Nearby Fashion
This article seems to be dealing with an outdated story without any doubt. In the title above, ‘nearby’ literally means physical distance. In other words, the distance I would like to talk about in this article is not the psychological distance that people have with clothes, such as intimacy and attachment. Nor does it mean the space between the clothes and the skin. It means closeness in terms of material procurement and production methods.
In a society that produces more than demand for economic efficiency, it is not enough to procure the most economical materials regardless of location, ignoring the limitations of distance and time with overwhelming technology. Fashin industry also, from procurement to production, from the fabric of clothes to the producers of clothes, this economic efficiency is always a premise. Even if you look away from fashion, is there any area where you can deviate from this principle? It seems that people have nothing to focus on except for capital. If this is enough, we need to figure out whether the problem is that there is only one thing to focus on or whether people can only concentrate on one thing. One of the two is probably the root of all problems beyond fashion (or both).
Nevertheless, such a discussion is necessary because we are witnessing in reality what will happen when we run as one team under economic feasibility. A handful of conglomerates have reorganised their famous fashion houses. They incorporated all fashion brands into the industry. In the case of independent designers, each has its standards, but in any case, it is not easy to maintain their studio if it cannot realise its economies of scale. It is like looking at a few vast galleries with famous artists. In addition, the moment people twist in the fashion that people often think of — somewhere between the boundaries of industry and art — all house brands’ products may come up to the auction house. The fashion industry’s time is different from reality, so there is a gap between the product presentation and the actual production time. Therefore, maybe futures could be introduced.
Furthermore, one way or another, since it is a manufacturing industry, it is true that it is impossible to lower the unit price, but waste is waste. (Moreover, it is also an area where automation is not introduced into the production process; this issue also needs to be addressed.) However, it seems that they are producing too much more than the maintenance and development of the brand. In addition, they are also making too much movement. Of course, this would be a reasonable decision under the economic feasibility. Still, it is not quality or rarity, but rather a matter of price, so you can observe that the fabric comes in from abroad and goes back to another country for production. Quality Control is done in their country. The presentation is made in another country. If you watch this flow, you may think the technology has developed too much. Nevertheless, it is not easy to accept when you see a situation where a person is running the sewing machine in the meantime.
People have prioritised economic efficiency as the highest value, but as mentioned above, the end is predictable by looking at the reality that something is going wrong. It has already been confirmed that the best materials do not just guarantee good quality at an affordable price. Of course, the “best” is an unreachable area like “Idea”, but what if it could be the closest thing? This industry really believed that if they could increase the cost-effectiveness to the final consumer, everything would be successful, but it was not. Efficiency is not the master key. Is it a material that can sustain against time without collapsing or rotting? Or is it a unique and novel material that no one has ever used before? It is clear that these two factors were also the values we were pursuing, but how about using materials that are close to us by turning our eyes? There was no choice but to use nearby materials in the past, but now it is no longer necessary, so it is worth looking back again. Material close to me may mean weaving fabric from a plant that shares the exact location with the user and has grown under the same temperature, humidity, and sunlight. It is meaningless if everyone shares the same weather and climate because of climate change. These stories will all be just one of the romantic stories talked about in the past. For chemical/synthetic fibres, the same sunlight in the same place would have any meaning. Still, at least if we collect the waste plastics we have emitted and make recycling fibres, would not we be able to take on some responsibility for our region?
Unfortunately, if you ask if this discussion is taking place during the design phase in the fashion industry, neither is it. It seems very rare to ask how far this fabric has come, from incumbent designers to majoring students in determining the material that cannot be omitted among the factors that determine design, the material of clothes. In the end, materials are still just a modern means of self-expression. In other words, materials are literally materials to express the designer’s design and ideas while still being cut from the surroundings. This industry, which has secured unprecedented diversity in history, is not performing work beyond the extent of making objects that pop out of nowhere without interacting with those around them.
Moreover, since it takes quite a while for true democracy* to come to this industry, experts and students who have secured an absolute position as a designer or director for the time being or who want it will give up their obsession with suitable fabrics or unique shapes in the traditional sense. There should be excluding the economic feasibility of the material and the specificity of the format; the following discussion could be “How much is the distance?” The distance is directly related to whether it was made by people living in the same community as you and whether materials and techniques from your area that existed before you were born and that must have influenced you to form identity were used. We need an opportunity to focus here.
*In case it is possible for people not by profession or who have never received formal training in fashion design to make and wear clothes or participate in the design process.
However, it is by no means a light matter in industry and education to lay down economic feasibility and originality, which are the industry’s way of survival itself, even for a moment. It would be best if you also had a detonator to detonate a bomb. Who is willing and able to become a catalyst?
Muyo Park, 朴無要
instagram@parkmuyo
