Name: Mehr Un Nisa Javed
Professor: Nimrah Syed
Date: 26th Feb’2019
Reading Response:
Sarah Scaturro argues in her article “Eco-Tech Fashion: Rationalizing Technology in Sustainable Fashion” (Fashion Theory, Vol.12) that if we want more of sustainable fashion then we need more incorporation of Technology. Scaturro shows that the ” “technology can be envisaged negatively as a hierarchical deterministic force driving consumption and commoditization, thus leading our environment into an inequitable stasis, disembodying us from our natural world, which leads us to question the authentic qualities of living in a technocratic society”. The negative view about the usage of technology can be considered as “ecocentric” and the opposing opposite of it is termed “techno-centric”. It is argued by Scaturro that “balancing the dismay regarding the role current technologies play in the fast fashion system alternate belief that the right technologies, when selectively developed and applied, can play an integral role in the growth of sustain- able fashion”. This shows that we need to develop such technology which would benefit but at the same time we must keep its cons in mind.
According to Scaturro, the role of technology in sustainable fashion is broken into two main categories: the physical manifestation and the digital part. The digital part focuses more upon the usage of Internet for sustainable fashion and leads to more aware consumptions. For example, more usage of websites like Taobao which offer ecological and ethical and ecological goods for people.
This shows that Scaturro believes that the eco-tech based fashion is a great way for pushing the sustainable fashion industry forward. I really agree with her idea as well and believe that it would be a great replacement for the old-school fashion industry by creating some effective communication and compromises between all the people involved in the garments production cycle i.e. retailer, manufacturers, consumers, designers and researchers.