THE 21st CENTURY - A WORK IN PROGRESS
/So here we all are. As lockdowns slowly ease into new daily realities we’ve arrived into a system reboot. 21st century 2.0 is a tentative version with further updates expected. A world where maintaining 1.5 metres distance is the measure of social responsibility, and hugs have become a pre-agreed exchange.
Plans devised by the fashion industry during the ‘big pause’ are now being executed. Some are fire-fighting solutions that tackle immediate issues such as supply chain management, excess inventory and staging seasonal shows. Others have taken more definitive action, stepping outside of the traditional industry calendar entirely and its endless cycles of excessive creation and waste of raw materials.
As an entity that only operates in the non-physical environment, The Fabricant has been through a hectic and enlightening period. In a whirlwind of digital meetings, conceptual roadmapping and tailor-made proposals, we’ve gained firsthand insight into the fashion industry’s psyche - its needs, wants, concerns and expectations, and where it thinks digital fashion fits into that dynamic.
The most striking learnings haven’t been about where 3D digital fashion can resolve issues for brands right now, it’s the question we posed around what isn’t yet being addressed that has been the most telling:
How can we build-in structures that represent a range of perspectives relevant to the cultural conversation, that also contribute towards long-term aims such as sustainability, innovation, diversity and inclusion?
If you’re unused to thinking about the 3D environment it’s difficult to appreciate the vast scope of possibilities. Digital fashion isn’t merely a sticking plaster to solve short-term difficulties; it’s true value lies in the fact that it’s a completely untapped sector where innovative, compelling and valuable business models can be created from the get-go. It operates beyond existing systems that were founded on toxic principles. It’s a world that can be created anew from a fresh perspective to be equally beneficial to all.
Digital fashion represents much more than trying on 3D garments. It’s a world to try on new ideas, new cultures, new bodies, new perspectives and new lives.
In the digital environment fashion lovers aren’t passive consumers, they’re co-creators that spark brand dialogues and build communities.
You can set fashion trends in the digital space, but you can also set agendas, enable cultural shifts and lead movements.
Non-physical clothing can be bought in a store, or it can be purchased in a narrative, an environment or a brand philosophy.
Couture made from data has functions beyond being a garment. It can be currency, a ticket, an invitation, or a password.
As we all step blinking into fragile new realities it’s tempting to imagine that digital fashion and the 3D universe was a momentary stop-gap in the lockdown journey. For brands that want to participate in true digital transformation that leads to strategic change and builds long term resilience, it’s time to engage with a sector that will take fashion, and our surrounding culture and society, out of this century and into the next one.
Video: From LEELA platform by The Fabricant. Type digital.fashion into any browser to try it.