Technology, sustainability and inclusion are three of the words that will mark the fashion dictionary in the future, meeting the demands of a consumer looking for functional and durable garments without renouncing the aspirational component of fashion, through new design formulas whose germ has flourished “in an accelerated way” by the pandemic.
The Swedish firm H&M stands out on social networks for launching its collection in collaboration with the designer Simone Rocha using augmented reality, a format for which it has worked with “QR” code technology that, placed on the pages of a “book fashion pop-up ”illustrated by British artist Faye Wei Wei, feature personalities who look and talk about the collection.
“These are hard but interesting times, the biggest challenge in the textile sector is to make collections between the physical and the digital, capable of capturing the essence of the garments,” Ann-Sofie Johansson (Sweden, 1963), creative director of the Swedish multinational H&M, one of the most representative casual fashion firms, with a presence in almost seventy countries.
From actress Elena Bonham Carter to supermodel Kaia Gerber, a cast of personalities take shape by focusing the pages of this book with the camera of a mobile device, creating a digital option to publicize the collections that moves away from the “fashion films ”used so far.
Sustainability will also mark the fashion of the future, which, as he explains, “has become fashionable and will not go away”, and it is also “one of the aspects that were already present but that the pandemic has accelerated, forcing us to think more clearly in these terms ”, he explains about this challenge that is gaining strength, for which H&M intends to reach 2030 with 100% of its sustainable or recycled materials.
The “circular fashion” is one of the concepts that resonates with more force in the industry during the last months. A trend that advocates a thoughtful consumption in which the garments can be used many times, to be recycled later: “When buying, consumers begin to think of garments that will last a while in their wardrobe,” he reels about this model, opposed that of fast fashion or “fast fashion”, prevailing in recent years.
“Recycle, rethink, resell or redesign, all the concepts with this prefix will be the protagonists of the fashion of the future, showing that a garment can make several people happy. Each garment is like a cat, it should have at least seven lives ”, he explains about one of the lines that will mark the industry.
Inclusive fashion is another aspect to which more and more firms decide to join, including from extended sizes to the use of models outside the canons: “It is the first designer collection that we also make for men and children”, explains Johansson on the garments, which also expand their sizes up to 46 for the first time, and which follow a line marked by pearls and embroidery and whose masculine designs can also be worn by women.
“It is a way of working on diversity, and also of promoting creativity to work with several lines, perhaps we will see how this continues in the coming years,” he explains, referring to the concepts that structure normal collections and that appear increasingly blurred. .
“As a consumer you have certain needs, you may need a jacket for functionality, but you also want a garment that you fall in love with, that awakens your emotions and makes you feel unique,” he explains about the aspirational component of fashion, which will return strongly in more sophisticated garments, abandoning the sports codes that have come into fashion “in an accelerated way” to dress the months of pandemic during quarantines.
