Digital Fashion
SS 2022 Trend Analysis: Edu Action
SS 2022 Trend Analysis: Edu Action
WE ARE ALL IN is our overall theme for this season, which encompasses the four major trend themes for prêt-à-porter plus a concentrate forecast for denim. With this we recognize the exceptional situation we all will face this year which makes season a very emotional one.
Our Spring.Summer 22 trends are a mixture between romantic and melancholy influences with real and imaginary places filled with ambition and inspiration. To get started, let us briefly introduce you to the 5 trend themes of the WE ARE ALL IN TREND FORECAST and represented in the DIGITAL TREND SPACE as 5 distinct exhibition rooms:
STAGING NATURE – nature becomes our backdrop while we orchestrate and define ourselves in landscapes.
EDU ACTION – stands for education and takes action to empower us as we reflect on meaningful protests and high-tech remedies.
ADVANCED REDUCTION – champions minimalism with progressive performance basics.
HAUTE NOSTALGIA – reflects on romanticised memories of the past to bring together different heights over the decades.
At BLUEZONE we embark on a journey through time, from the traditional indigo legacy to contemporary objectivity and the vision of a phygital hybrid denim world.
WE ARE ALL IN Trend Theme: EDU ACTION
Our second trend space, EDU ACTION, stands for education and taking action. It’s about social and political engagement to harness the courage and also the anger needed to make a difference. With movements like Black Lives Matter or Extinction Rebellion, our society is shaped by people who really stand up for what they believe in and take it to the streets.
At the same time, it is also about new education methods that are currently emerging: Keywords such as Infotainment or so called Arctivists, a group of activists and artists that show how necessity encourages inventive, how teaching and learning encourage creative.
MOOD
EDU ACTION speaks for a generation that stands up for something. Not only is this revolutionary in the sense of protest, but also in terms of education and teaching methods.
The current crisis serves as inspiration for new developments and design: for one thing, the focus is on the creativity that emerges. New digital approaches such as digital fashion shows and sports events are realised in large numbers within a few months.
It is also about the sense of community, achieving something together that was previously unthinkable: be it through various collaborations or solidarity projects between competitors or the reinvention of communal spaces for the general public, such as converting parking spaces into restaurant terraces in our cities.
COLOUR
EDU ACTION’s colour palette consists of very active, intense colours with a kind of radiance that spreads optimism. Powerful, sporty colours on one side meet more neutral, stable colours on the other side. The key colour of EDU ACTION is an intense mango yellow, with black as the base colour and recycled mid-tones from asphalt to an aquatic tone serving as the foundation.
FASHION
The winner of this year’s Grand Prix du Festival d’Hyéres couldn’t be more contrary to the very minimalist designers of past seasons: The Belgian designer and revolutionist Tom Van Der Borght creates his loud collection from recycled materials. The Hyères jury wants to set a positive example for creativity and sustainability.
MATERIALS
When it comes to materials, EDU ACTION combines local production, high performance, positive messages and recycling. Slogans are an important element in spreading optimism and encouraging the community. Prints are inspired by new experiences from lockdown and the distinctive recycled grey is omnipresent.
Accessories: Union Knopf
info@unionknopf.com
Fabric: Deveaux
mgirardon@deveaux.com
Cord: Frieba
info@frieba.de
Fabric: Ipeker
ipeker@ipeker.com
There is an enormous need for real contact again and we now meet in a ‘phygital’ space which exists between the physical and digital worlds. We strive to come together again, to see each other and use our tactile senses. With this, we find new ways to connect and pave the way for positive, hopetimistic progress, because this is the only way forward.
To bridge the gap between physical and digital interaction we have created this 3D digital trend space for you to explore.
SS 2022 Trend Analysis: Staging Nature
SS 2022 Trend Analysis: Staging Nature
WE ARE ALL IN is our overall theme for this season, which encompasses the four major trend themes for prêt-à-porter plus a concentrate forecast for denim. With this we recognize the exceptional situation we all will face this year which makes season a very emotional one.
Our Spring.Summer 22 trends are a mixture between romantic and melancholy influences with real and imaginary places filled with ambition and inspiration. To get started, let us briefly introduce you to the 5 trend forecasts, which are also represented in the DIGITAL TREND SPACE as 5 distinct exhibition rooms:
STAGING NATURE – nature becomes our backdrop while we orchestrate and define ourselves in landscapes.
EDU ACTION – stands for education and takes action to empower us as we reflect on meaningful protests and high-tech remedies.
