Running head: THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON FASHION

The Impact of Technology on Fashion

Ashlyn Zonca
Madonna University

Abstract
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Technology has had a huge impact on the fashion industry. Technology has allowed
garments to be produced at much faster rates and has allowed garments to be affordable to the
public. New fabrics have been invented to look and feel like the expensive and luxurious fabrics
to allow everyone to be comfortable. Advertisements have also allowed the fashion industry to
generate more sales through the use of commercials on TV as well as magazines, newspapers
and the Internet. Through TV and the Internet, people are able to buy clothes that they see
immediately without having to leave their home. Technology has also given designers aesthetic
inspiration to create new and innovative designs. Social rules on how people should dress have
also become relaxed due to technology. People no longer have to wear formal attire everyday due
to mass production as well as technology creating a more industrial society.

The Impact of Technology on Fashion

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Technology has had a huge impact on the fashion industry for the past 250 years.
Technology is what has helped to expand the industry and make it grow. Fashion and
technology have a fast-paced and continually evolving relationship. Today, the term technofashion is used to refer to a predominantly 21st century phenomenon, but technological
advancements were shaping fashion design and fabrication as early as the mid-eighteenth
century (Elia & McClendon 2010). Technology and fashion have been working together hand in
hand for centuries to make clothing more comfortable and affordable as well as to please the
customer. Through technology in fashion, there have been developments of new fabrics, new
production methods, as well as new inspirations and advertisements.
Technology first really began to have a large impact on the fashion industry during the
Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries (Hill & Weidner 2013). This is when textile
manufacturing revolutionized the fashion industry. Some of these innovations included the
Spinning Jenny, the Jacquard loom, as well as the sewing machine. The Jacquard loom was ten
times faster than hand weaving and the Spinning Jenny mechanized the manufacturing of cotton
thread. This enabled mass production of cotton textiles. The sewing machine allowed garments
to be sewn at much faster rates than by hand. More garments could be produced in a smaller
amount of time.
Mass production has also had a huge impact on the fashion industry. Through the use of
machines to make clothing, more garments could be produced at a much quicker rate. Due to
these machines, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, ready-made garments were gaining
wider acceptance. After World War II, social rules regarding dress also began to relax. Mass
producing clothing created less of a need for formal attire and mass produced clothing was much
simpler and more suited the lifestyles of growing numbers of people (Fashion 2009). Mass
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production had created new factories to open up in the United States in the 1920s. Garment sizes
were able to be standardized and assembly-lines were introduced. This helped to make fashion
cheaper and more available to the public (Fashion 2011). Due to mass production, printing and
cutting technologies were also invented and being used. Laser cutting was introduced to cut
fabrics at a much quicker pace. Printing allowed detail to be added to garments. These
technologies were first used only in athletic clothing and then it was introduced into mainstream
fashion. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the two World Wars had also created much
simpler fashions and allowed more freedom in dress. This was because more women were
brought into industrial work as well as rationing effects on apparel manufacturing. Since then,
other fashion capitals have risen to prominence for example New York and Milan. This shift was
due to the increasing use of technology in the fashion industry (Fashion 2009).
Technology has helped to create new fabrics and new colors that could be used as dye for
fabrics. According to Jill Burgess, a British chemist by the name Sir William Henry Perkin
discovered aniline dyes in 1856. Colors such as the color purple for example were very difficult
to produce until this discovery. The aniline dyes were much easier to mass produce and so the
public now had access to colors that were only reserved for the wealthy and royalty (Burgess
2013). Technology has led to the improvement as well as development of synthetic fibers such as
rayon, nylon, polyester, acrylic, and polyurethane. These fibers were easy to take care of and
could be made to look and feel like the expensive luxurious fabrics. The invention of these fibers
helped to make fabrics and clothing more affordable for everyone because they were cheaper to
produce and they could easily be washed at home. According to The Museum at FIT, following
World War II, the washing machine was invented and had an impact on fashion (Hill & Weidner

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2013). Most of the clothing that people were buying could be washed at home and at a much
quicker rate than washing by hand. More clothing could be washed at a time.
Computers and the Internet have also had an impact on the fashion industry. The impact
of personal computers as well as the internet was felt when designers turned to cyber space for
aesthetic inspiration. Computer programs such as CAD and computer-operated Jacquard looms
began to alter the ways garments were produced. Digital technology continues to transform
promotion, fabrication, and the basic design of fashion. From 3-D printing to advancements in
sewable electronics, clothing is looking and feeling better than ever before. Social media
websites such as Facebook and Twitter have also redefined the limits of fashion branding (Elia &
McClendon 2010). According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Internet was generating sales
worth $4.2 billion in 2002. The Internet is much more than just a shopping mall; it is a medium
of communication that has accelerated the cycles of fashion (Fashion 2009). The Internet is an
interactive way for people to be able to access the latest fashions instantly. They can watch
fashion shows, look at magazines as well as shop online with just the touch of a button. The
Internet has allowed the fashion industry to make so much more money in sales.
Also through the use of the Internet, people in the fashion industry are able to e-mail their
work and designs thus allowing them to become an international player in the global market
(Brown 2001). The Internet has allowed designers and other industry workers to work from
home and communicate through e-mail as well as Skype instead of having to fly all the way
across the world for a meeting. The Internet and the computer have allowed fashions to be
produced as well as available to the public at a much faster rate.

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Technology has also made advertising in the fashion industry much easier. Designers are
able to have their designs in magazines, newspapers, on billboards, TV, as well as on the Internet.
Being able to be up to date with fashion has been easier than ever before because of technology.
As the techniques of printing and photography improved in the late 19th and 20th centuries,
burgeoning fashion magazines spurred the dissemination of the latest looks from Paris (Fashion
2009). This allowed people from around the world to be able to get fashion magazines to see
what all the latest trends were especially in the fashion capital, Paris. Photography began to
dominate the presentation of fashion in print in the first half of the 20th century and still does
today. Because of the invention of the television as well as cable, fashion designers were able to
have commercials to advertise their designs. Also, through QVC people were able to buy
fashions that they saw on TV instantly. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, by 2001, QVC
could be seen by about 75% of U.S. households (Fashion 2009).
Technology has always been the essence of fashionThe fast-paced progress of
technology complements fashions ever evolving aesthetic, and each gives the other a wider
frame of reference and more scope to explore new horizons (Hill & Weidner 2013). Technology
has allowed the fashion industry to expand immensely. Sales have been in the billions due to the
internet as well as television which allow people to buy what they see immediately without
having to leave their home to go shopping. Technology has also allowed garments to be
produced much faster than ever before. Customers are able to afford clothing due to
advancements in new fibers as well as mass production. Technology has also given designers
aesthetic inspiration to create new and fashion forward designs.

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References
Brown, R, M. (2000, July 01). Fashionably speaking. Black Enterprise, (12), 75. Retrieved from
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com
Burgess, J. (2013). Fashion and technology. Retrieved from
http://www.everythingjustso.net/2012/12/fashion-and-technology.html
Elia A. & McClendon E. (2010). Fashion and technology. Retrieved from
http://www.fitnyc.edu/13610.asp
Hill C. & Weidner L. (2013). Fashion and technology. Retrieved from
http://sites.fitnyc.edu/depts/museum/fashion-and-technology/home3.html
(2009). fashion. Comptons by Britannica, v 6.0. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com
(2011). fashion. Hutchinson Encyclopedia. Helicon Publishing. Retrieved from
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com

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