2041 Fashion tribe: The Rewilding Egalitarians
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Digital designer Harriet Davey and Geraldine Wharry enter a speculative future scene in 2041 involving 2 members of the speculative Rewilding Egalitarian tribe.
What do they think and how did they get to the way they live?
The collaboration has been curated Limbo+Hatch, a trend and talent incubator exploring identity, clothing and creation between the digital and physical, dedicated to celebrating the 3D creators that visualise our preferred futures.
In response to the brief for ‘The Rewilding Egalitarians’ outlined by Geraldine Wharry, as part of a reflection on Future Dress Codes in the 2040s, Limbo+Hatch called on the 3D artist and AR creator, Harriet Davey (also known as Harriet Blend) to interpret their future world and the dress codes.
The next two decades will unleash a future fashion player inhabiting new spaces, identities, skills, utilitarian garments, and materials.
As we hunt for future truths, meet Io (pronounced Eyeo) and Zeidar (pronounced Zaidar) as they have a conversation over a transformed Hampstead Heath in 2041. Zeidar is a former fashion designer. Io is a former marketing director.
The world is far different from 2021 when the sixth assessment report by the IPCC (1) came out.
Within two decades millions of climate refugees had fled coast lines in the USA and California. London was hit with food shortages and floods impacting infrastructure and security. Still, we organised in a mad rush to engineer a new world, more focused on nature, equality, and community.
The Rewilding Egalitarian tribe was born, seeking to survive climate woes, live mindfully and preserve self-expression via new societal roles and landscapes for personal identity.
Zeidar: You look like a warrior. You look like a knight. I mean, what are you? Some kind of legendary character?
Io: Ha. I guess we're all warriors and have been for a while now. Warriors of change.
Zeidar: Change, that big word. Remember the time when it was ‘special’ to be a ‘change maker’ (2), an activist and today that word conjures nothing out of the ordinary.
Io: I know, I know, but we still have our work cut out!
Zeidar: I'm hopeful. I think after everything that has happened, we're living in tune with our planetary resources more now. The world is older and wiser I guess.
Io: Actually this reminds me I need to go and work with the elders today (3). They are helping build a bridge and sharing with the community some of the skills that they learnt back in 2024, when we had those massive floods that took down the millenium bridge in London.
Zeidar: Didn’t you tell me you are also going to celebrate the death of one of the elders and the celebration of their avatar who is going to be elevated to Main being (4)?
Io: Yup that’s right. Between you and me we need to slot in some time for how we're going to dress their new main being … I am not sure the elders’ committee will accept this but as a fashion designer, can you help us with this?
Zeidar: You make me laugh. I do think we need some styling training for our avatars, sometimes they just take it too far. Like I know you’re in the Metaverse (5) but how my digital twin dresses does impact me. Anyways, I have been asked as part of my UBI points to contribute to the training centre for the young and show them how to care for the elders and transition to their digital afterlife and Main being avatar. So maybe I can squeeze in some avatar styling tips in this?? By the way, have you looked into your latest UBI (6) and UBA (7) points? Because they need to stay replenished with what you're doing for the community. Make sure that you've got all of your activities planned. If it’s not with the elders, you could work in the Fashion commons (8), or the Wellbeing Government Hub (9).
Io: Stop nagging me. I know it's all about how we care for our community, and how we are cared for by our community, now that we live off of UBI and UBA. But sometimes it does my head in.
Zeidar: I just want you to stop missing when we had money, Because that's no longer the priority and what is expected from us.
Io: Okay okay okay I just really, really miss when I could just upgrade to the latest iPhone. Remember those days?
Zeidar: Yeah, I remember. I miss it too, but shifting to a frugal life.. I still feel rich. I can be a fashion designer, a farmer, a community worker, I've never been this happy. I am not constantly thinking about what I should buy next to feel relevant. That feels good.
Io: Fashion can actually save lives now. Knowing that my uniforms get up-cycled into baby incubators (10)…. And… my next suit is being custom printed and calibrated to my latest biometrics…. [gestures her mind blowing with her hands]. My dr needs to balance my oestrogen, so my suit will be releasing more of it for me. I am counting the days.
Zeidar: I kinda want to rescan my suit now, but for different reasons. Some of the data in my smart fibers I want to switch to private. I know I won’t get the shine I love on our uniforms anymore if the data sharing is switched off… Anyways this is a conversation I'm having with my data pod manager (11).
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Io: Data data data. Listen… I have other things on my mind though I need to talk to you about. The grains I planted on our rooftop are growing but I'm really not convinced. So I was talking to Irina, who has been developing textiles from unsuccessful crops, and then reusing them for filters in buildings. She told me about a pilot program where we can sell unsuccessful crops to be re-used as energy fuel for the neighbourhood.
