One Size Fits One

What an impertinence the first ready-to-wear clothing manufacturers had! Instead of relying on individual tailoring, as had been customary until that point, their business revolved around mass-producing products in standard sizes. The pamphlets of bespoke tailors protesting against this revolution of the late 18th century read remarkably familiar – for they sound so similar to the progress-deniers of today! The bogeyman is the same then as now: once the new technology took over, everything would be nothing but a predictable mess, devoid of any spark of creativity and individuality…

PROGRESS IS HUMAN

Painting a gloomy picture of the future did, however, not stop progress – even back then. The fact that fashion production grew from a craft to an industry based on the division of labour has transformed a marginal branch of the economy into a global industry that nourishes micro-enterprises just as much as mega-corporations. They have all perfected ready-to-wear clothing in all its varieties; custom

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SIZE Digitisation is the magic formula that will get the fashion industry back on track after its corona slump. However, the future vision only FITS becomes perfect when digitisation is married with personalisation. Text: Martina Müllner-Seybold. Illustrations: Raevsky Lab, str33tcat (stock.adobe)

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tailoring has become the rare exception. Now the next dawn is breaking.

WHERE IS THE (DIGITAL) JOURNEY HEADING?

A look back at the history of fashion can illuminate the path in this twilight. Whereas the detractors of ready-to-wear used to argue that human jobs would be lost, today the exact opposite is the case: one in three jobs worldwide is directly or indirectly linked to the textile industry. Globally speaking, fashion is one of the biggest growth drivers, even the corona pandemic could not stop the upward trend. According to Statista, turnover in the apparel segment alone is expected to reach around 455,287 million Euros globally in 2021 and is expected to grow by 7.3 percent every year.

SOLVE THE PROBLEM FIRST

This impressive upward trend, however, comes with untold downsides. Only 0.4 to 1 percent of the global average cost of a garment is spent on paying the people who manufacture it. The environment is paying a devastating price for clothes that

are becoming ever cheaper. The fact that it is now possible to mass-produce at such low cost is definitely more of a curse than a blessing. It continually fuels global overproduction. Even though sustainability and slow fashion have long been preached among the elite of the fashion industry, the wine we drink on a daily basis remains blood red.

END CONFORMITY

The clothing industry has perfected the magic formula of selling the same thing in the same sizes to as many people as possible in the same stores in similarly run countries. Or so one would think, but a look behind the curtain exposes the lie: the approach of achieving the highest possible degree of conformity is seriously flawed. A bestseller here is a shelf warmer there. Yet the available data has long suggested other conclusions. Today, intelligent forecasting programmes are already capable of drastically reducing the inaccuracies in demand and sales projections. Relying on evidence-based trend or colour forecasts likewise makes a product more concise. Moreover, fully digitised production, in which historical, current, and future figures are combined for steering purposes, is not a utopia but a reality.

THE PRIMAL FEAR OF THE MACHINE

Admittedly, this numerical potency is frightening. We humans fear that the machines could take over. How often has this happened in our history now? We are suspicious of the computer-controlled ratio suddenly becoming the measure of all things, that humans no longer have any influence on the decision-making process. Especially as many of these digital tools and productivity boosters are based on artificial intelligence. This spurs the imagination of our caveman brains into a breath-taking gallop – and suddenly we find ourselves discussing hypotheses worthy of a science fiction blockbuster. Help, the machines are taking over?!?

THE PROMISE OF SALVATION: INDIVIDUALITY

The exact opposite is the case: digital methods, whether in design or manufacturing, are reigniting designers’ creativity in a way that fashion has not witnessed in a very long time. Not only does the colourful side of fashion benefit, but the number crunchers are also daring to dream new dreams. The objective is the scalability of precise production. To all future sceptics, let this be a reminder. The ideal everyone is emulating is profoundly human in nature: individuality. Achieving it requires reflecting all the magic that makes fashion a peoples business. Instead of picking raisins out of a cake, the future shall hold raisins only. Once the bland mass around them falls away, the celestial kingdom is near.

THERE IS NO WAY BACK

Does this sound too much like back to the roots? Does it sound like the perfect world of yesteryear, where everyone returns to the tailor and only buys what they really need? A look at fashion history makes it clear how backward this romantic idyll actually is. From about 1790 onwards, the division of labour in the manufacture of clothing in Europe took off. Should we turn the wheel of time back to the reaches of the 18th century? That is an illusion. For it goes without saying that the fully digitalised fashion raisin production of the 21st century must correspond to modern standards, technologies, and realities. There is, however, one crucial difference: the money that is saved by modern mass individuality must not exclusively flow into already bulging wallets. Politics and society must ensure that everyone shares in this progress: consumers, producers, and our environment.