue the fashion cycle. I.e.- Depop, Ebay and Etsy.

-Using tech like AI and Data Reading to better understand what the consumers look for in garments - for less waste.

-Develop ethical, sustainable and durable materials that are accessible and produce clothes that are ultimately affordable to the consumer.

-Also to expand our wearable vocabulary, where fashion is no longer just material sovereign, but also digital and democratic.

Have you seen a switch in young people exploring opportunities in digital fashion?

While doing the research of my final project I found many amazing fashion technology experimentalists and artists, looking for new ways to express themselves in a siamese society - part physical, part digital.

Do you think the industry is listening?

The industry is bigger than major brands, designers or fast fashion chains. The fashion industry is made by all of us who wear it, from the vintage market seller, to the Depop user, Etsy store or grandmother’s wardrobes - by people that will always have to wear something and ultimately find a way to express themselves.

There are brands like Chanel and Gucci that went fur free, or designers like Stella McCartney that is a pioneer in sustainable practices in fashion, or Vivienne Westwood that is an activist. Groups like Kering that challenged other groups to follow their steps towards more sustainable practices. The high end sector of the industry is listening and some are taking action, but those are not affordable to the general consumer.

The solution must be faster and more inclusive if the industry is to mantain its cultural value.

Fashion, in essence, only needs lasting goods and social interactions thtouhh each they are worn, and exchanged. This by itself is already changing the industry, with brands like Ralph Lauren in London showcasing a pop-up store of their top Depop reseller stand.

The industry per se will always adapt and always evolve because it will eventually shape to our vision - the consumer. The question is which brands or at least supply chain models will be left behind in this process.

Outline some of the examples of where the industry has made improvements

Examples explored will be In relation to ethnical representation, embracing diverse body types, beauty and gender identity. Brands also take responsibility for their mistakes, apologise when offensive and are more reactive to the emotional zeitgeist of the consumer.

Although the structure of the past is still in place, we as digitised-consumers, can increasingly feel that our voice is shaping the culture that surrounds us.

How can young people studying a digital course make a difference in fashion?

From designing virtual fashion design and face-filters, developing the next CGI Top model or creating a machine learning system that ultimately leads to smarter modes of producing fashion- In a plethora of ways!

What would you like the fashion industry to look like in five years’ time

As an industry that encourage its own criticism - through that path, any destination will be worth witnessing.

-Ethical and Transparent

-Inclusive in content and representation

-Beyond Material

-Subscription based Virtual wear, where 3D fashion is mainstream and one can download their 3D wear from crowd-sourced platforms.

What do you think needs to be done to encourage a more representative group of people to study digital and get into fashion?

As digital technologies become crucial to our everyday lives, it is fundamental that the landscape in which they operate are representative of all of us. We all have a voice in redefining the DNA of what fashion (and) technology stand for.

(To be Elaborated)

Did you study a tech or digital course?

Not necessarily, but I participated in tech focused training programs like the Immersive: Modual at the Somerset House, Fashion Future Incubator with Microsoft, that awoken a tech-curiosity in me.

Why did you make that decision?

I graduated in Fashion Media and Criticism, analysing fashion through a critical lenses allowed me to question the industry practices and find limitations within it. I realised that AR complemented many of the limitations and issues that the industry, and above it all consumers, are facing.

Did you face any barriers getting into the digital industry?

The main barrier was the fear that tech focused skills would be too difficult to retain. The lack of representation does not stop me from chasing my dreams, but it is always important to feel that you are included on a environment. In that sense I have been very lucky, from the support of University in terms of technical workshops and learning support, to the wonderful DIGI_GXL community. I found that in tech, like in any industry, it all comes down to finding our people.

Why do you think digital skills are important when tackling big issues like climate change and sustainability in fashion?