Material Vision

Degrowth. The word alone sends shivers down the spine. At least, that’s how it is for the majority of people and industries. The textile and clothing industry is no exception. Degrowth even sounds “unnatural,” right? Yet, what if we look beyond, see past its taboo vocabulary, and hear beyond its negative connotation? What if we start by accepting that we might have gone too far (overproduction,…

Reflections on Fashion as it was, as it is, as it might become...

The Great Exhibition at the San Domenico museum in Forlì, Emilia Romagna (ITALY), running until July 2nd 2023. Immagine our world in between 1789 and 1968, an era of dreams and revolutions, to experience a captivating material and style journey in between art, craftsmanship manufacturing and dressing cultures. An awe-inspiring exhibition, and when viewed through the lens of a fashion textile…

e-P summit got reshaped and pushes fto advance digitalization of fashion industry. An overview, some observations and some think tank stimulation for next edition. #digitalization #metaverse #supply chain #retail #fashion #summit @pittimmagine #epsummit

PITTI SUMMIT’s CALL TO DIGITIZE FASHION In the textile and fashion industry, just as in any other, two are the top themes discussed at summits and conferences: Sustainability and Digitalization. It all comes down to “The Green and The Blue”, as described in 2020 published book by Luciano Floridi – Italian philosopher at Oxford who runs the Digital Ethics Lab. The redesigned e-P Summit by Pitti…

Multidisciplinary Education courses to drive Positive Change and Reframe the fashion and textile industry.

FUTURE VISIONS, TO RESHAPE TEXTILE & FASHION BUSINESS SLD x PIN Prato/Italy INTRO: TWO FACES OF FASHION INDUSTRY FASHION TODAY I / ENTANGLED NATURE How do we narrate the global fashion industry today? Wild. Chaotic. Incredibly complex. Mostly unsustainable. Fast. Too Fast. Disoriented in social and environmental issues. The fashion business lost its glamour and shine d’antan. Because we (from…

CRAFTSMANSHIP & HUMAN CAPITAL? TIME TO (RE)VALUE! Fabulous Homo Faber did it again! Amazed curiosity filled with surprise and admiration is what you get when journeying through this one-of-a-kind cultural happening in Venice (Italy). Thank you Michelangelo Foundation, for marveling us with your immersive exhibition, celebrating contemporary craftsmanship while championing artisans in a…

Third and final part of our trilogy about the transformation of fashion textile fibers, as an investigation on how they evolve to meet New Economy models and dynamics. Rematerializing of animal-based fibers, zooming into silk.

Responsible Animal-based Fibers to Fit NextGen Textiles. The first story spotlighted the plant-based fibers, zooming into Kapok and Ixtle. The second post got into the biobased craze. This third and closure piece of the trilogy reviews the rematerializing of animal-based fibers, zooming into silk. Clockwise from left: Trilogy of fiber stories / 1 plant-based, 2 bio-based &labgrown,…

Rematerializing Textiles to fit a Dematerialised New Economy / Part 2 of 3

Will NextGen Biobased Textiles pilot the BioEconomy? In our previous post, we started the trilogy “rematerialize the new, to dematerialize the old” design-thinking topic. In this second part of the trilogy, we dig into the material craze of biobased. Is this the 21st Century Fashion game-changer? Do biotechnologies (encapsulating biomaterials) really have the change potential to address the…

Rematerializing Textiles to fit a Dematerialised New Economy

How can Next Gen Fibers Grow within a New Economy that pushes Degrowth? Sounds odd, right? Rematerialize to dematerialize. From our point of view, this antithesis is the hot topic to discuss within design-led companies who agree that “business as usual” is neither OK nor feasible anymore. Has this design-thinking the potential to re-conduct the textile & fashion industry on (the right) track in…

Modularity & Upcycling Fashion Fad or Long-lasting Win?

sophie l dewulf – january 2022 – Modular Design meets Sustainable Values through Upcycled Materials & Editable Garment Constructions – Matteo Luciano / Master Thesis Paper 2021 Modularity – A versatile approach to a more sustainable fashion Modular Fashion Design Concept “Modular fashion” (re)gains momentum! Trend-forecasting platform WGSN mentioned it as the ‘clip-on, clip-off trend’ while…

The Next Fashion & Design Materialogy to be crowned by Virtual and Physical Uniqueness !

metaverse art vs handloom art Photo left by Rick Rothenberg on Unsplash / Photo right by Atiya Hyder The Next Fashion & Design Materialogy to be crowned by Virtual and Physical Uniqueness ! Get the picture 1972: Designers sought to elevate textiles to an art; Diane von Furstenberg focused on hand-silkscreened prints. (source: Study.com). Material craftsmanship was hype yet a few years later…

Clearing the path for Next Gen Textile & Fashion Pro’s

Earth, December 2021. Photo by Serkan Bayraktar from Pexels “Not all storms come to destroy, some come to clear a path.” We still didn’t figure out who precisely wrote this overused and popular quote, nevertheless, it comes in handy to describe 2021 adventures of people with who we walked a few steps of their future professional path. All is a matter of seeing, living, thinking from and with…

FABRIC TRENDS and SOURCING/ Winter 2022-23 SPORTS TEXTILES

Accept and adapt. 2020 trade shows and winter 2022-23 fabric presentations are made virtually. Digital is obvious. Sustainable is the norm. “Synchronised” partnerships from fiber to mill to brand to end-consumer is key culture to move forward. February 2020. Pandemic, lockdowns, and travel restrictions continue to have their momentum. How do sourcing trade events for textile (yarn-fabric)…