Page 22 - Retro Nova

Fashion it up

From virtual collections to limitless
creativity, in the first of a new series on
future culture, Bel Jacobs explores what
style will look like in two decades’ time. fashion
watch any recent science-fiction movie
and you’ll be struck by divergent
visions of the future, as seen through
the eyes of Hollywood costume depart-
ments. Follow the sartorial route of
Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, for
example, and we can expect to sheath 20 years from now
our fortunately pneumatic bodies in
reinforced scuba suits. Turn instead to
the post-apocalyptic worlds of Blade
Runner 2049 and the TV series The
Expanse, and the offer is bastardised
street wear, scavenged from the
wardrobes of the past.

, this year's report by the Environmental
Audit Committee: “fashion satisfies
consumers’ psychogenic needs and any
solution has to recognise and maintain
these benefits.

Accordingly, innovators are exploring
future solutions that offer all the hit of
the new buy without stripping the earth
– and the answers, increasingly, appear
to lie in the digital world. “We’re finally
seeing the digital industry revolutionise
age-old practice and evolving over the
next 20 years,” says Rachel Stott of The
Future Laboratory. “Immaterial and
digital fashion offers opportunities for
brands to exert creativity, and connect
with consumers through a different
medium.”

15