For better or for worse, how is fashion changing in the digital age?

Fashion is authentic, raw, artistic in its foundation. We’ve fallen in love with visions moving from their original form as sketches in a notepad, to carefully embroidered things of beauty. ‘How can a computer possibly mimic this?’ you may be wondering.

‘Fashion needs a platform that plugs creative design into the supply chain painlessly and without designers having to change the way they work,’ says Remo Gettini, Chief Technology Officer at Depop. ‘They shouldn’t be asked to drop their manual design and illustration techniques in favour of a mouse and keyboard. We can’t present them with the same tools as we do with automotive, aerospace and architecture. It won’t work.’

So, what’s the solution to this notion that technology might not have the same human appeal as traditional methods? Essentially, it needs to seem as though the technology isn’t there during the design process. That, alternatively, it leaves an impression of the work as better, more refined, and – most importantly – easier to create; without making designers feel like they’ve lost their touch along the way. So, yes, the transition is necessary – but not in the way that you might initially think. ‘Human-centricity is the key to digital success,’ says Gettini, and he’s right. Technology needs to be introduced as a positive addition, not an isolated project or something that threatens creativity.

The answer? 3D printed designs. With the power to provide on-demand-fashion in a much more sustainable way than the current mode of overproduction which inexorably involves the manufacture of deadstock items, it’s the future. Although the penchant for painstaking, hand-drawn designs still dominates amongst creative directors and senior designers, it’s progressively making its way into fashion as a means of cutting down on material waste and eliminating irresponsible sampling, with designers like Iris Van Herpens at the helm.

Lately, the use of 3D printing (building a three-dimensional object from a computer aided design by successively adding material layer by layer) in the fashion industry has been increasing dramatically because it generates no waste, it only uses what’s necessary. Also referred to as ‘additive manufacturing,’ that’s exactly what it is: an addition to, rather than complete alteration of the process. It’s not taking over, it’s simply improving upon it, saving fashion a great deal of money in development samples, not to mention enhanced productivity and reduced pressure on landfill.

Alongside these irrefutable benefits, it can also significantly expand creative possibilities. Without needing moulds to create shapes anymore, designers can produce elements of ultimate intricacy with high-quality textiles that may otherwise be too fine to use. It’s for this reason that 3D printing would alleviate concerns surrounding the integration of the human and the technical, as it’s both forward thinking and authentic at the same time.

This is just what Van Herpens believes. Her high-tech couture combines 3D-printing with hand-stitching to build strangely gorgeous dresses unlike anything I’ve ever seen before; a brilliant example of how – when done correctly – the unity of fashion and technology can be truly amazing. The pieces in her collection, which are made from laser-cut acrylic mesh, establish her as one of the most consequential and innovative fashion designers of the 21st century, an embodiment of the relationship between maker and machine. She is proving to the world that artisanal craftsmanship can be united with the most forward-looking technology because – in the words of Karl Lagerfeld – ‘even if you don’t like the idea: technology rules the world because it changed the world.’

I acknowledge that it’s been a somewhat ‘shock to the system,’ this intersection between something that was completely alien to us mere decades ago and an industry so symbolic of culture and history, but it’s already the beginning of the new normal.

And I don’t think it’s going to be much longer before every designer is clamouring to get their hands on the same technology that Van Herpens has been using for years. The world has changed and so too, must fashion.