Fashion trends: where the fashion industry is heading

For a long time, fashion was mainly about price and design. Today, many people also ask what clothing is made of, where it was sewn and what happens to it after it has been worn. Here are the developments currently shaping the industry, and what they mean for you.

Buying less, but more deliberately

Slow fashion and minimalism

Slow fashion is the alternative to collections that change every few weeks. The idea: fewer pieces, but well made and worn for a long time. This goes hand in hand with the trend towards simple, timeless designs that can be combined across seasons. A capsule wardrobe is the logical way to put this into practice.

Second-hand and vintage

Second-hand clothing has long since shed its niche image. Online marketplaces, vintage shops and clothes swap parties make it easy to give pieces a second life. For many, it's also a question of style: second-hand brings one-offs into your wardrobe.

Repair and upcycling

Repair services, sewing classes and upcycling projects are becoming more visible. Old fabrics are turned into new designs, and a patched elbow is no longer seen as a flaw.

What's happening with materials

The choice of materials is one of the biggest levers in textile production. Some developments:

• Organic natural fibres: organic cotton and organic linen are grown without synthetic pesticides, without chemical-synthetic fertilisers and without genetically modified seed. Standards such as GOTS or OCS verify the organic content.
• Wood-based fibres: TENCEL™ Lyocell and TENCEL™ Modal as well as LENZING™ ECOVERO™ are branded fibres from Lenzing AG made from wood cellulose. According to the manufacturer, Lyocell is produced in a process in which the solvent is largely recirculated in a closed loop.
• Recycled fibres: recycled polyester, such as REPREVE®, is made from PET bottles, among other things. GRS and RCS verify the recycled content. More on this in our article on recycled materials.
• New materials: researchers and start-ups are working on alternatives, such as leather substitutes made from pineapple leaves or mushroom mycelium. Many of them are not yet available on a large scale.

Designing for circularity

Ecodesign means thinking right from the design stage about how long a product will last, whether it can be repaired and what happens to the material at the end. In fashion, this shows up for example as:

• Zero-waste patterns: patterns that create as little offcut waste as possible.
• Single-fibre materials: a fabric made from just one type of fibre is easier to recycle than a blend.
• Repairability: sturdy seams, spare buttons and parts that can be replaced.
• Production on demand: smaller runs or made-to-order production, so that less is left over.

New rules and more transparency

Politics is also driving change. The EU has adopted rules intended to make clothing more durable, easier to recycle and more traceable:

• Clear statements: general environmental promises without proof are no longer allowed. Labels must be based on verified schemes.
• Separate collection: used textiles are to be collected separately in the EU so that more of them are reused or recycled.
• Digital product passport: the plan is for textiles to come with digital information on material, origin and repair in future, accessible via a QR code, for example.

For you, this means: specific information is becoming the standard. Even today, it's worth looking at the material, certificate and place of production. At ORGANICATION, the "Production" tab on the product page of each item states which certificate applies; production takes place in Izmir, Turkey. We explain what the terms around conscious fashion mean in our guide to fashion terms.

Technology in the supply chain

Digital tools help to document supply chains and plan fabrics more precisely. These include 3D designs that partly replace physical samples, and systems that make it possible to trace a fibre's journey from harvest to finished piece. How quickly such solutions will catch on remains to be seen.

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