The aim of this design fiction exercise is to analyze how our society's weak signals could change it if they were to become the norm in twenty or thirty years' time. This exercise is not intended to predict the future, but rather to understand how brands could adapt, or even play a role in these possible transformations?
In this fiction, we have imagined that a succession of ecological and health crises has triggered a global awareness of the climate emergency, leading to a total restructuring of the textile industry. What if, tomorrow, the purchase of new clothes was heavily regulated? What if, tomorrow, the recovery and recycling of used textiles became a real business?
10 April 2058 - In this interview, Todd Vermer, the well-known owner of the ready-to-wear company Milya, looks back at the upheaval in the textile industry in the years following the Great Disaster. At a time when many physical shops have closed, he explains how he has rethought the customer experience within his outlets.
Todd, can you talk about the impact of the Great Disaster on your business?
Before the Great Disaster, it has to be said that our approach to preserving nature was limited to the bare minimum (reducing plastic waste, using organic cotton, creating a permanent and sustainable basic collection...). Our detractors openly accused us of greenwashing, and they were partly right.
The Great Disaster and the textile industry
The Great Disaster marked the period between 2030 and 2035, during which a succession of ecological and health disasters - megafires, epidemics, extreme droughts, etc. - led to a complete redirection of the economy towards safeguarding the environment. In 2035, the world's major powers met and decided to completely rethink their relationship with the living world. To do this, they began by conducting focus groups on the sectors that were most damaging to the environment. The textile industry, then the 3rd largest consumer of water, was one of the first sectors to be radically restructured.
The first measures were aimed at brands and advertising. All advertisements for new products had to include a statement encouraging repair and second-hand purchases. Textile imports were heavily taxed to encourage local production, and very strict quality and durability standards were introduced to ensure that clothing would last for several years.
In the 2020s, a study showed that people in rich countries needed to limit themselves to five new items a year if they hoped to contain global warming. It was on the basis of this study that drastic measures were taken at the end of the 2030s: brands were required to produce a limited number of collections per year: a maximum of four collections, one per season. Then, in 2038, European governments decided to restrict consumption of new clothes to 6 per person per year.
Today, this figure probably comes as no shock to anyone, but you have to imagine the tsunami it represented for the ready-to-wear industry at the time. Bear in mind that in the 2020s, the French were buying an average of 40 new items a year!
At the time, you decided to maintain your physical shops. What measures did you put in place to achieve this?
We had to adapt very quickly; initially, all our physical shops were equipped with a patching and customization workshop to recycle damaged and/or out-of-fashion textiles. As a result, our sales outlets were transformed, with new clothes occupying only a small part of the shop space and second-hand clothes the rest. We quickly introduced the ‘3 for 1’ scheme: for every three used items sold in the shop, our customers received a 50% discount on a second-hand item customized by us. What's more, our network of shops across the country enabled us to rotate second-hand items, offering a fairly unique service for renewing items, reminiscent of the collections of yesteryear.
But you also owe your success to your communication and the creation of a slogan ‘the story behind your clothes’. Can you tell us more about it?
To enforce the ban on buying more than six new items a year, the Government has made it compulsory for clothes to be traceable. All new items were fitted with an RFID chip. This is how the famous social network that you all know, Hangr, came into being. Thanks to the chip in the garment, Hangr can tell you who owned the garment you bought second-hand, give you ideas on how it can be worn and, above all, tell its story.
When you buy a second-hand item from Milya, all you have to do is scan the QR code on the label to access ‘the story of your clothes’, a condensed version of its previous uses, fictionalized and staged by our AI and our ‘fashions storytellers’. We focused our communication on certain iconic pieces, such as this pair of jeans which we realized had once belonged to Kmille, the famous environmental activist, and had then been passed on to her great-granddaughter, as a sign that her ancestor's fight had not been in vain.
Then in 2048, you were again a forerunner with ‘Knit it’, your 3D printing or rather 3D knitting service...
It's important to remember that the technology we're talking about here was invented in the early 2000s. It simply hadn't found a use in the era of fast fashion, when the costs in terms of environmental degradation were not factored into the final costs.
‘Knit it' is first and foremost a knitting method. 3D knitting is very similar to that of other 3D objects. The first stages take place on the computer: CAD (Computer Aided Design) software is used to create the design. The difference with additive manufacturing? The machine doesn't use filament or powder, but wire. Our major innovation is the yarn that powers our knitting machine. It's 100% recycled fabric, so in the eyes of the law, our garment isn't considered new.
The innovation also lies in the customization service offered by Knit it, because the idea is not to repeat the mistakes of the past by printing clothes that we don't really need. Today, brands make most of their profits from selling clothing patterns that can be knitted in the boutique. Shops have evolved to include interior mirrors and interactive window displays, with customers able to scroll through a multitude of designs in their reflection. The textile sector has transformed the way in which individuals consume out-of-home advertising: they are no longer passive, they are at the heart of the system based on the hyper-personalization of their reflection.
In addition to physical boutiques, brand websites have created virtual personal shoppers, offering selections of patterns based on the individual's budget, tastes and physical attributes. Each individual on the web has their own virtual avatar, and the sites offer an immersive online fitting experience.
Despite the transformations that the sector has undergone since 2030, you have always managed to adapt. What are your next challenges?
Our biggest challenge for the coming years is the development of do it yourself CAD. With the success of the online show ‘C'est qui le patron?’, which rewards the best amateur designers, and the rise of personal 3D knitters, whose cost of purchase has been considerably reduced, we'll have to find new ways of getting customers into our shops, but we've already got a few ideas in stock...
Originally posted on cbnews.fr on 12th November 2024.
