What is Fashion Technology?

What is Fashion Technology?

You may be wondering what we mean by the term fashion technology, so we’ll define it for you. Fashion technology is essentially any innovative tech that creates contemporary tools for the industry, whether they improve fashion production or consumption.

It might be used by designers, manufacturers, retailers, and customers, depending on the purpose of the particular technology. As more and more technologies become available, we can expect to see fashion tech rise in popularity.

The utilization of novel materials and cutting-edge technology enables designers to create designs and products that were previously unattainable through conventional techniques. 

It has opened up new avenues for designers to explore: from designing fashionable and functional clothes to creating stylish and high-tech accessories.

With the aid of technology, designers can now blend materials, colors, and patterns to suit the preferences of their clients more effectively.

Now we’re going to discuss the top 3 technologies being used in the fashion technology industry right now. Over the coming years, we can expect to see even more innovations improving the production and consumption of fashion.

Internet of things (IoT)

The IoT describes a network of objects - the “things” - that are embedded with technology to allow the exchange and connection of data over the internet. This is one of the most exciting, emerging technological trends in the fashion market.

Year after year, everyday fashion continues to improve to reflect the realities of our daily lives. From a great emphasis on comfort to using new and exciting fabrics, the fashion industry has had to keep up the pace in adapting to the demands of contemporary life. This has been seen most clearly in the exciting advancements in apparel technology and wearable gadgets. These have gone as far as affecting how we experience our surroundings, and interact with others and our bodies, giving the word comfort a whole new meaning.

Smart clothing, wearable spaces, multi-functional designs, and responsive sportswear have all massively developed over the past three years. As our "real" lives become increasingly mixed with a virtual existence, many designers have been experimenting and pushing the limits of what wearability means.

This includes apparel with digital capabilities, like smart clothing, wearable spaces, multi-functional designs, responsive sportswear, and more. Starting with the humble smartwatch, dominated by brands like Fitbit and Apple, wearable technology dominates the fashion accessories market. 

Wearable technology is any kind of electronic device designed to be worn on the user's body. Such devices can take many different forms, including jewelry, accessories, medical devices, and clothing or elements of clothing.

Wearable technology has found a home in the fashion world's whimsical displays. Now, with fashionistas sporting anything from light display tops to full-on light display, wearable technology shines.

One of the main advantages of wearable technology in the fashion industry is that it allows designers to create products that are personalized to the individual wearer. Using emoticons on clothes to express the wearer's emotions is also a step in the right direction for the fashion industry in the future of clothing.

The way a wearable device is designed to be worn—specifically if it’s an accessory visible to others—carries a critical impact on the balance between function and fashion in the design process. While aesthetics plays a role in the desirability of almost any product, when it comes to apparel that decorates the body, attractiveness moves up on the priority list. It has long been demonstrated that the articles people wear are a form of self-expression, a way for individuals to show the world their identity, uniqueness, and personality.

Designers need to consider how the wearable looks, how it looks on people, and how it makes them feel when they’re wearing it. The latter also includes investigating how to personalize the wearable and make people feel unique when wearing it, even if many others wear the same (or similar) wearables.

3D Printing

Since the advent of 3D printers, many brands, both big and small, have been looking into the possibilities it holds for on-demand production. This will create new avenues for customization, sustainability, and creativity.

Many fashion brands are embracing 3D in their collections in 2022, from accessories to full looks.

Despite the fact it takes many hours to create, it results in less waste and proves far less labor-intensive than other types of manufacturing. Indeed, printing garments on demand reduces fabric waste by about 35%. This minimal waste approach could provide valuable insights on how to reshape the current state of factories and align them with a more sustainable social and environmental focus.

Iris Van Herpen (irisvanherpen.com) is one of the few designers to show at the prestigious Haute Couture fashion weeks in Paris employing sophisticated technologies for her garments and presentations. Some of her clients include Bjork, Beyoncé, and Lady Gaga for whom she has produced special 3D-printed fashion pieces.

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images/Francois Guillot/Getty Images for IMG/Gareth Cattermole/Corbis/Britta Pedersen

3D printing also takes fashion to a new level of conceptual art. Anouk Wipprecht’s incredible Spider Dress has mechanical arms which shift depending on the closeness of other people. This 3D-printed dress combines cutting-edge scientific technology and haute couture fashion, demonstrating the versatility of this new technology.

Photograph: Jason Perry / Anouk Wipprecht’s Spider Dress 2.0

Digital knitting has also been making great strides in the 3D printing world, and it offers a myriad of customization possibilities. Manufacturers like Shima Seiki can turn cones of yarn into a full, seamless garment in less than an hour.

Photograph: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

With the rise of 3D printing in fashion, we can really begin to see how innovation and technology can help brands become more sustainable. 3D printing is a manufacturing process where real products can be created from digital designs.

Experts explore the benefits that 3D printing can have on the fashion industry. They explore how 3D printed clothing can lead to significantly less textile wastage than traditional designing, and also explain how 3D printing results in reduced water use, air pollution and water contamination.

Additionally, a designer’s options are unlimited with 3D printing – there are very few constraints when it comes to clothing structure, fabric, and creativity. In this way, 3D printing could result in more innovative and exciting fashion designs than ever before.

Novel Fabrics and Material Innovation

An important part of fashion and clothing creation is which materials are used. In the current fast fashion model, synthetic and non-biodegradable fibers are used in approximately 72% of garments, which is a concerning statistic. Novel fabrics, which are brand new materials, could be the answer to this problem.

Not only are novel fabrics an exciting way for designers to get creative and innovative, but there are so many possibilities when it comes to creating sustainable materials. It seems that almost anything is possible, from lab-grown leather to fibers made from seaweed that can be knitted together. There is even a company that creates vegan leather from apple pectin, a waste product from apples.

The consequences of this are far-reaching. By creating more sustainable fabrics, we’ll hopefully see a reduction in materials that are made using plastics and non-biodegradable fibers. In addition, animals’ lives will be saved due to innovation that allows us to create eco-friendly leather, fur, and silk without animals.

The Bottom Line

Undoubtedly, fashion technology represents a highly promising advancement in various areas, such as academia, entrepreneurship, and investment, as well as being of utmost importance for the next generation of consumers.

We hope this has been useful for you and taught you about all the exciting fashion innovations that exist in the current climate. It’s impossible to say what the world of fashion tech will look like in ten more years, but we hope that it continues to inspire brands and consumers to be more creative, expressive, and sustainable.