World 36, Exploration D

In response to rising costs of textiles and cost of living in general, in World 36 buying new clothing is not considered to be a socially sensitive path, and people turn to mending as a way to repair and refresh their wardrobes, to express themselves. In this world, artists have become the new fashion designers.

Designer “repair patches” replace fashion collections with status being demonstrated by the “mini-art” you can afford to wear. Just like any art, the mini artworks can be collected and be sold to make a profit. Cultural clout is achieved by limited edition drops. Obvious designer logos and overtly neat repairs are deemed tacky with mismatched, experimental repairs having more kudos. Fashion design courses are replaced by “creative aesthetic-repair” and micro-art courses. Aesthetic repair patches are attached by non-permanent methods allowing you to remove before washing and used on different items of clothing. Premium patches are inlaid with digital sensors that enable you to adapt colour/ design by outfit/ occasion.

Continuing rising costs of patches and supply shortages however, creates issues over time with anti-aesthetic sub-cultures emerging on tik tok that push back against the expectation of being aesthetically perfect. Instead we should embrace the flaws in our clothes to reveal the beauty beneath. In tandem there is a growth in using body tattoos to “fill” the holes in clothes.

This Exploration was contributed by Yvonne Richardson (located in the UK), developed from a World contributed by Sara E. Bernat, using a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence which allows others to share and adapt the work in any medium and for any purpose, providing that they credit the authors and share their material using the same Creative Commons licence.