Fashion is constantly evolving. From animal furs to tabards, corsets to powdered wigs, all the way through to man-made fabrics and flashing kids’ trainers, tech, trends, and fashion have always worked as one. This relationship continues today, but in 2023, what are the trends changing the fashions we don day to day? Here are five of the most interesting to watch out for.
Digital design tools
While you might think of fashion design as a lot like tailoring – taking bolts of cloth and cutting them to paper patterns on large tables – today, it’s increasingly digital tools which are being used to create new fashion.
Digital programs can be used throughout the fashion design process. In the early artistic stage, digital sketches can speed up the time it takes to decide upon an initial concept. 3D rendering can aid in the design and prototyping of articles of clothing. And virtual prototypes can assist in ensuring garments are mass-produced efficiently and effectively.
AR and VR
Augmented and virtual reality technologies are increasingly being used in the fashion industry to help customers get the clothing that’s right for them.
Amazing innovations like Ray Ban’s virtual try-on tool allow for virtual fittings, which can help customers at home try on clothes without having to visit in-store, enhancing the online shopping experience and reducing the rate of returns.
Electronics design
With self-powered clothing becoming a possibility, fashion designers will increasingly need to use electronics design software to help craft their creations.
Fashion designers who explore innovative ideas involving electronics can benefit from PCB software during the prototyping and testing phases. By using PCB design software, designers can create virtual prototypes of electronic components and circuit layouts, simulate their behaviour, and test their functionality. This iterative process can help refine the integration of technology into fashion designs before physical production.
Sustainable design
In 2023, designers are becoming ever more inclined to prioritise eco-friendly practices, ethical sourcing, and transparent supply chains. Technology is helping this happen by providing tools to track and verify the origins and sustainability of materials, enabling designers to make informed decisions about where their materials come from and which they should use.
Collaborative platforms
Online platforms are providing opportunities for collaboration between fashion designers, manufacturers, and consumers that are having a transformative impact on fashion.
These platforms enable independent designers to showcase their work, connect with manufacturers, and reach a wider audience. Collaboration platforms streamline the production process, facilitate crowdfunding campaigns, and support emerging designers in the industry too. Lastly, they’re inherently sustainable: from buying and selling second-hand garments to clothes rental, collaborative fashion platforms are solving the wasteful fast fashion dilemma that’s plagued the industry for decades.
The fashion industry is constantly changing. What do you think the future will hold for fashion? What innovations will alter what we wear and how we wear it?
Images: Unsplash
