Eco-tech Fashion: Rationalizing Technology in Sustainable Fashion

Abstract

At first thought, technology and sustainable fashion might appear to hold contrasting ideals; however, an investigation into technology and sustainable fashion yields complex symbiotic relationships between the two areas. Technology is essentially the prime enabler that allows sustainable fashion to thrive and develop today. The role of technology within the sustainable fashion realm is broken into two main areas: the physical manifestation of sustainable fashion garments, including textiles, and the digital domain. The effects of technology in sustainable fashion are best understood through looking at the work of a technology theoretician, Andrew Feenberg, who advocates for small, but effective, “democratic rationalizations” of technology to achieve positive change.