Zeidar: Oh really, I thought that they were powering mainly with fungi (12)? Well it's cool if they can fuel the hood with what we haven't been able to harvest. But… how are we going to feed ourselves? Why haven’t you talked to me about your concerns earlier? This is not the only food that we eat but it has become pretty important…
Io: I was looking into solutions... I ordered an open-source sneaker from Hypebeast x Nike (13), the seed spreader for city farming. Our neighbour convinced me to focus on a few grains and I never should have listened. From the algorithm built in these sneakers, we could ensure we have a biodiverse balance of crops. There’s been rave reviews. I just need time to build the sneaker at the local fab lab but it shouldn’t take more than 4 hours on the 3d printer.
Zeidar: Ok but that can’t be our only option. We should focus on our indoor growers if there’s a risk our crops will fail. They generally have a higher yield.
Io: This all sounds like a lot. Your fashion designer seasonal job is starting again in two months and that gives you very little time to help me set up the indoor grow beds.
Zeidar: I'm not starting my fashion design job in two months, I'm starting my community teaching job in two months. I'll be doing that for four months and then after that, I'll be starting the fashion design job. I'll be teaching about running a materials community collection centre fully transparently. And I’m even already thinking… a year from now, I want to focus more on seaweed farming (14), What do you think?
Io: For now, can you just focus on making sure you have the correct farming equipment from Nike x Hypebeast? And then, if you get into the Ocean farming program, Adidas also has gear for that… But later!
Zeidar: Got it… But Io, promise me we will talk about the crops before we have these issues next time. I was thinking next year maybe we focus more on growing flowers on the roof top. Not sure if the building committee will approve … But Pangaia needs a higher supply of flowers (15) now that this is a key material, in exchange for UBA points,so they might like that incentive.
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Io: I was actually thinking… Not sure you will like this as it seems you want me more focused on the farming… But I miss being a marketing manager, just managing things with people more. So I was thinking next year of applying for the manager role at the local Fab Lab (16). They said in exchange they will look after our rooftop field twice a week, and help me understand avoid the same mistakes of banking too much on one crop.
Zeidar: That sounds like a possibility.
Io: The other day there was a documentary on summer 2029 playing on tv, about the global heatwaves that caused a massive tree extinction. I felt emotional, it was like reliving it. I'm just so happy that we have been working towards a city where nature is thriving. Some of the footage also showed all of our plastic trash at the bottom of the Thames which had dried up (18). Remember? And now it's just beautiful.
Zeidar: I was so scared. I was so scared of what was happening to our world. And even though we don't have the same ability to buy things easily… Now, we can make them and we have all we need.
Io: I'm so happy that we can sometimes barely distinguish the trees from the buildings today (17 & 17b), and that we are just much more in tune with the natural rhythms of the seasons. Did you see that we kind of had a normal Spring this year? Things have started to bounce back.
Zeidar: I think everything we worked so hard for is finally paying off. So that we can perhaps even see a bit of snow this winter.
Io: It's been really hard work. And we've made a lot of sacrifices.
Zeidar: It's been so much hard work farming in the city (19) but… I don't miss designing clothes and collections all the time. I'm quite happy with working more in the community. If only my father knew I am also a farmer now. Back in the 90s he got a degree in organic farming and then continued on with his art practice. I guess I’m following in his footsteps.
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Io: I know, the things we lost and things we gained… Nowadays I get my shot of “fashion pleasure” with my digital twin.
Zeidar: We have to consider ourselves fortunate. We can physically or digitally access the world today. And we are finally starting to restore our natural eco-systems.
Io: Yeah. Do you remember the time when our entire building was refitted?
Zeidar: Yeah. When the mayor decided that London had to be fully fit for materials collection with sorting and drop off points and we had to ensure they were connected to all these new fab labs that were being built. That was such a mind-fuck for the fashion brand I was working for at the time, they had to completely rethink the way they did business and their supply chain. I couldn’t believe it when the government ordered them to fund my hours in the 1st local fab lab.
Io: That time was a lot of work, adapting.
Zeidar: I know, and the governmental order to produce less meant it wasn’t necessary to be a full time fashion designer anymore. All these other jobs were created. I guess I thought about farming as an idealistic way of life, but there were times when the crops were all failing, especially when we didn't have enough rain, enough insect life and the pollution levels were still too high. Never mind working with a new building committee managing the roof farming that was ordered city wide.
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Io: Yeah, I remember those very first building committees, where we had to decide how to function as a community… the farming in and on the building, collecting materials, sharing utility bills.
Zeidar: That was a bit of a mess, but we did it.
Io: Yeah, that's right. You know I was thinking about this the other day, remember this project that you had around multifunctional clothing (20) that had multiple lives with detachable parts, and how your design manager shot the idea down... And look at what we are wearing now!
Zeidar: Lol. I was banging on about rewilding fashion at the time (21). It's pretty amazing what we've achieved. I never thought that would be possible as we were such a destructive industry. We've rewilded it, the culture, the tech, the business and the way we dress.
