Reusable and circular products will be prominent for years to come and the cost benefits of circularity are also gaining attention; the application of technology in proactive product processes and practices development is already in place in many organisations and outcomes are expected to refashion how we live our lives
Technology has transformed the whole world in the recent past, and human life is no exception.The world we live in now is completely different to the world that existed just two or three decades ago. The speed of technological evolution has increased to the point of doubling every six months. The world, in every aspect, keeps getting updated every day.
With this serious and rapid change of technology in many aspects of our lives, how humans interact and connect with technology has now become very significant, and more crucial than ever. Physically, psychologically, and socially, our appearances, our routines, and how we view and experience our lives are shaped by technology.
This technological revolution is chiefly shaped by Generation Y (those born between 1982 and 1994) and who are commonly called “Millennials” or “digital natives”. Even though they were not born into technology, their lives have migrated from analogue to digital and now, technology is an integral part of their everyday lives. Their basic necessities of human life – food, clothing, and shelter – have advanced with technology as well as their emotional needs. The technological revolution and the Generation Y consumer has transformed the face of many industries; chief among them the fashion industry, from the rise of fast fashion to the growing movement of sustainable fashion with e-commerce and digital marketing and social media thrown into the mix.
Brunch spoke with Dr. Sumith Gopura from the University of Moratuwa Department of Textile and Apparel Engineering for a new perspective on how the social and cultural aspects of fashion interlace with technology. Dr. Gopura shared that despite Generation Y’s immersion in technology (like how they consume adverts from the moment they wake) in their busy lives, there are still some aspects of sustainability that have been detached from socio-cultural and environmental perspectives of human life.
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"Profile and content creation has been made easier with the synthetic media revolution and so, as fashioning the future goes, these new creative possibilities allow brands to expand their scope of storytelling and engage with more potential consumers" Dr. Sumith Gopura[/caption]
How would you say technology has impacted us, especially Generation Y, on a social and cultural level?
The last decade has seen increased social isolation due to the shift from physical to digital interaction. The trope of “connected but alone”. The pandemic has immeasurably strengthened this, and has reshaped how people communicate and express their feelings. Technology has extended emotional expression beyond language and physical gestures, towards a more direct and what appears to be a universal medium through digital platforms, enabling people across the globe to effectively express their true emotional state, avoiding the possibility of being misunderstood or excluded.
Brands are responding to this emotional digital presence, and are reconnecting with consumers on an emotional level allowing them to express their feelings, while the tech companies are rejuvenating the digital identities of consumers.
During lockdown, human relationships have also turned out to be techno-driven and the dating apps have emerged as an ideal substitute to physical interactions, providing safe platforms for finding human connection, romance, and love. Traditional human lifestyles were changed drastically where VR (virtual reality) replaced many things. Increasing digital literacy due to the pandemic resulted in cross-generational adoption of technology with blurred boundaries of age and gender. In fact, the pandemic which compelled human beings to change, bridged the gaps between generations regarding digital literacy.
How would you define the values of Generation Y versus other generations like Generation Z when it comes to technology?
The differences in the values, beliefs, and opinions between different generations of people are heavily influenced by technology. Generation Z, (those born after 1995) with tablets and smartphones under their arms, are superiors in technology with it being embedded to their DNA from birth.
The generation gap between Generation Y and Generation Z is often reflected through the tendency for the usage and familiarity towards technological devices. For example, the evolution of technology aligned to different generations can be better understood when we look at the journey of books from paper to laptop to palmtop, with paper being replaced by digital books which are more accessible. The element of physical touch and senses have, in many, been forgotten with virtual settings taking over, which have their own pros and cons.
What are the biggest changes to fashion because of technology and the pandemic?
While the perception of fashion has significantly improved with global connectivity, particularly during the recent past, in reality, because of the pandemic, there have been limited changes of late because of the mobility restrictions of the pandemic. As many research and trend directions in this sector highlight, there are few key areas expected to drive future fashion directions. One key area is proactive products, processes, and practices that are improving the world and quality of human life, protecting biodiversity, equity, and social justice. Reusable and circular products will be prominent for years to come and the cost benefits of circularity are also gaining attention; the application of technology in proactive product processes and practices development is already in place in many organisations, and outcomes are expected to refashion how we live our lives.
Fashion is a product of time and reflects the time it is in. When we think about past decades, diverse fashion identities emerged due to the dramatic changes of consumer lifestyles across that generation and decade. Fashion in the digital age was given a whole new perspective and acceleration when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The world has been navigating the pandemic through different new normals since early 2020, redefining and rethinking the traditional outlooks of daily life – be it work or leisure.
The digitalisation of fashion during the pandemic can be explained in two folds. One, from a social aspect, as consumers react and interact with fashion brands in new ways of engaging, and two, from a business aspect, as fashion brands change their ways of representation and sales execution. In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) has powered sales in (VR) platforms and has also been a stimulus for the ongoing rethinking of fashion in the digital era, most of which is enabling experiential consumption.
While fashion stores remain closed or were forced to shut as a result of Covid-19, brands are setting up new avenues of selling. For many, online selling is the best approach. However, with most of the events (and people’s work) going online, consumers had a very limited need of presenting themselves in new attire. New retail channels opened, boosting the importance of customisation and flexible design. The digital representation of self in the form of an avatar has been a new approach. Profile and content creation has been made easier with the synthetic media revolution and so, as fashioning the future goes, these new creative possibilities allow brands to expand their scope of storytelling and engage with more potential consumers.
Consumers moved towards enhancing their digital identities rather than their real appearance in lockdown home offices, especially when it comes to forms of VR clothing for their avatar to wear. This has been a potential and growing market and companies are realising that virtual events can be much more sustainable and cost-effective than real-world ones, and are therefore creating digital content around consumers. This new digital revolution offers brands a chance to communicate with consumers in a cost-effective and more personalised way, but it also holds a dangerous power to blur reality.
