How Different Generations Contribute Towards Creating A Global Ecosystem In The Fashion Industry.

The Textile ecosystem is interdependent across stakeholders of varied age groups. The Modus Operandi of Baby Boomers & Gen X is in stark contrast to that of Gen Y or Gen Z, who believe in carving a niche with their Design & Visualization skill sets, backed by a deep-rooted belief in newer Technology. There is an apparent change in employment trends across the textile ecosystem.

 

Different Generations, One Ecosystem

The challenges, aspirations and KPIs of impact earlier were starkly different from the decision makers in the textile industry today. While the boomers weighed heavily on in-person networking then and spent resources and time in establishing goodwill, networking has changed shape and form now. Industry giants soon after (say, 40 years ago) were focused on producing massive volume. They have been the ones using heavyweight machinery to its full use and capacity. This generation put all their energy in fostering fast fashion demands, most of which is revelant even now (but is rapidly diminishing). These members of GenX have seen the maximum amount of tech displacement. They are the ones who have probably spent their childhood with bulky TVs evolving to flatscreens, visited their family tailors for their apparels and are now buying ready-made outfits every week. According to reports, “Gen X shows some of the highest preference rates (37%) for online vs in-store shopping — second only to Millennials (39%) and higher than both Gen Z and Baby Boomers (both 30%).” Genx are now majorly found occupying managerial roles in the textile ecosystem.

After these, fall Generate Y. They are observed to focus on theme-based collections, manufacturing season-specific fashion lines, working towards incorporating trends in the B2B and fast fashion industry. They played a prime role in amplifying profits by strategically partnering with intelligent marketing and promotion.

We are now living when the GenZ are at their zenith. They are, naturally, most exposed to the tech. Their umbrella traits are that they are most tech savvy and highly adaptable to new concepts like Metaverse, Virtual/3D Fashion, Sustainability, and much more. Interestingly, while many concepts such as ‘sustainable fashion’ , ‘ethical manufacturing’, ‘on-site trainings’ have always existed, they are now being identified and made into intellectual properties. ‘Slow Fashion’ can be argued to be a part of sustainable and ethical fashion practices and generations clocking way back in time also paid attention to them, but in a different form.

 

The Future of Textile Ecosystem

The manufacturing of Textiles and Apparel (T&A) is found to be one of the most polluting activities across various industries. It might just be the 2nd most polluting industry in the world. Until now, more than 20% of industrial water pollution occurred from the manufacturing of fabric and apparel.

To replace this, sustainable and digital textiles are paving the way which demands inputs of varied skill sets. Through the years, stakeholders across the industry have realized the importance of aspects of sustainability in quotidian operations. Inefficient tech inputs, unsupportive governmental policies and an insufficiently upskilled workforce were some of the core hurdles to achieving textile sustainability as compared to the grand scale that is happening right now.

Understanding sustainability has been one of the paradigm shifts in textile ecosystems across the globe. Something that started almost a decade ago is now shaping into an everyday decision for most customers. People are opting for sustainable textiles which requires grave tech inclusion and intervention.

One of the ways in which textiles can be made environmentally more responsible is to adopt circular manufacturing, which basically entails not eliminating waste, but reusing it to make fabric(s) in the future. UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) recognised this method and encourages Indian companies to follow suit. Another way to get responses is to take on digital machinery to ideate, manufacture, upsell and distribute textiles. More and more students across the globe are thinking about their education in this direction catching sight of a great deal of demand and salaries.

 

Employment Trends in the Industry

Indian government’s Modified Technology Upgrading Fund (ATUFS) scheme which was introduced in the year 2016, for the textile sector had a budget of $17,822 crore in 2022. This was expected to attract $1 lakh crore in investment and produce 35.62 lakh job openings in the industry. People of different age groups and generations are expected to join the skilled labour force in the technical textiles value chain.

The early 90s saw hardcore managerial roles in the textile industry, the early 2000s saw industry-specific roles for those robust in robotics, marketing and design. In the current age, IT professionals are getting attracted. The GenZ, Alpha generation and the millennials are seeing a clear distinction in their job profiles. A significant portion of employee profiles centred around knit skills earlier on which is now centred on managerial and tech-friendly roles. Most management committees would fixate their energies on labour working with hands using primitive machinery with little-to-no in-house training, but now lucrative training programmes are a vital part of all textile industries. The recent generations have changed the way human resource gets managed, trained, retained and followed up with.

The few who are able to upskill themselves in VR, data analytics, and Artificial Intelligence are finding lucrative opportunities as decision-makers.

With the onset of NFTs, Web3 applications, Metaverse et al, a fresh new generation of professionals skilled in P2P gaming is entering the textile ecosystem. They are actively employed in designing, building, marketing and finally in building communities on the web 3.0. The made designs are getting viral across the internet and are aiding in building a favourable brand image. With new challenges like this, new financial business models are gaining traction. There is a dire need for financial experts who can read charts and trends idiosyncratic to Web3 models. Shark wave is one such trend which denotes a community upsurge about a specific NFT or Blockchain.

 

Making Progress on The Tech Front

Currently, the fashion industry is operating on a linear business model. It starts with a cycle of sourcing, then making, and finally disposing of. This is an unsustainable and short-sighted model. Millions of tonnes of textile are sent to waste in landfills. The concept of circularity demands digitisation and predicting future demands to almost exact numbers. Subscription models are getting introduced for rental clothing, and take-back programs which allow brands to take back their products to make new materials are gaining popularity, but the most versatile and gratifying experience is of trying and adorning apparel virtually. Using the famous Oculus, VR and AR tech is helping replace physical clothes which attracts hyper-fast fashion and makes space not in the end-consumer’s wardrobe, but in their computer drive.

Digital fashion is an incredibly bizarre concept which endorses apparel made out of pixels instead of actual ‘textiles’. Pandemic-induced ‘Everything Virtual’ enables ‘Digital Fashion’ which is creating a need for fetching investment from the industry. Tech-savvy employees and consumers are vouching for digital fashion which has a history of emerging from the gaming sector and is gaining popularity and improvisation. In a recent survey, over 70% of the total population falling between the age of 14-24 were confident about dressing their ‘avatars’ similar to how they dress in reality. From the same population, 75% were inclined to try out digital fashion and look forward to saving money and maximising user gratification.

In conclusion, The markets are changing – across industries, job domains and in the way technology is seeping in. The textile industry less than a century ago operated differently. Making the most out of the financial potential and dividend is what most stakeholders in the textile ecosystems are aiming to achieve. The road to glory is tough and long, but industry experts observe potential exponential growth of trade and commerce with the advent of AI-aided VR (Virtual Reality) tools.