The next industrial revolution will transform the fashion industry

The next industrial revolution is set to transform the fashion industry, at least according to New York-based FashionTechLabs Venture Inc, or better known as FTL.

FTL is a venture capital fund and accelerator that helps new technologies and sustainable innovations connect, collaborate and create products and brands to evolve the fashion industry and help reduce its social and environmental footprint.

Biotech, nanotechnology, tech textiles and wearable tech

Focusing on biotech, nanotechnologies, tech textiles, and wearable tech, what some of the latest technology can do is create fabrics made from orange peels, or a fabric made from milk protein which feels like the softer cashmere. Then there are lab-mined diamonds, grown under carbon heat to be technically identical to the real thing but which can grow up to 16 carats in two weeks.

The idea is that luxury fabrics can be created using leading technologies, without polluting or robbing the earth of its natural resources.

The idea is not so farfetched, as luxury brands are already experimenting introducing technological fabrics in limited, capsule collections. Italian luxury house Salvatore Ferragamo, for example, this season launched a capsule range of printed scarves and dresses made in collaboration with Orange Fiber (the peel-recycling company), using a silk-mix manufactured in large part from the recycled fruit, noted the Financial Times.

Technology is also changing clothing and fashion in a more personal way, with the potential to alter the way we buy, use, and design clothes entirely with 3D printing.

Since consumer versions began emerging a few years ago, 3D printers have been heralded as a disruptor of mass manufacturing, and a sea of change for industries from retail to food production.

Gensole, for example, is a platform for designing custom insoles for your shoes, based on measurements or a 3D scan of your foot, then 3D printing them to the exact specifications. It’s an early example of how we may one day customize and print out the items we wear.

Technology has been weaving itself into our clothes for decades, according to Digital Trends, "sometimes so subtly that we simply haven’t noticed, but the connection between them is only getting stronger." Wearable technology was never meant to stop at a smart watch or a fitness band. There is much more to be stitched together.

Photo credit: Electroloom 3D printed fabric swatch