How the Future of Fashion is looking like.

Did you ever wonder how fashion is going to be in 5 or 10 years? What materials and shapes are we going to wear? Is IoT a thing in fashion?

Mainly, I cannot speak for all the men in the world because obviously, it is going to be different but I can speak for a huge part of the gay men in the world. I can tell you that we are in love with cuts, lines, flowy shapes, and chains, among many others. High shoulders and defined silhouettes are something that is never going to be out of style — so, #sorrynotsorry to all you lovers of baggy clothes’.

I’m actually kind of tired of seeing the same things over and over again. Sometimes, sustainable fashion brands put too much focus on the sustainable fashion consumer and not the consumer in general. Something that they have to do is adapt to the demand of the general consumer, so we are able to attract customers through our business models and mindset.

One of the main things that I’m attracted to is quality, circularity, durability, and creating items from waste. I always like to promote brands that upcycle, like Sylvia Calvo, Back To Eco, Grünbag… But never forgetting edgy brands like Ary Marrufo that are able to give back to society too.

I mean, the period in time where we were using organic cotton, has gone far beyond; there isn’t time anymore to do those kinds of things, generating organic cotton shirts is not special, it’s basic. Today it is about trying to use the resources we already have and trying to generate new things so they don’t become waste filling our land.

Besides upcycling, what I’m really attracted to is genderless fashion. I have already mentioned that genderless fashion was going to be the future; new shapes used in the production of menswear as nowadays, unfortunately, what we can find for men is quite ‘inside the box’. I don’t know if I’m the only one that finds themself bringing their favorite seamstress the clothes that I buy, because I want to upgrade their design (if I’m not able to do it on my own, of course).

Another thing that we need to take into consideration is IoT (Internet of Things). Nobody is talking a lot about IoT in fashion these days and I think it is really interesting. According to DataFloq, the possibilities are endless when implementing this technology in our daily clothing items. As examples of the benefits: IoT could monitor and measure the health of a person who is wearing the item. With IoT, companies can tell their stories by letting their customers connect with the people in the supply chain, being able to connect the buyer to who created the item.

Nowadays, we need to try to mix that with the development of garments. When we are able to apply technology, not only in operations but also in the products, we are able to boost the impact that sustainability has or the impact that our actions have, besides improving our quality of life.

The biggest challenge post-covid19 for fashion brands and businesses, in general, is the survival of small brands. It’s going to be difficult to cope unless governments help these businesses as much as they can. Here in France, when you have to buy something there is an ecotax which is applied for the recycling afterward, so you pay in advance for that. If your company is generating emissions, they have to compensate. Should we use part of those taxes to support local businesses that have been doing it right?

As an opportunity, we can mention that customers are starting to be more conscious, especially after this pandemic crisis. There has been an increase in 4500% on the search of how to live a sustainable lifestyle in Google during these past 90 days, so this is actually telling you about the mindset and behavioral change of people.

This means that sustainable fashion brands need to create awareness now more than ever, due to the fact that people are more open to accepting these new things. Many sustainable fashion brands think that they don’t have to do marketing, but that’s incorrect. You’re not gonna be able to reach people if you don’t communicate. And communicating is how you position your brand in everybody’s head, to try and increase brand awareness.

Regarding the future of the industry, I’m hoping for a moment where we are able to see complete circularity from fashion brands and also the improvement of tech applications and wearables. Concerning the customer, we need to be more crafty, because one of the main things that we can do is upcycling. I’m sure that you have many pieces in your closet that you don’t use anymore and you can make something beautiful out of it.

Hence my book, From Trash To Runway, in which there are tips and tricks on fast fashion. Upcycling brands and emerging fashion designers are also mentioned in the book as inspirational minds. And even though it is made clear in the book that pattern making, design, and sewing are not deeply explained, it gives advice to the reader in an easy way to be able to accomplish the goal of turning their wardrobe upside down.

So, ok, maybe you don’t have sewing skills — I don’t either but I bought a machine and I’m learning — you can bring them all to your closest seamstress and they can execute your ideas.

What about you, how do you see the future of fashion?