Our current consumption of textiles is not sustainable. Perhaps one solution is better design of clothes to allow easier disassembly which could avoid discarded garments ending up in landfill. According to The Australasian Circular Textile Association 90% of textile waste ends up in landfill which is a shocking statistic. Or perhaps there will be a societal change leading to less emphasis on fast fashion. These are issues that we are exploring at the University of Leeds in our Future Fashion Factory. The Future Fashion Factory is a £5.4 million R&D partnership (led by the University of Leeds but including Huddersfield University and Royal College for Art) exploring and developing new digital and advanced textile technologies to boost the design of high-value creative products. The idea of leasing clothes rather than buying them is also gaining traction. Celebrities have long leased evening wear for red-carpet events. But could leasing become more mainstream?

Maybe the future of fashion is virtual. Perhaps in the future (in the near future actually) we will be able to change our clothes as easily as we change our backgrounds when taking part in video calls. Fashion is important and fulfils a desire that people have to express themselves. But perhaps people will increasingly use virtual environments to express themselves. Fortnite has already hosted several fashion shows and fashion is already an essential component of the hugely successful online game. For our children – the future consumers of this world – buying a virtual garment is as natural as buying a physical garment (and possibly more rewarding). The world of digital fashion was recently discussed in an interesting article in The Guardian by their fashion editor Hannah Marriott.

Our regular team on the Over The Rainbow colour podcast discussed these issues with Caroline Hemingray who leads the MA Fashion Marketing at the University of Leeds. You can listen to the podcast here – https://swestland.podbean.com/