The new fiber was created by placing hundreds of square silicon microscale digital chips into a preform that was then used to create a polymer fiber. By precisely controlling the polymer flow, the researchers were able to create a fiber with continuous electrical connection between the chips over a length of tens of meters.
https://news.mit.edu/2021/programmable-fiber-0603
Category Archives: fashion
EU countries back ban on destruction of unsold textiles
The governments and the European Parliament need to agree on the Ecodesign Regulation before it can enter law. Under the initial March 2022 proposal by the European Commission, the Commission itself was to have determined at a later stage whether to put destruction bans in place.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-countries-back-ban-destruction-unsold-textiles-2023-05-22/
What Fast Fashion Can And Should Learn From Fast Food’s Sustainable Evolution
Like the big fast food chains, fast fashion brands that deliver to your door – sometimes in less than a day – have rapidly became a habit for many around the world. Both offer an instant, affordable pick-me-up – a mini-treat for people who, in today’s economic climate, are likely time poor and financially stretched. But there is a cost, of course: the environment, and the conditions in which these products are made.
https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/christophermarquis/2023/04/25/what-fast-fashion-can-and-should-learn-from-fast-foods-sustainable-evolution/amp/
The Verdict On Decentraland Metaverse Fashion Week 2023
The second edition of Decentraland‘s Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW) came to a close last week. With over 60 brands and partnerships in the lineup, significant audience engagement, and a mission to overcome the previous year’s technical issues, expectations soared.
https://jingdaily.com/decentraland-metaverse-fashion-week-2023-verdict/
The State of Fashion 2023: Holding onto growth as global clouds gather (McKinsey)
The fashion market, excluding the luxury sector, will struggle to deliver significant growth in 2023. McKinsey analysis of fashion forecasts projects relatively slow sales growth of between –2 and +3 percent, weighed down by a contraction in the European market (expected to shrink between 1 and 4 percent) (exhibit). China and the United States are expected to fare better, growing between 2 and 7 percent and between 1 and 6 percent, respectively. These forecasts are reflective of inflation and are calculated in local currencies, meaning that the real impact for the sector could be more negative than these figures suggest.
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion
Freitag’s Sweat-Yourself-Shop is a tiny factory for making bags
Swiss brand Freitag has created a shop in Zurich, which is a “micro-factory” where customers can help make their own bag out of recycled tarpaulins.
Named Sweat-Yourself-Shop, the interactive retail space on Grüngasse was designed by Freitag to take their existing customisation options one step further.
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/10/31/sweat-yourself-shop-recycling-freitag-interiors-zurich/
Emotional Clothing
Two polysensory silhouettes using the phenomenon of biofeedback, psycho-physiological changes taking place in the user’s body. The intelligent materials used stimulate cognitive involvement through interaction.
_The first silhouette uses two type of smart materials: it reacts on a body temperature by changing its color from solid black to translucent nude, and it reacts on a heart rate measuring the BPM and signaling the changes using blinking speed and changing light color from cold to warm.
_The second silhouette uses passive & active smart materials: it reacts on a GSR of its wearer signaling the stress level and communicate it by changing color of lights on a chest area from warm to cold. It reacts on a gesture, giving the possibility to control the movement of the light set in the arm area. The whole system is connected using conductive thread and conductive fabric.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7054120867013750784?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Fashion can now report its plastic use. Will reduction follow?
Global non-profit CDP’s environmental disclosure system is open for reporting on plastics for the first time as of 19 April. For fashion, it’s an opportunity to get granular about how much plastic the industry uses and produces in packaging, production and materials, including plastic-based fibres such as polyester. The next step is to create strategies to reduce or eliminate plastic.
https://www.voguebusiness.com/sustainability/fashion-can-now-report-its-plastic-use-will-reduction-follow?utm_source=linkedIn&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=vogue-bz&utm_social-type=earned
Zara, lies and Fashion’s big new row
There’s an unholy row going on in the fashion world this week, and it’s gripping stuff. It began last Thursday when the Financial Times published an interview with Marta Ortega Perez. Not a household name, but as the non executive chair of Inditex, the Spanish holding company for fashion brand Zara, she is one of, if not the most powerful people in fashion. Her father’s company, which she took over last year, produces 450m garments a year, driving sales of €32.6billion. In the last year, under Marta’s new watch, sales have risen 17%. The Ortegas are the Murdochs of the fashion world – just as powerful, possibly even richer and likely a lot less venal.
https://tiffaniedarke.substack.com/p/zara-lies-and-fashions-big-new-row
Animal-free offerings are down, but not out
Investments in next-gen materials – defined as animal-free and environmentally preferable alternatives to animal-based materials – dropped by more than half to $457 million in 2022. Yet next-gen materials continue to generate buzz and interest throughout the fashion world and beyond.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/04/animal-free-offerings-are-down-but-not-out?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social_scheduler&utm_term=Advanced+Materials&utm_content=15%2F04%2F2023+16%3A00
Analyzing Trends with Tim Stock 