Look Backward, to move Forward: Historical Technology as a driving Force for a more sustainable Fashion Future

This proposal aims to explore a radically different path towards a more sustainable fashion future through technology. Most research on fashion and technology focuses on high tech innovation and, as a result, overlooks knowledge that is already available and has been used, tested and improved for centuries.
The proposed research project, however, looks backward to move forward. It aims to investigate ‘the blindingly obvious’ and asks the question how historical technologies could be used to solve contemporary environmental issues in fashion. It thus argues that technology from the past could inspire both designers and technologists to come up with new and exciting solutions to make the future of fashion more sustainable.
The current fast fashion system has changed the relationship consumers have with their clothing. Clothing has become a throwaway object and this has severe environmental implications. This research project aims to find a solution by exploring historical technologies - such as folding, mending and reassembling-, because in the past a ‘sustainable’ attitude towards fashion was the norm simply because cloth and garments were expensive. It wants to examine what happens when consumers, fashion designers and technologists are confronted with these techniques.
What would, for example, materialize when an aeronautical engineer takes the technique of folding as a starting point and aims to create clothes that can grow with babies and toddlers? The answer is the signature suit of the brand Petit Pli: a special folding technique allows their signature suit to grow with children from 3 months to 3 years. Much like the age-old folding techniques applied in traditional Dutch dress, which allowed the size women’s jackets to be altered, by simply adjusting the pleats.
Similarly, this project aims to investigate how high tech solutions, can be initiated through historical techniques.

Eindrapportage

The Post-doc project explored a radically different path towards a more sustainable fashion future through
technology. Most research on fashion and technology focuses on high-tech innovation and, as a result,
overlooks knowledge that is already available and has been used, tested, and improved for centuries.
This research project, however, looks backward to move forward. It aims to investigate ‘the blindingly
obvious’ and asks the question how historical technologies could be used to solve contemporary
environmental issues in fashion. It thus argues that technology from the past could inspire both designers
and technologists to come up with new and exciting solutions to make the future of fashion more sustainable.
The research resulted in the Keeping it Local Living Lab, where co-creation, local production in an urban
setting and sustainable consumer behavior is researched. The lab produces sweaters inspired by traditional
fisherman’s jumpers worn from 1875 to 1950. You could tell from the pattern of the sweater which fishing
village the wearer came from.
The Keeping it Local sweaters are designed for and in collaboration with local communities and tell their
stories, using a mix of traditional -and computer-generated patterns.
By using an advanced 3D knitting technique, it is possible to produce locally and on demand. This prevents
overproduction and potential waste (unsold sweaters). Therefore, you will only find fitting models in the
University Store: consumers can come in to see the sweaters up close, try them on and order one.
Subsequently, the sweater will be knitted especially for its wearer.
Located at the Amstel Campus of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, our production chain
entails design, production, and sales. And we track our consumers to learn about how they ‘treat’ their
sweater after the point of sale. Because does personalization lead more sustainable clothing behavior?