Kristine Harper, author and initiator of the podcast “The Immaterialist” started the second day of the Berlin Fashion Summit on March 16, 2022. As one of the main speakers, she spoke about the concept of her book “Anti-trend” and the aesthetics and power of regenerative cultural systems. While the term “anti-trend” might sound negative, Harper feels the urge to go against something. In particular, she named trends that only arise through consumption, overconsumption and, as she called it, a general “cultural boredom”. “Sometimes you need an opposite path for sustainable development and to make something happen,” she said. But she also cited benefits such as long-term use of things, sustainable short-term use, rawness, craftsmanship, diversity and flexibility, all of which have openness as a common denominator.
Afterward, Harper elaborated on each advantage. “Long-term use supports changing life situations,” she said, citing the fact that many products designed for short-term use last much longer (flip-flops, for example). For her, the solution lies in making short-lived things out of short-lived materials. “Every time you wear them or use them, they wear out a little bit, or they could be composted,” explains Harper. This would lead to the best-case scenario that we only buy new clothes when the old ones are really falling apart. But she also acknowledged that design and the sense of new things are an important part of the human need for recognition.
Flexible design is open to life
Harper understands “rawness” to mean that designers give up a bit of control, but the seeds of personal expression must be sown. For her, flexibility includes objects that focus on longevity, but are also tactile and stimulating, showing signs of the manufacturing process or welcoming wear and tear. For Harper, stagnant, closed objects are not the way forward, as only “flexible design is open to life.”
In terms of craftsmanship and diversity, an object should incorporate cultural sustainability and exist in harmony with local traditions. She cited experiences with weavers in her adopted home of Bali as an example. “It takes a month to make just one scarf made with indigo, redwood and coconut from the natural environment,” she says. The products have a very low impact on the ecosystem and should be in demand, but the problem is that there are similar products made from synthetic materials that are cheaper and in direct competition, although they may be poorly made. In summary, Harper called for a global openness to change and for manufacturing companies that are responsive to a region’s agricultural conditions.
Printing on demand instead of overproduction
Next, Daniel Rüben from Kornit Digital, an Israeli-American manufacturing company, spoke about how technology can power local on-demand production. The international company manufactures high-speed inkjet printers, pigmented ink and chemical products for clothing, home textiles and textile accessories. Pioneering on-demand apparel printing, it addresses industry overconsumption.
Specifically, Kornit offers software for generating new revenue that allows for a high level of product design. In addition, the company connects to its customers’ webshop and embeds it in a network of printers, making it very reactive to new trends and providing flexibility in terms of inventory management. “That’s sustainable,” says Rüben, “because you only print what the customers have ordered.” The device also doesn’t use any water.
Another benefit of Kornit software is that it can help businesses measure how a campaign is performing and how successful it is; something that is difficult to predict when working with influencers, for example, as there are no hard facts. Amazon, Adidas, Asos and various small and medium-sized brands and retailers are already using Kornit’s services, which also offer the possibility of printing in different layers on textiles.
Sustainable textile innovations in Germany
A presentation by the German Federal Foundation for the Environment (DBU) and its Head of Resource Management Volker Berding, Ina Budde from Circular.fashion, Marte Hentschel from Sqetch and Martin Lades from Assyst presented German innovations in the field of sustainable textiles. All offered strategies and tools for harmonizing and streamlining standards, building circular supply chains and increasing the use of digital fitting systems.
For Ina Budde, the founder of Circular.fashion, it’s all about creating missing links and connections to operate circulatory systems. “We need to empower users to use products longer and discover transparency,” she said. Used by the Otto Group and Armedangels, for example, the company provides transparency labels that can be placed on garments and read by sorting companies. Circular.fashion has also compiled a library of circular materials, all of which have been tested for recyclability. “We need to connect to the larger value chain and the recycling chain,” Budde said, noting that standardization in the form of a digital product passport is needed.
Marte Hentschel from Sqetch, a B2B management and networking platform, spoke about the qualification of closed-loop textile and apparel companies and suggested tackling overproduction on the part of the manufacturers themselves. “They need to be able to reduce the order quantity on their side,” she said. To achieve this, she highlighted three elements: building a repository pool and available resources to support manufacturers and suppliers, and offering a self-assessment tool to help them identify where they stand in relation to the circular economy. Second, they need to be able to compare themselves to the competition, and third, they need to link their efforts with well-curated training modules.
More digital than physical products
Assyst’s Martin Lades explained how the online retailer started with some key questions: how to use digital technologies, for example to increase sustainability in the fashion industry, but also how to analyze a fashion product and map it into figures. It was also important to show how digital fashion products can be produced instead of physical ones. According to Lades, this requires three prerequisites: simulating the behavior of a real fashion product, a digital pattern and a digital body. Assyst supports its customers from the design phase to the sales prototypes.
A follow-up chat between Christy Dawn’s Aras Baskauskas and the Oshadi Collective’s Nishanth Chopra discussed how regenerative agriculture can have a positive impact on fashion. They examined the way regenerative fashion goes beyond just farming and needs to create reciprocity throughout the supply chain. In other words, “Regenerative practices are all about relationships,” was the conclusion reached the day before.