Team Members
Michaela Larosse
Nirmala Shome
Short summary of your improvement idea
Create an open source resource/ toolkit for how to create a digital first fashion label. This approach will allows a label to be blockchain native and community driven to help address the gross inefficiencies in the fashion industry around waste and unethical worker conditions.
The fashion system is broken; locked into a cycle of mass producing garments that deplete natural resources as they ultimately make their way to landfill. Itâs a model built on gross inefficiencies, devised nearly 200 years ago for a society that no longer exists.
Young designers enter this toxic paradigm with little awareness of the burgeoning digital-only fashion industry, and its focus on non-physical garments that utilise tech and web3 tools as a means to improve the entire fashion experience, from creation, to wearing, and the concept of ownership.
What is the existing target protocol you are hoping to improve or enhance?
The current protocol to launch a fashion label that has led to an industry optimised for monopoly luxury fashion or fast fashion.
Devil Wears Prada breaks it down well.
What is the core idea or insight about potential improvement you want to pursue?
Fashion labels are created with the assumption of a sole auteur at their helm directing the aesthetic and defining collections. They operate within a system that demands a constant seasonal output and unsustainable production practices that optimise for even greater waste and value depletion.
Our protocol proposes to shift this thinking by demonstrating that a digital-first, collaborative fashion label will radically improve the industry, by involving the fashion audience in the creation of collections and rewarding participation that also builds value after point of sale.
Our research will focus on these key areas:
- Digital first design processes that avoid wasteful prototyping and sampling processes
- Blockchain native to provide traceability, provenance but also a novel loyalty social creds system that will allow products to retain value after sale
- Participatory and community driven to help ensure demand and supply meet, enable emotional ownership of the process and rewards conscious behaviours that are digital native
- Enabling positive and diverse identity expression through digital clothing
What is your discovery methodology for investigating the current state of the target protocol?
Desk research
- Historical review of how current fashion industry protocols emerged (i.e. cycles, production processes, rituals such as Shows, commercial structures, fashion weeks, seasonal collections etc)
- Review of the recent examples of digital on chain fashion to create a comprehensive overview of the scene and best practicies
Field Interviews
Traditional and idependant brands on how traditional labels operate and challenges they face
(i.e. Tommy Hilfiger, H&M)
Independent Creators that are doing digital first/ web3 native
- Stephy Fung
- SYKY
- G Money - 9DCC
- Jeff Staple - Stapleverse
- KIKI WORLD - co created beauty brand
- IYK - Off the shelf on chain NFC platform
- d_archive
Educators working in the field at
- Central Saint Martins
- Instituto Marangoni
- Parsons
- CLO3D
Tech platforms participating in the digital fashion space
- Roblox
- Unreal Engine
- Epic Games
- Spatial
- Decentraland
In what form will you prototype your improvement idea?
Open source Toolkit and resources for adopting multiplayer/ participatory labels. The final contents of the toolkit will be determined from the research but may include avatar files, 3D files, patterns, NFT templates and guides on process, interviews with experts. See Virgil Ablohâs How to Start a Label resource.
How will you field-test your improvement idea?
- Seed the tool kit to 3 - 4 emerging fashion creators for them to create a small capsule collection
- Gather feedback
- Depending on interest and results run a more open activation on a platform like Joyn.
Who will be able to judge the quality of your output? Ideally name a few suitable judges.
- The Fashion Innovation Agency
- British Fashion Council
- Maghan McDowell, Tech Editor, Vogue
- Cathy Hackl, CEO, Spatial Dynamics
How will you publish and evangelize your improvement idea?
Open source tool kit and report on findings published online and shared. We can also organise live streams with fashion schools and communities.
What is the success vision for your idea?
- That emerging designers and existing labels adopt these protocols and shift the industry to become more sustainable, diverse and ethical
- That this will just the first of many open source releases that will help build the foundation of the new fashion industry. That we will inspire the next Virgil Abloh, Vivienne Westwood to step up and shape a more sustainable and equitable fashion industry.
This proposal is a draft and weâd love to hear feedback before final deadline. Thankyou!