Io: I think sometimes it’s even gone too far. I mean, now my sleeve talks to my shoe and tells it when it needs to get repaired. And then on top of that, I've got my digital twin avatar telling me that the outfit I'm wearing is not quite working today.
Zeidar: Mine did that the other day. I just kept getting these notifications from my digital twin that they're not happy with what I'm wearing. Too much.
Io: Ever since smart clothing integrated social media, I'm just like this is a bit much.
Zeidar: At least our clothing and our digital twin can have their own community. They store memories, and I personally enjoy seeing the experiences they have when I check in. It just makes me feel that, even if my detachable uniform can sometimes get repetitive and I miss changing outfits more regularly, my life is rich in other ways now.
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Image source: Harriet Davey @harriet.blend
Io: I also feel less judged in our uniform, further away from labels and the slavery of cool. At least we’ve been able to customise detachable parts and pockets. Your vest and tool holders are a bit different from mine and everyone else’s, they are personal.
Zeidar: That’s true. Less labels. I’m even relieved I don’t have this ‘Fashion designer” label anymore. Not only the way I dress has been rewilded, my job too! I never dreamt I would be someday planning my ocean farming training.
Io: When I met you Zeidar you were always in the immediacy of things. Now I can’t stop you thinking about the future.
Zeidar: It’s true. I have adapted. I am always thinking about the future because look at how short sighted we were, I was. And now, we can appreciate what we have rebuilt. But we can also appreciate the consequences of the decisions we make.
Io: You know what, I love what you just said. And it makes me think that maybe when I pass on and my digital Main being takes over…. I'm wondering, do I want to be styled like a knight, like I am today? Or do I want to become a mythical creature whose role it is to retell the stories of how we rewilded the world and made it a more equitable place (22)?
Zeidar: I want others to remember, you’re right. Let's think about it. I like the idea.
Text: Geraldine Wharry - All rights reserved 2021 copyright
Visuals: Harriet Davey - All rights reserved 2021 copyright
Curation: Limbo & Hatch
Limbo+Hatch has also curated a conversation between Trend Atelier and Harriet Davey at the intersection of technology, identity, and climate action which you can watch here on our IG live channel.
Research References
(1) the sixth assessment report by the IPCC https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
(2) ID magazine IG post https://www.instagram.com/p/CScLFF9nwGn/
(3) Long Slide Looms for World Population, With Sweeping Ramifications – New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/world/global-population-shrinking.html
(4) Will the next decade bring us life after death? Dazed beauty https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/body/article/47212/1/artificial-intelligence-griefbots-life-after-death-afterlife-digital-immortality
(5) Meta Societies – Wunderman Thompson https://www.wundermanthompson.com/insight/metasocieties
(6) Germany just got a universal basic income, and nobody noticed https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/germany-just-got-a-universal-basic-income-and-nobody-noticed-164b67439d5c
(7) Universal Basic Assets - A manifesto for a more equitable future Institute for the Future - https://www.iftf.org/uba
(8) Re-imagining Fashion as an Ecosystem of Commons by David Bollier http://www.bollier.org/blog/re-imagining-fashion-ecosystem-commons
(9) Wellbeing Economy Alliance https://weall.org/
(10) EPISODE 3: JANE CHEN Jane is the CEO & co-founder of Embrace, a social enterprise that creates low-cost baby products including an incubator that has saved over 300,000 newborn infants worldwide. https://youtu.be/4fkFm-aBbdo
(11) Big names have signed up to Tim Berners-Lee’s new data ‘pod’ platform - Silicon Republic https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/tim-berners-lees-inrupt-solid-server-nhs-bbc
(12) Powering buildings with mushrooms: New Mumbai by Tobias Revell https://cargocollective.com/tobiasrevell/New-Mumbai
(13) Nike’s ISPA philosophy: Improvise. Scavenge. Protect. Adapt. https://www.nike.com/gb/nikelab/ispa
(14) Regenerative Ocean Farming - waitlist with Greenwave https://www.greenwave.org/become-a-farmer
(15) Pangaia’s Flower Down FLWRDWN™ Biobased Fibers https://thepangaia.com/pages/flowerdown
(16) Fab Lab Barcelona https://fablabbcn.org/
(17) Rewilding cities for resilience – Arup https://www.arup.com/perspectives/rewilding-cities-for-resilience
(17b) Setting aside half the Earth for 'rewilding': the human question The Ecologist https://theecologist.org/2015/sep/09/setting-aside-half-earth-rewilding-human-question
(18) Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity' BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58130705
(19) Regen Villages https://regenvillages.com/
(20) Multi-functional clothing as the future of conscious fashion: in conversation with designer Irina Dzhus https://www.geraldinewharry.com/getinspired/thefutureofconsciousfashion-irinadzhus
(21) Rewilding trend forecasting https://mailchi.mp/geraldinewharry/rewilding-trend-forecasting
(22) The more equitable Future starts with imagination – Walker arts https://walkerart.org/magazine/marina-gorbis-the-more-equitable-future-begins-in-the-imagination
