Thinking about the full life cycle of the garment and closing wasteful loops creates new opportunities for apparel and tech industries. Unfortunately, technology’s role in the fashion industry has mainly led to increased waste.
That’s starting to change. Designers such as Eileen Fisher, Stella McCartney, and Ralph Lauren are attempting to reshape industry practices by using organic textiles and reducing water and carbon waste.
Meanwhile, companies such as Levi's are involved in projects to address their impact on the planet. Levis now dissolves old clothes to make a new fiber that the company uses in its jeans – an alternative to water-intensive cotton production.
We’re also now seeing the development of textiles called smart fabrics, which are clothes infused with technological elements that interact with the wearer. Many innovators of smart fabrics have garnered attention with prototypes such as gloves that translate hand motions from American Sign Language (ASL) into audible speech, shirts that allow deaf wearers to experience music through the use of lights and vibration, or dresses that allow wearers to charge their cellphones.
Sales growth of smart fabrics is projected to almost triple between 2012 and 2018 to $2 billion, while wearable technologies are expected to grow to $19 billion over the same period.
Pauline Van Dongen’s solar dress allows wearers to charge their cellphones. Sanae Ferreira
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