Fashion. Forward.

Tracing the evolution of the fashion industry though a technological lens

Fashion, like most things in our world, tends to progress at the speed of technology. In ancient times, that technology came in the form of looms that allowed people to more quickly produce articles of clothing. As time went on, tailors were able to make clothes ready-to-order, servicing individual, wealthy clients. It wasn’t until after World War II that fashion truly became a mass-market endeavor, in an era that saw the rise of the fashion houses that ruled the next several decades. That occurred thanks to widespread mechanization and visual mass media in the form of TV. Since then, the rate of technological change has accelerated, and the fashion industry has evolved rapidly to keep up.

Fashion Before Intelligence

The 1970s and 80s were the age of designers. Legends such as Yves Saint Laurent and Diane von Furstenberg made their bones and became tastemakers. They produced ready-to-wear fashions that took advantage of widespread mechanization. Manufacture went overseas, especially to Asia, and scaling went up on pace with population growth.

Fast fashion was now possible, and for many it marked a democratization of fashion. No longer did people need a personal tailor or to fork over big bucks for premium labels. Anyone could be a fashionista.

The speed of fast fashion, however, was still fairly slow. Design was by sketch, which took several days to weeks to arrive at factories. It was another several weeks to months before those factories were churning out clothes.

The 90s saw the dawn of digitization in fashion. Design was still by sketch, but designers began to take advantage of emerging technologies such as Photoshop and digital cameras. At the beginning of the decade, analog still ruled the day.

“Designers used pencils, markers and glue far more than computers. If you were lucky enough to have the space, pattern cutters worked alongside you, surrounded by rails of hanging patterns,” Jonathan Mitchell, founder of J Mitchell Design and a veteran of several decades in the industry, wrote on LinkedIn.

As the decade progressed, design software began to gain traction, with CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator replacing hand-drawn sketches. CAD had come to fashion, and tech packs started to streamline the manufacturing process.

Fashion, Faster

As the millennium turned, fashion truly embraced digital experimentation and went global. CAD programs were 2D, but they were ubiquitous. The process of mailing sketches and swatches was still common, but it was augmented by closer and quicker connections, with Skype and other video conferencing services coming online and email enabling rapid communication. That in turn changed the way brands talked to consumers and how they manufactured clothing lines.

“As communication technology improved, everything accelerated. Skype changed how we connected, removing the need for expensive international calls. Brands were chasing faster development and lower production costs, and fast fashion became the ultimate goal on the high street,” Mitchell wrote.

Tasks that took weeks were whittled down to days or even hours. By the 2010s, digitization was not just the norm, it was the minimum. Layered CADs added a third dimension, and colleagues in disparate places could collaborate in real time. Large file transfers became possible with the likes of Dropbox and WeTransfer. No longer did tech packs have to be mailed off, with samples taking weeks to arrive.

“With laptops, Wi Fi, and cloud storage, designers no longer had to live in London, Manchester, or Milan to work with major brands,” Mitchell wrote.

The Connected Ecosystem

On the marketing and consumer side of the equation, social media brought trends to real time and made influencers the new models and stylists. Trends shifted quickly and orders came in quickly, often as soon as people saw a new look on Instagram. In the supply chain, RFID technology and other innovations made global logistics easier to track.

With that came a data analytics revolution that allowed fashion brands to predict where trends were headed. As the COVID pandemic brought much of the offline world to a halt, the fashion industry quickly undertook a digital transformation

Design software went fully 3D with CLO3D, Browzwear, and Marvelous Designer transforming the design process. Just as quickly, AI programs like Fermat began generating colorways and mood boards in an instant. Augmented reality showrooms allow shoppers to try on items from the comfort of their own homes.

“It is likely that AI will soon merge with 3D technology to create an even more seamless and intelligent way of designing. The next few years will see this integration become central to how collections are created and visualized,” Mitchell wrote.

All the while, as screens replaced physical materials in a lot of operations – though obviously not in the end product – the fashion industry began to think about the resources it uses. From an industry that used to throw away tons of scraps to one that focuses on sustainability and its carbon footprint, the focus now turns to circular supply chains.

It’s a sure bet new technologies will be enabling the transition.