The future of fashion has the potential to go in any direction. There are new global fashion movements emerging such as sustainable clothing and digital collections. There are influencers reaching an audience around the globe in a matter of seconds and there is more awareness about sweatshops and slave labour and being conscious about what we buy. But what about the group of people that struggle with the idea of fashion because they are faced with a disability everyday of their lives? Where is fashion going for them?
Fashion and technology not only has the power to change the production process and how we tackle fast fashion but it has the power to change peoples lives that struggle to put on clothing everyday or to assist them with their disability.
Have you ever wondered what it is like for a visually impaired person to put on an outfit that matches or have you ever wondered how irritating clothing can be for a person in a wheelchair? Fashion designers are now working with technology to tackle these issues that millions of people around the world face and I am all for it.
Designer Camila Chiriboga from Parsons School of Design has looked at designing for other senses and she volunteered at a senior centre for the blind and visually impaired to understand their feelings and needs towards how the visually impaired dress. She worked with a company called Lechal, to create a device that goes inside a shoe and vibrates to guide the wearer to their destination. All the wearer needs to do is enter the address in the system. To go with these shoes she then designed various types of jackets and sweaters that were all reversible and that could be paired with any bottoms. With this, she invented a tagging system on the item of clothing that included braille which wrote the colour code of the garment and a QR code that would get scanned and would give an audio description of the garment. Being a young designer, she also made a conscious effort to make sure that her garments were ethically made and all the fabrics were sustainable.
Similarly, other students from the Parsons School of Design have created a series of garments for people in wheelchair’s who have or are seeking an active lifestyle. The clothing is made out of anti abrasion fabrics which resist tearing from the wheels and it removes the concern of wet armrests. These designers have made a conscious effort to help people that often struggle with the small task of getting ready in the morning.
The elderly are also a group of people that face major struggles on a daily basis. The Power Suit for the elderly has recently been developed. It is a new piece of technology that has been created to help elderly people who are suffering from muscle dystrophia. The clothing allows the user to be active for longer periods of time.
Fashion will continue along its traditional path of designing cutting edge, beautiful clothing but going forward I believe designing for people with disabilities and injuries will become apart of the mainstream. The future of fashion is looking bright for everyone! Each day around the globe designers are carving a path to better the quality of life for other people through fashion and it is very exciting. To be able to dress yourself and feel good and confident is a feeling that everyone should experience, and the fact that this basic action of dressing yourself is becoming accessible to everyone is a huge development in the fashion and technology industries. But where is technology and fashion going next? Maybe its creating easily accessible clothing with little access points for people going through chemotherapy or perhaps its making clothing that helps people with nerve damage or it could be as simple as more major brands creating awareness around these disabilities and illness’. But ultimately it would be great to see the items that have already been created and tested become accessible and affordable to all the people that need them. I also believe that whilst technology and fashion will evolve to help people, that sustainability will remain at the forefront of every young designers creative process. Where we are today, technology and fashion is constantly changing and evolving. In ten years, fashion will have changed completely and hopefully technology continues to grow with it. I believe if these designers keep moving in the direction that they are, the future of fashion holds many opportunities to be inclusive, less harmful on the plant and to literally change peoples lives.
Sources:
Lets talk about fashion 