This reading was very interesting as it changed my whole perspective on technology and fashion. Whenever I heard these two words together I used to think technology in fashion was something like smart watches or shoes with LEDs. Technology can indeed be part of the fashion garment, but it can also be applied at any stage of the garment life-cycle, since its creation to its disposal. Technology has evolved to create new materials used for the garment, to create new platforms for consumption and to create different ways of recycling. Nonetheless, some of these technological improvements in the fashion industry are not necessarily sustainable. For instance, even though in recent years, more methods to create textiles based on natural fibers such as bamboo, milk, etc, are being employed by companies, they are far from being 100% sustainable, as their production process often requires a lot of energy and the use of chemicals. Therefore these methods do not seem a better choice.
A point in the reading that really surprised me was when Scaturro talks about the use of bioengineered cotton. I was aware of this kind of method being applied to fruits and vegetables, but I had never thought that the clothes I have could be made out of genetically modified cotton. This could have a negative impact in the ecosystems where this cotton is harvested. But as the demand for cotton is so big, people have to come up with new methods in order to meet this demand. The demand is one of the main problems as people consume more and more clothes and even brands and organizations suggest “the acquisition o greener products, rather than suggesting more radical methods in the ideologies of ecofashion, like buying less clothing or wearing garments longer” as Scaturro highlights. A few years ago I used to buy so many clothes, because I wanted to have all types of patterns, colors, etc., even though some of them were not really comfortable. Now I have reduced my consumption and prefer clothes that are both good quality and comfortable. Another problem I have is that some of my clothes need ironing, so most of the time I end up wearing those that do not need, it because I am lazy or because I am in a rush in the morning so I do not have to iron them. Nowadays there are some types of fabrics that barely need ironing like spandex but a lot of shirts for instance are still made out of easily wrinkled fabric, so technology could solve this issue in the future, like many others in the fashion industry