Blogpost 1: Lecture Reflection
Throughout all the lectures I attended, the one that struck me the most was the one on emerging technologies in fashion held by Nick Almond. As Nick pointed out, technology is often defined as “the realisation of knowledge into action.” As it has been said many times during this segment of Better Lives, the fashion industry has a huge impact on global warming. In fact, the destruction of our planet is one of the main problems Better Lives is trying to combat. What will revolutionise the fashion world within the coming decades is how emerging technologies can make this industry eco-friendlier.
What could potentially completely change the fashion industry is the concept of blockchain. Blockchain is a growing list of records that are linked using cryptography. Each block represents one transaction, one timestamp, and is linked to the previous and next block. This means that anyone could pick up an item of clothing from a shop and know where the dye came from, who made it, with what materials it was made, etc. (Euromoney, 2020)
Also, since each blockchain is, by design, unable to have its data edited, there would be a one hundred per cent truthful and accurate record of each item’s provenance. If or when blockchain gets put into use for clothing, people will, hopefully, be making more empathetic choices on what to purchase, avoiding pieces made through unethical working conditions or pieces that have emitted a high-carbon emission.
Though, the meat industry is becoming more and more transparent yet most of the global population are still big meat eaters. It is therefore hard to predict whether the blockchain concept will indeed help decrease the current high rates of consumerism, or merely just be a tool for people to glance at but not be concerned with.
On the other hand, though, perhaps the government could install laws where pieces made in certain unethical and/or polluting ways are prohibited from being sold on a large scale such as Primark or Topshop do. This would certainly be a radical change, since large companies would need to adapt in a small amount of time, but radical change is what is needed in times of crisis.
In conclusion, the future of fashion is very uncertain in this period of climate crisis. However, emerging technologies, such as blockchain – which is currently being developed to become more user-friendly – gives us hope for a better and cleaner future.
Euromoney.com. 2020. Blockchain Explained: What Is Blockchain? | Euromoney Learning. [online] Available at: <https://www.euromoney.com/learning/blockchain-explained/what-is-blockchain> [Accessed 14 March 2020].