WeTransfer: Fashion: 10 Years Time

I feel like this is an awkward brief to research, mostly because it is so open. What I may be like in 10 years is something that I can only guess; even what the world may be like in 10 years won't necessarily have a huge impact on that, since I have never been one to really be interested in mainstream fashion or what everyone else is doing (and even if I was, guessing what the world will be like is extremely hard anyway). I have had a look for predictions online of what fashion may be like just to give myself a rough idea, and so far I think he best page I have found is from Forbes.com;

Jason Silva, futurist, filmmaker, and host of Brain Games on National GeographicOne of the things we are seeing more and more is the disappearance of “computers”. Exponential progress puts more “computational power” into ever-shrinking densities and dimensions. Today, our smartphones are a million times smaller and a thousand times more powerful than warehouse-sized supercomputers 40 years ago. Already, computers have essentially become fashion accessories. When people buy smartphones, they are also making fashion statements, design choices, etc. Consider Apple: They are just as much a fashion and design company as a technology company. This will continue. Eventually we will have “wearable computing”. Google‘s “Project Glass” will put augmented reality computers into eyeglasses. Imagine the fashion possibilities that will emerge from that!  The term used is “ubiquitous computing”. Computation will be everywhere: it will be in the fabric of our clothing, it will be our second skin. Fashion will become high technology.Rie Yano, co-founder of Material WrldThere will be more data available online guiding smarter buying decisions for consumers and selling decisions for brands. Today, you can find market data around electronic goods and cars based on what year they were produced, retail price, brand name, version, etc. You don’t see the same type of data around fashion since fashion is so fickle and with so many players, there is no industry standard to store such data. As an example, an item may appear on a brand’s e-commerce site and will disappear once the season is over. You may find it on other retailer sites as well as on eBay—but it will be very difficult to track down that exact item once the season is over. In five years, more data will be available around each item and its availability, pricing, etc, that will help guide smarter decisions for consumers and optimize selling opportunities in various markets for brands.Hannah Metz, fashion designer and bloggerI imagine we’ll see a continued democratization of fashion with high-end lines offering more inexpensive options and more involvement from a broader audience through social media and blogs. As for trends, since fashion is so incredibly predictable and self-referencial I reckon we’ll see a bit of the early aughts referenced in lines to come, though I’m loath to think it. I’d like to see a return to over-the-top dressing if only so I could indulge!Claire Mazur, co-founder of Of A KindIn the next five years we’ll see the concept of the “trend” lose importance as the idea of “personal style” takes its place—I think of trends as being more of a product of the print world and there’s no doubt we’ve seen the importance of personal style gain a lot of momentum thanks to the internet.Jenny Michelsen,  CMO and co-founder at Gunnar OptiksFashion and technology already intersect, but over the next five years, I believe the focus will be on elevating both design and experience. Consumers will demand more from brands in both sectors to refine all elements of their trade. We’re are witnessing a ‘diffusion of innovation’ where companies face logistical constraints, and without massive strides in infrastructure, innovators will be forced to focus on elevating form and function–beauty with benefits, if you will. Fashion may be limitless from an artistic standpoint, but materials, manufacturing processes, commerce options and ability to showcase the right products to the right audience will continue to alter the fabric of the industry–fashion will, to some extent, need to conform to demand and the changing landscape of social climate. The meshing of fashion and technology will ultimately result in huge gains for both as they adapt to consumer’s pursuit for better, more efficient, innovative product offerings.Liz Bacelar, founder of DecodedFashionWe’ve finally reached a point in which Fashion and Technology are merging in an accelerated pace. This year alone we saw two top designers—one in Paris and another in New York—reveal collections with 3D-printed elements. Manufacturing will be completely altered by low-cost and high-quality 3D printing. Marketing will be an evolution of data sets and algorithms. Top design houses that still take orders by phone, pen and paper will give in to e-commerce and digital tools. Manufacturing could become more and more US-based, as it will depend on high-technologies. And augmented reality will be a common tool for product visualization. Tech will become the trend that defines the cool, and top fashion leaders will learn to crave it as we their customers crave each fashion trend.”Kate Endress, CEO and co-founder of DITTO.comI expect we’ll see a huge increase in e-commerce sales. Right now, only three percent of eyewear purchases occur online, and only eight percent for clothing and apparel. Virtual fitting technologies will be key to growing these numbers, especially for categories where fit is really important like eyewear and fitted apparel. The more accurate these technologies become, the more confident consumers will feel when making purchases online and the fewer returns customers will have to deal with post purchase. As consumers continue to embrace these new technologies in the next five years, I foresee online eyewear sales reaching 15 percent, and a third of all clothing and apparel purchases to move online.David Goldberg, president and co-founder of StyleCaster Media GroupStyle is no longer a dictatorship. In five years, we will see the true impact of mobile and digital in empowering fans to become experts—experts who are expressive with their personal style and excited to share it. For brands, this means they will have to embrace all of their consumers and the touch points they use to interact with them. Brands overall will have to become more sophisticated about what is happening with advertising technology (DSP’s, Data Providers, etc) as well as opening up more to new forms of content creation and engagement tactics.”Samantha Pleet, fashion designerI see fashion five years in the future becoming quite ridiculous. People will be growing their own dresses, and printing their own suits at home. Or maybe that is 50 years in the future. Who knows!

Some of this I agree with and some of this I don't; while technology will continue to improve and is having more of an impact on how people dress, it would never completely take over and be 100% of what everyone wears, and if it was much more interwoven in fashion, then it would be a part of big brands and cost more to manufacture than normal clothes. I have never been ones to spend a lot of money on brands, and my taste has rarely changed in the past however many years I have been dressing myself; I feel like even future me would wear relatively plain and simple clothes, even if fashion did change like that.

I do agree with the notion of 'personal style' being much more important, like it already is now as subcultures are dissolving/meshing together, and style varies greatly even within groups of similar people. Personal style would then emphasis how I see myself or how I would want to be seen - maybe I would dress a little bit smarter and more professional, or maybe I would still go towards comfort and practicality. These are things that I will explore in my designs.