What do you anticipate for the future?
These new digital ecosystems created around fashion that are boosted by the pandemic have the consumer reliant on technology and digital services as “online” has turned out to be the “lifeline” for fashion consumers during the pandemic.
Since it has been used and supported for connectivity during hard times in this decade, the rising trend of “responsible fashion” that speaks about sustainability and circularity has a lot to do with the fashion revolution in the digital era to connect products, processes, and practices with people.
In a time when technology has become more important to humans than ever before, the fashion industry now encourages the consumers to take a more responsible and active role in consumption, and stresses for designers and creators to redefine the traditional approaches in production.
"Profile and content creation has been made easier with the synthetic media revolution and so, as fashioning the future goes, these new creative possibilities allow brands to expand their scope of storytelling and engage with more potential consumers" Dr. Sumith Gopura[/caption]
How would you say technology has impacted us, especially Generation Y, on a social and cultural level?
The last decade has seen increased social isolation due to the shift from physical to digital interaction. The trope of “connected but alone”. The pandemic has immeasurably strengthened this, and has reshaped how people communicate and express their feelings. Technology has extended emotional expression beyond language and physical gestures, towards a more direct and what appears to be a universal medium through digital platforms, enabling people across the globe to effectively express their true emotional state, avoiding the possibility of being misunderstood or excluded.
Brands are responding to this emotional digital presence, and are reconnecting with consumers on an emotional level allowing them to express their feelings, while the tech companies are rejuvenating the digital identities of consumers.
During lockdown, human relationships have also turned out to be techno-driven and the dating apps have emerged as an ideal substitute to physical interactions, providing safe platforms for finding human connection, romance, and love. Traditional human lifestyles were changed drastically where VR (virtual reality) replaced many things. Increasing digital literacy due to the pandemic resulted in cross-generational adoption of technology with blurred boundaries of age and gender. In fact, the pandemic which compelled human beings to change, bridged the gaps between generations regarding digital literacy.
How would you define the values of Generation Y versus other generations like Generation Z when it comes to technology?
The differences in the values, beliefs, and opinions between different generations of people are heavily influenced by technology. Generation Z, (those born after 1995) with tablets and smartphones under their arms, are superiors in technology with it being embedded to their DNA from birth.
The generation gap between Generation Y and Generation Z is often reflected through the tendency for the usage and familiarity towards technological devices. For example, the evolution of technology aligned to different generations can be better understood when we look at the journey of books from paper to laptop to palmtop, with paper being replaced by digital books which are more accessible. The element of physical touch and senses have, in many, been forgotten with virtual settings taking over, which have their own pros and cons.
What are the biggest changes to fashion because of technology and the pandemic?
While the perception of fashion has significantly improved with global connectivity, particularly during the recent past, in reality, because of the pandemic, there have been limited changes of late because of the mobility restrictions of the pandemic. As many research and trend directions in this sector highlight, there are few key areas expected to drive future fashion directions. One key area is proactive products, processes, and practices that are improving the world and quality of human life, protecting biodiversity, equity, and social justice. Reusable and circular products will be prominent for years to come and the cost benefits of circularity are also gaining attention; the application of technology in proactive product processes and practices development is already in place in many organisations, and outcomes are expected to refashion how we live our lives.
Fashion is a product of time and reflects the time it is in. When we think about past decades, diverse fashion identities emerged due to the dramatic changes of consumer lifestyles across that generation and decade. Fashion in the digital age was given a whole new perspective and acceleration when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The world has been navigating the pandemic through different new normals since early 2020, redefining and rethinking the traditional outlooks of daily life – be it work or leisure.
The digitalisation of fashion during the pandemic can be explained in two folds. One, from a social aspect, as consumers react and interact with fashion brands in new ways of engaging, and two, from a business aspect, as fashion brands change their ways of representation and sales execution. In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) has powered sales in (VR) platforms and has also been a stimulus for the ongoing rethinking of fashion in the digital era, most of which is enabling experiential consumption.
While fashion stores remain closed or were forced to shut as a result of Covid-19, brands are setting up new avenues of selling. For many, online selling is the best approach. However, with most of the events (and people’s work) going online, consumers had a very limited need of presenting themselves in new attire. New retail channels opened, boosting the importance of customisation and flexible design. The digital representation of self in the form of an avatar has been a new approach. Profile and content creation has been made easier with the synthetic media revolution and so, as fashioning the future goes, these new creative possibilities allow brands to expand their scope of storytelling and engage with more potential consumers.
Consumers moved towards enhancing their digital identities rather than their real appearance in lockdown home offices, especially when it comes to forms of VR clothing for their avatar to wear. This has been a potential and growing market and companies are realising that virtual events can be much more sustainable and cost-effective than real-world ones, and are therefore creating digital content around consumers. This new digital revolution offers brands a chance to communicate with consumers in a cost-effective and more personalised way, but it also holds a dangerous power to blur reality.
What do you anticipate for the future?
These new digital ecosystems created around fashion that are boosted by the pandemic have the consumer reliant on technology and digital services as “online” has turned out to be the “lifeline” for fashion consumers during the pandemic.
Since it has been used and supported for connectivity during hard times in this decade, the rising trend of “responsible fashion” that speaks about sustainability and circularity has a lot to do with the fashion revolution in the digital era to connect products, processes, and practices with people.
In a time when technology has become more important to humans than ever before, the fashion industry now encourages the consumers to take a more responsible and active role in consumption, and stresses for designers and creators to redefine the traditional approaches in production.