Biodesign and digitisation: the technology needed for a sustainable fashion model - Vol 5 Sneak Peek

A culture of overconsumption has split the seams of sustainable garment production. how can we use technology to consume more consciously?

Article by: Leoni Fretwell

Artwork by: Leoni Fretwell

Fashion is a deeply complex language. The garments in our wardrobes are a vocabulary so central to our expression, but a culture of overconsumption, disposability and labour exploitation has split the seams of sustainable production. With fast fashion at the heart of this crisis, how can we use technology to consume more consciously?

The legacy of industrialism is entrenched in the fashion industry. New manufacturing methods, designs and styles depend on constant technological innovation, and cheap, synthetic, mass-produced clothing dominates the landscape. Fast fashion operates in a linear system to quickly fuel global trends, depleting the earth’s finite resources. The fashion industry has an estimated carbon footprint of 10% global carbon emissions - more than aviation and shipping combined. An estimated half of fast fashion is made from fossil fuels, meaning synthetic fibres can’t break down at the end of their lifecycle, and the sheer number of low-quality garments means used clothing is often exported overseas, polluting landfills as a byproduct of overconsumption.

This is a crisis with a social dimension. Clothing is handmade by skilled workers, with dangerous, low-paid work disproportionately affecting women of colour. The global north continues to exploit a closed-loop, wasteful system of clothing production - we need a global transformation, transitioning to fully traceable and ethical supply chains for garment workers across the globe.

At their core, clothes have functional values such as protection and warmth, as well as symbolic meanings from culture to identity. Fashion trends are shaped by demands from investors, policy-makers and consumers, but there is growing evidence that these key stakeholders are prompting a heightened drive for more sustainable materials. With a fast growing segment of technologically proficient and increasingly conscious consumers, there is more pressure than ever before for brands, manufacturers and regulators to shift towards a more ethical fashion industry, and it is critical for technology to catalyse this transition. 

The Textiles Exhange Report 2023 demonstrates the urgency of investment in sustainable raw materials - we need technology to move to a fossil-fuel free industry, and shift to closed-loop lifecycles. As textiles scientist Theanne Schiros has highlighted, nature makes exactly what it needs by recycling matter and energy, and we can apply these regenerative processes in garment production. Biodesign is guided by principles of circularity, whereby the product originates from the earth, and returns to the earth at the end of its lifecycle. 

There is growing feasibility for alternative materials to synthetic fibres. Examples include Mylo, organic leather grown from mycelium, and kelp - one of the most rapidly replenishing materials and fastest growing organisms. We are seeing growing advancements in 3D printing with organic matter using zero-waste principles, and the conversion of ‘waste’ products into clothing materials, such as Piñatex, a natural textile made from pineapple waste fibres. Technology, combined with indigenous knowledge and ancient techniques, can combat challenges of water resistance, strength and flexibility to appeal to the needs of the wearer. These biodegradable textiles move away from synthetic chemicals and surplus waste, reducing pollution, stress on water resources, land use, and CO2 emissions.

As well as material innovations, digital advancements are equipped to support more sustainable production and consumption.

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