When we read the word “exclusive,” what does it immediately remind us of? One of a kind – luxury – expensive. But within its root, it also indicates something that is excluding others, something that it isn’t for everyone.
In this new chapter of our report, we are exploring the idea of the exclusive from a new paradigm. We are working from the perspective of including people through the feeling of belonging in the world as a unique being.
Spoiler alert: exclusivity is everyone’s property.
The previous path of The Fashion Future and Mobility Trend Report was exactly about the opposite, it was about the collective. So, how is fashion taking this exclusive path? Isn’t this contradictory?
The Fashion Future and Mobility Trend Report is a deep study on future long-term trends from four angles: freedom, power, collective, and exclusive — created in collaboration with trend forecaster Cécile Poignant. This is how we take a look at the global trends to see what will affect the human experience of fashion in the near future under the umbrella of mobility — physical, mental, and digital. Get to know our next and last trend, the exclusive.
This fourth and last story is about the elegance that comes with exclusivity. The idea of having something nobody else has, yet with the elegance of not being pretentiousness about it. The new exclusivity will be about valuing unique qualities, not about the price tag.
From this perspective, exclusive means that which is unique: a stark contrast from mass production. The great Houses are continually looking for exclusive items, and some of them are searching among traditional cultures. Going beyond appropriating ethnical patterns in collections to pretend the creation of exquisite pieces, fashion designers are working together with traditional craft makers to legitimate a non-culturally-appropriated European fashion.
One example of this is Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior inviting Morrocan artisans to develop new patterns for the Maison using the traditional techniques of North Africa. The result was used for the Resort Collection 2020, shown in Marrakech. Besides this, a series of other partnerships around this special show was made by Dior to value the art and work created by the people of Morocco: the “common ground” collection.
The output of Chiuri’s efforts in co-creation shows the valorisation of traditional craftmanship and incentivising the local economy. All this is about developing a unique and ultra-exclusive kind of fashion. This is a great example of how exclusivity doesn’t contradict inclusion, in this case, social and creative inclusion.
Now, we are to enter the sphere of the luxury of things that are one of a kind and items that can be personalized. The future of customization is shining and bright, as we desire to see ourselves — and our names — as part of something bigger than us.
But again, as long as we are all unique human beings, personalization is unique and means standing out from the masses, not excluding them. Here we are talking about the luxury to develop bespoke items, and as technologies like customizable materials become mass-produced, it could reach a wider and more inclusive audience around the world. In a matter of time, each individual will be able to add some details to a product to make it unique.
Using biological elements to create unique items is sensitive science. A way to identify uniqueness in all beings and enhance these factors to create beauty and technology. Like algae being used for photoluminescence generating an exclusive kind of light in the home. The experimental tech development from bio-engineering could also be used on garments, producing a new lightening experience.
The colours of nature are even more incredible than the ones we are currently able to reproduce in the industry. Imagine exploring biomaterials in fashion, in fantastic and unique hues coming directly from nature and with no harm inflicted to the organisms.
Waste can be brought back to life in the shape of incredible new materials, like the Plasma Rock. A very resistant and non-toxic rock resulting from plasma gasification in a process that heats at extremely high temperatures. Materials are collected from landfills. The Plasma Rock is coloured with all the shades of grey, and by its resistance, it could be widely – and beautifully – used to build our future cities. Could this be our escape from filling a whole planet with trash? At least it is a good start into the circular economy.
The ultimate exclusivity nowadays is the luxury of being alone. As we saw in the last blog article about the collective path and BMW efforts through sustainability, other companies in the mobility industry are thinking about the future of luxury travel.
The Italian high-luxury car brand, Lamborghini, is developing a project with MIT for an electric car called Terzo Millennio (Third Millennium in Italian). However, what makes it exclusive, besides the brand? What are the differences between this and the luxury electric cars from Tesla? Energy. This prototype is been developed to deliver high peak power and regenerate kinetic energy while ensuring the ability to release and harvest electric power. Therefore, the MIT Lamborghini can go further than any other vehicle, while still having incredible engine power and all the energy needed.
In the last paragraphs, we went through a perception of exclusivity by the notion of including, since the work from artisans been used in high fashion garments as social inclusion. We have also discussed our feeling of uniqueness that can be reached by nature or offered by technology. Thus, we have realised that there are ways of creating exclusive items maintaining luxury, uniqueness but also sustainability.
In the next chapter, we will discuss the implications of creating exclusivity for consumers and understanding how it can shape the future of business.
If you would like to read the entire report now, please contact us via hello@thepowerhouse.group
