Combat Fast Fashion
“The Future Of” is a new Netflix docuseries. This series explores the future’s technological innovations. Experts weigh in on themes from hamburgers, dogs, to fashion. Many episodes portray sustainable solutions.
Due to raising awareness of the climate crisis, more and more technologies are searching for innovations that will reduce carbon emissions and operate in a circular economy. We will start the series overview by discussing the episode on The Future of Fashion.
Fast Fashion is a term that has growing popularity. Brands such as H&M, Forever21, and Shien are known for their mass production and low prices. Trends such as shopping hauls have become famous online for purchasing many low-cost outfits.
Mass Production & Waste
Founder of ADIFF Clothing, Angela Luna, explains how the industry currently produces new clothing daily, not monthly, or even yearly, to stay up to date on recent trends. A UK study presented in the docuseries showed 1 in 10 people buy clothes to wear one time for Instagram. The demand for more clothes at low costs has driven fast fashion.
Social media has also been a driving force in the increase of fast fashion. The Future of Fashion discusses the average American tosses 80 pounds of clothes annually. While globally, 92,000,000 tons of clothes are wasted per year. Fast fashion is a global waste issue.
Synthetic Materials & Oil Production
Today’s demand for mass clothing styles requires the pieces to be made fast and cheap. Fast and affordable clothing has been made from synthetic materials that are cheaper than cotton: plastic.
I bet you didn’t know your favorite outfit is made from plastic. The fashion industry uses 342 million barrels of oil annually to produce clothing woven from plastic. When washing these plastic pieces, tiny fibers come off and end up in the water supply. Clothing is a significant contributor to microplastics.
Digital Fashion
Auroboros, a London-based digital couture company, spoke about digital fashion throughout the documentary. They claim to be “the first fashion house to merge science and technology with physical couture, as well as digital-only ready-to-wear.” They offer online designer outfits, like filters, for your social media accounts.
Virtual outfits are popular with the rise of the metaverse. With virtual reality, like the oculus, avatars and online appearances are becoming more popular. Companies like Auroboros are creating 97% less waste with digital fashion.
Biomaterials
The modern system is taking a turn for sustainability. Fashion programs at universities have started to create designer items from biomaterials. The goal is for fashion to be 100% compostable and return to the earth for soil.
Designers in the docuseries explain their various materials to create new fashion items. A popular technique is bio-leather using nutrient sources such as waste, fruit sugars, or even coffee grinds. In 2020, Kanye West’s new Yeezy shoes were made from algae. The designs mimic nature’s systems that have worked for hundreds of years.
3D Printing
In the far future, decades from now, your closet could print your exact size and style in biomaterials. 3D printing allows creating options right on the spot without mass producing hundreds and thousands of the same product.
A positive to 3D printed clothes is that the dresses will be made to fit you. You may have seen an example of 3D printed fashion in Black Panther, Ramona’s dress and crown. his technology doesn’t only have to be in your closet, you can send designs to a local store, and they can print out your outfit for you.
Conclusion
So, can you picture it? With carbon emission, waste, and plastic pollution present in everyday lives, futurists are turning to fashion for sustainable solutions. The Future Of docuseries follows many other topics that highlight sustainable solutions in the future. Check out the episode to connect all the dots on how fashion harms the environment and how technological innovations can change the game.
Source: “The Future Of ” Netflix Docuseries – Episode Fashion