ADVANCED REDUCTION – champions minimalism with progressive performance basics.
HAUTE NOSTALGIA – reflects on romanticised memories of the past to bring together different heights over the decades.
At BLUEZONE we embark on a journey through time, from the traditional indigo legacy to contemporary objectivity and the vision of a phygital hybrid denim world.
WE ARE ALL IN Trend Theme: STAGING NATURE
More than anything right now, we desire to be closer to nature: Nature is seen as a stage – to present ourselves, to curate nature and to stage ourselves in nature. This desire for nature comes from a combination of what really exists in the countryside and what we long for. Being outside in nature and living in the countryside is idealised. We find an idyllic harmony amidst a simplistic and romanticised family life.
“Nature! We are surrounded and embraced by nature – unable to get out of it and unable to go deeper into it” – Johann Wolfgang, Goethe
MOOD
STAGING NATURE is all about feeling and enjoying the energy of nature: fresh air, clear water, the calm and safe feeling that nature gives you. People long to take conscious time for good moments. Digital storytellers emerge and search for digital ways to build natural worlds and landscapes, although dreamscapes are surreal, they are so close to reality that they seem nearly plausible.
COLOUR
The STAGING NATURE colour palette consists of natural, harmonious colours. Central to this trend is the key colour Off-White, reminiscent of raw cotton. This natural white tone is complimented by the natural colours of linen and wheat. Liveliness is created by light Orange and Red tones that bring peaches and cherry blossoms to mind. The nature inspired colour mood is supported by three shades of Green: Anise, Meadow Green and Khaki. A violet-blue water tone rounds off the colour palette for STAGING NATURE.
FASHION
STAGING NATURE stands for casual, simple looks. Light and comfortable outfits idealise nature with stylised prints, playing with light and shadows, landscapes, grains and slightly romantic translucence.
MATERIALS
The materials for this trend theme stay true to the values of STAGING NATURE: Classic textiles which are produced responsibly and locally without the usage of chemicals. Nature is also used to add aesthetic elements, such as using flower prints, natural dyeing and features prints inspired by tarot cards – a fusion between looking into the future and reflecting on oneself.
There is an enormous need for real contact again and we now meet in a ‘phygital’ space which exists between the physical and digital worlds. We strive to come together again, to see each other and use our tactile senses. With this, we find new ways to connect and pave the way for positive, hopetimistic progress, because this is the only way forward.
To bridge the gap between physical and digital interaction we have created this 3D digital trend space for you to explore.
Taking Steps towards Digitisation
Taking Steps towards Digitisation
Digitisation is more important than ever. Accelerated by the global pandemic, partnerships and workflows between suppliers and fashion brands have become increasingly more digital. Fabric mills focusing on digitisation will not only cater to a brand’s digital product creation but also greatly increase customer service, reduce costs and reduce resources.
In most cases, fashion brands would digitise their fabric swatches in-house, with the swatch ordered and shipped this is a process which can take as long as 4 weeks. To optimise this process, there is a greater push to move the digitisation of fabrics from brands to the suppliers. With this shift, designers can immediately begin their design process, allowing them to move up their ordering schedule for the collections accordingly.
In a move which we hope will encourage and support our exhibiting manufacturers in the potential advantages of fabric digitisation, we have digitised and showcased a selection of new material developments in the WE ARE ALL IN Digital Trend Space for the new Spring.Summer 22 season.
We first introduced the concept that fabric suppliers will offer a digital twin alongside physical swatches at our 2019 edition of Keyhouse. After successfully demonstrating the individual steps of fabric digitisation in the Digital Fabric Lab, we have now succeeded in creating a realistic image of digital fabric samples in cooperation with individual partners from this network.
We are acting on behalf of the industry to enter the next phase of digitisation and communicate the advantages to proactively adopt 3D technology. Thanks to Triple Tree software developers, Vizoo, material visualisation specialists and Caddon as our experts in multispectral colour communication, we could visualize selected fabrics from our exhibitors as digital samples in our Trend Space.
We are planning further exciting projects with our partners in the near future. For now, we invite you to discover the 3D digital fabrics and trend inspirations showcased in our DIGITAL TREND SPACE.
How IoT is Making A Sustainable Impact on Retail
Could IoT Be The Technology Solution That Drives More Fashion Businesses To Adopt A Circular Business Model?
