There is no doubt that our society is defined by ever-changing fashion trends, but does STEM have anything to do with this? As a Vogue subscriber myself, I am happy to say the answer is yes.
In terms of fashion design, companies have improved their clothing with new technologies of their own. One of my favorites, as someone who has lived in New England all her life, is the Omni-Heat technology from Columbia Sportswear. The technology consists of silver spots inside the clothing that reflect and circulate your body heat, allowing you to keep warm even with a less bulky jacket. This technology doesn't come from thin air, obviously. A team of scientists and engineers designed and developed this.
Other examples of scientists designing and developing fashion are Adidas' Boost athletic shoe technology and Nike's Dri-Fit technology. Other technologies, such as nanowhiskers (extremely small crystals), allow companies like Lululemon to launch clothing with "anti-bacterial" fabric.
Mark Liu from The Conversation says, "Fashion is a unique blend of business, science, art, and technology." He hits many points on this, saying that launching a fashion brand requires business skills and that strong math skills are needed to be financially literate. Delving more into the science side, he talks about how fabrics are dependent on materials science and how dying textiles is a process that resembles carbon chemistry.
You can read his article here: Why STEM subjects and fashion design go hand in hand (theconversation.com)
Like any teenager, I have TikTok, and one of the accounts that has caught my eye recently is @lilengineerthatcould. She is a software engineer who travels the world and makes videos of her beautiful life, but she also talks about how she almost failed a math class in college and has come a long way from then. Besides being inspiring, I love her page because she talks about her work: combining engineering and fashion.
She analyzes runway collections using software she designs, and she shares it with others. Her website, Data, But Make it Fashion — Shop what's (objectively) in style (fashionabledata.com), shows many fashion trends, stating either the percentage of collections they appear in or the percentage increase in their popularity. In fact, clicking on the images of each trend brings you to the site of the item to buy it.
I loved her reasons for shopping using data that she listed on her website. There are always "fast-fashion" trends that come as quickly as they go, but many people fall victim to buying these items. Personally, I love statement pieces, but I also focus on investing in clothes that I will wear for a long time. Made Lapuerta, I found her name is, talks about how her data allows people to invest in timeless pieces while also investing in beautiful high-fashion-inspired pieces that don't cost a fortune.
My favorite thing that she wrote on her site, however, was this: "Buying clothing is a big deal. Trust the purchases you make, because while style is subjective, data isn't." She really has fashion down to a science (no pun intended), and graciously shares her data with the world. Her reach extends through her Instagram, @databutmakeitfashion, and the articles she posts on her blog, which is right on her website.
However, my favorite piece of media of hers, which is currently on my Amazon wish list, is her book. "The Little Book of Big Fashion Data: Edition II, Spring/Summer 2021" talks about fashion trends from a data analysis perspective. Containing graphs and illustrations, it picks apart the top 17 high-fashion runways of the season, using Python code. As someone who knows Python and loves fashion, I would love to read this book and look at the software engineering she did.
Just reading the sample on Amazon, the book seems both aesthetically pleasing and intellectually stimulating, so I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more.
(All images are taken from the Amazon sample and are copyrighted)
Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you return soon for more posts. I am looking to incorporate writing from other writers in the coming weeks, so stay tuned and thank you for reading.
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