What is fashion? It’s the way we’ve communicated for thousands of years. From the chiseled decor of body armor, face paint, hairstyles to pants and shoes; even clothing texture indicated rank and authority.
We as humans have somehow found a way to use fashion to separate ourselves from each other while in many ways uniting certain tribes and groups.
For the greater part of history, fashion has always involved the human spirit. From the dying and weaving of hemp to skinning vicious tigers and bears for their hide, there has always been a human presence. With integration of machines, factories and monotonous cheap human labor; we are less connected with our clothing.
We’ve handed the idea of fashion over to large corporations and pay them for the peices of fashion they produce. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I just don’t have time to make my own clothes; nor do I care to. Therefore time will be a huge factor in the future of fashion.
Fashion is becoming smarter with shoes that automatically tie themselves, watches that give you updates other than the time and optical glasses that also do the same with features such as virtual reality.
We’re seeing the rise of smart fabrics such as Heat-tech which keeps us warm with less, pretty soon we’re going to have pants that automatically tighten and tell us our waist sizes and shirts that measure our blood pressure and sugar levels.
SAVING MORE TIME
Everything about smart fashion simply trickles down to saving more time. As humans we care about time, our families and the love for our work and what we do. Which is why Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg paved the way and made it cool to wear the same things everyday.
It saves time, it’s effective in that it gives us more time to do the work we love without having to go through the friction of figuring out what to wear. While suits are still in, the rise of millionaire CEOs in Silicon Valley wearing sweatpants and sneakers are overwhelming and have changed the game forever.
FASHION IN THE YEAR 2030
I picture fashion in 2030 to be modern, sleek and simple; with the rise of global warming, we’re going to wear less and not look so bulky in clothing. I would be very angry if my Uniqlo sweater or track jacket didn’t have a sewn in charger for my phone or optical smart glasses.
I also foresee periods of rebellion years ahead; the hipsters of tomorrow are going to be romantic about how fashion used to be 10–30 years ago and borrow some ideas from the past, mixing it in with the new and smart fashion technology. Some might not even partake in the new festivities, but the majority will because it will save them more time.
Though fast and affordable fashion is here to stay; as well as the internet, how are we going to differentiate ourselves from the different castes in society? The same way we always have; by the things we as humans care about, we will continue to be defined by the things we do for ourselves and society.
We will continue to be defined by the words we say and the actions we take. The people who will wear simple, smart human fashion will be able to focus on more human things such as family, religion, sports, and creating art in all aspects.
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I believe fashion will make everyones lives much easier; I’m excited for the future of fashion and trends. What stays the same is that humans will continue to be humans. I’m hoping that we will continue to focus on things that matter to us.
written by -Kevin Nguyen
Photographer- Zeke Maxwell
