In February 2022 I had the opportunity to be interviewed for the Future Tense podcast by ABC Australia to discuss the future of fashion in a fast changing world, and share my knowledge as a fashion futurist with a focus on sustainability and the boundaries of ethical futures.

Future tense is hosted by Antony Funnell who is a Walkley Award winning journalist and broadcaster. It takes a critical look at our shape-shifting world and how we're learning to adapt to new technologies, new approaches and new responses arising from rapid change.

ABC Australia described best the topic of the episode ‘Fashion’s fast future’:

Fashion is no longer du jour – of the day – it’s of the second. Online platforms are using real-time data and analytics to micro-target what we buy and what we wear.

At best, it’s a form of hyper-personalisation, matching people to their clothing preferences. At worst, it risks turbo-charging our already fast fashion industry. But there are also efforts underway to rein-in the waste and make fabrics from more environmentally-friendly materials.

Antony and I discussed bio materials and the future of fashion. I was honoured to be speaking alongside:

Julie Boulton – Sustainability development professional, Monash Sustainability Institute

Brad Morris – Founder of the digital fashion house, MYAMI

Meaghan Tobin – E-commerce reporter, Rest of World

Louise Matsakis – Tech reporter, NBC News

In terms of my big ideas around the Future of Fashion, a big umbrella topic! Where do we even begin? I didn’t have a chance to mention all of my thoughts during the podcast interview. But below are my notes pre-recording, pulled from my future forecasting work, macro trends insights, as well as the behavioural shifts I think are needed.

It is a confusing, uncertain, and scary time in the world and fashion is a mirror of society. There are calls for the fashion system and cog wheels of our supply chain system to change. This is what is mainly on my radar: systems change.

There are also calls for our modes of consumptions to change, and the way we have created a culture of obsolescence and convenience. We have been complicit in the throwaway economy as designers.

Today, innovators in fashion who are always an indicator of where things are heading are focusing on:

• how to have a brand without making clothes. Think wearable art, made to order clothing, digital clothing

• how to have brands as decentralised communities.

• how to manufacture locally.

• models such as Degrowth are also gaining traction

Where there is a big disconnect is with the growth model of capitalism, which is not compatible with the parameters of the climate crisis and population increase.

Brands need to learn how to be profitable without making more ‘stuff’. And many are not yet accepting this reality. It requires systems change thinking and the fashion supply chain is so global and complex many do not know where to start.

The big challenge is often that sustainable clothing is not affordable. As part of a ‘better future making mindset’, which is something I talk a lot about, ecological propositions and solutions should be accessible for all. We may even see the rise of lab grown materials at home.

When I talk about ‘Future making mindset’ it is referring to an approach that it is less about predicting the future now and more about creating it. And hopefully a better version of it.

When it comes to fashion, we are only experiencing the very beginning of a revolution of how fashion, culture and commerce thrive.

It is one that involves more resilience, more creativity, adaptability.

We are more than an industry, we produce desire, drama, dreams. We are intimately connected with personal identity, yet we are also one of the key cogwheels of commerce, as one of the largest employers in the world. Figures show 1 in 6 out of people in the world with on Fashion.

Therefore we have a great ability to adapt. But the future of fashion is only as strong as how well we can face our own demons.

By Fashion Futurist Geraldine Wharry