Blog Post One by Sofia Whitaker Tabet
Clothes are our initial and most basic form of communication. Fashion today and more than ever before, impacts and influences the world we live in, not only by dressing us up every day or by saying who we are and how we want to be recognised, but by representing a highly significant value in not only environmental impact , but of the mental and physical health of its workers and consumers. The fashion world today is responsible for 20% of industrial water pollution and 10% of global carbon emissions, on average 60% of garments contain fabrics derived from fossil fuels and up to 20% of all items go unsold and the vast majority these end up being dumped in landfills or incinerated. How do we, as future of this cruel and fast, fashion industry are going to change the current situation?
It is too soon to try doing anything, and as a student, I feel the need now, to absorb as much as I can, understand as much as I can, and reflect as much as I can about this impacts to be able then, to make a significant change. The lecture given by Professor Nick Almond on Emerging Technologies in Fashion was of significant impact to me, because even today, it was hard to understand how this change could be made.
During his lecture, what caught my attention was the use of two technologies that can change the course of the current situation; Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. Blockchain is an immutable decentralised database or continuously growing record, called blocks, that is managed by computers belonging to a peer-to-peer network. The fashion industry is perhaps one of the most viable industries to be disrupted with blockchain technology; providing transparency, ideal to track the brand’s supply chain, international payment system, authenticity checking, peer-to-peer fashion market places, design crowd funding. Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the other hand, involves using computers to do things that traditionally require human intelligence. This means creating algorithms to classify, analyse, and draw predictions from data. It also involves acting on data, learning from new data, and improving over time. Fashion uses AI’s to trace trend patterns, and predict what consumers like before they know they like it, they can also assist on styling. Major companies have a virtual representation of their consumers, this happens when they shop online or research online for their products.
This class truly impacted me because I know that technology can change the drastic world of fashion, and after this class, I started to have several ideas about how I could do my part. Since I entered this college I was more and more sure that I could not leave it and start a business of mine, ignoring the impacts that it could cause in the world. I always had the idea that sustainability would be the core of my work in whatever I would do, the doubt on what to do and how to do it was constant, but after this enlightening lecture, I finally found my purpose.
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Almond, N. (2020) ‘Emerging Technologies in Fashion’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 11th February.
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Quora. (2018). What is Blockchain in a few words? Can someone explain it with simplicity? [online]. Available at: https://www.quora.com/What-is-Blockchain-in-a-few-words-Can-someone-explain-it-with-simplicity [Accessed 2 Apr. 2020].
Shroff, R. (2019). Artificial Intelligence Explained in Simple Terms. [online]. Available at: https://medium.com/mytake/artificial-intelligence-explained-in-simple-english-part-1-2-1b28c1f762cf [Accessed 2 Apr. 2020].