ARTICLE BY MUCHANETA KAPFUNDE, FOUNDING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FASHNERD.COM
Did you know that IoT, Internet of Things, is all around us? With more connected things than people globally, we live in an IoT-enabled world that has the potential to power, a circular future for fashion and retail businesses. Destined to make a quantifiable impact, the Internet of Things has been busy proving itself to be beyond the hype.
Described by experts as a service innovation tool, IoT has been touted as the solution that will help fashion businesses change how they operate when consuming resources and waste production. Designed to make businesses smarter and more responsive, retailers adopting IoT are not only managing to transform their entire value chain; but they are also reducing the impact their business has on the environment. How might you ask? Allow me to elaborate.
Harnessing the Power of IoT
Responsible for automating the world around us, IoT has been described as merging the digital and physical universes. No longer restricted to wearable devices, intelligent cars or smart homes, IoT is a technology solution that offers fashion retailers’ the opportunity to interact and connect with customers, manufacturers and other businesses.
As a solution that presents retailers with the opportunity to reduce their environmental impact, IoT has become vital in supporting the industry to push forward sustainable measures. Sustainably innovating the retail sector and moving fashion towards a new and exciting direction are game-changers, one of them is Eon. The NY based startup, which partnered with Microsoft last year, has developed an IoT software that connects and stores digital identities of connected apparel.
It is no secret that retailers are more adaptors of innovation than innovators themselves. This is why Eon’s IoT platform continues to play a more vital role in everyday business. Redefining fashion and helping the industry scale new circular business models such as rental, resale, digital wardrobing, peer-to-peer exchange, styling services, reuse and recycling, Eon plans to bring a connected and circular economy across fashion to the forefront, which is why in 2020, alongside Microsoft they pledged to have 400 million fashion products online by 2025.
In an interview at Munich Fabric Start’s Keyhouse, in September 2019, I sit down with CEO and found of Eon Group, Natascha Frank. Watch the interview here.
IoT, Playing a Pivotal Role in a New Retailing World
IoT is helping fashion businesses have it all; commercial growth and a strategic system that allows them to keep their environmental commitments. Through IoT sensors and IoT-enabled data analytics, unique opportunities are not only being brought to the forefront; they are also delivering change. Playing a pivotal role in a new retailing world, IoT solutions are positively impacting the fashion industry because they have created conditions that are instrumental in encouraging retailers to increase their sustainability initiatives. Introducing a new awareness, IoT is helping deliver sustainability breakthroughs that include reducing energy use and carbon footprint, optimizing supply chains, sourcing responsibly and minimizing waste.
So it should not come as a surprise that the World Economic Forum estimates that 84% of IoT systems in use have the potential to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Even with the scepticism still being received, IoT is still considered to be one of the largest enablers pushing forward the rise of Internet-enabled retail. Not only has it been improving efficiency and transparency, but IoT’s impact has also helped create conditions that allow for specific shifts to happen in retail. With continuous noise coming from the IoT space it is not without its challenges. Read more on this here.
One of the setbacks arising from this nascent trend is the issue of security and privacy. It is a problem that is slowing down the benefits that the IoT revolution can add to the industry’s sustainability initiatives. With most retailers admitting to not being technology experts, it is this lack of IoT know-how when it comes to security and privacy problems that is hindering the widespread adoption of the solution. IoT brings to the table a different set of privacy issues, separate from the ones we already face with ‘regular’ internet. So what is needed is a realistic approach to privacy and security, that came put in place sooner rather than later.
Closing the Gap Between ‘Wanting to be Innovative’ and ‘Being Innovative’
Although not everyone expects IoT to become a universal tool, it does not take away from its tremendous potential to make a pervasive impact on fashion retailers’ sustainability goals. Still considered a relatively young complex technology, IoT has, with time, become a valued digital technology respected for its ability to offer retailers a unique opportunity to tackle some of the most pressing issues like running a greener fashion business.
Accelerated by COVID-19, the gap between ‘wanting to be innovative’ and ‘being innovative’ is growing smaller. It is a change that has come about, mainly due to more retailers starting to invest in IoT for sustainable purposes. As IoT technology goes through continuous improvement, retailers need to be open to playing the long game because I believe that when it comes to the merger of IoT, sustainability and retail, we haven’t seen anything yet.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Founding editor-in-chief of FashNerd.com, Muchaneta has worked in the fashion industry for over 14 years. She is currently one of the leading influencers speaking and writing about the merger of fashion with technology and wearable technology.
Muchaneta Kapfunde | editor@fashnerd.com