By Muhammed İsmail Uçar Gen Z refers to those born between 1996 and 2010 — the first true digital natives who grew up surrounded by the internet. As children, they witnessed the devastating global effects of the 2008 financial crisis. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, disrupting all balances in education, social life, and employment. But…
By Muhammed İsmail Uçar In 2023, the mountains of discarded clothes in Chile’s Atacama Desert caused by the fast fashion industry left a lasting mark on our collective memory. There’s a common misconception that textile waste only refers to old or used clothes, but when we include unsold inventory and surplus production scraps, we uncover…
By Muhammed İsmail Uçar In my other blog post, Deadstock Is Drowning Fashion: The Ugly Truth Behind Sustainability, I explored how overproduction, ever-shifting trends, and poor planning create massive waste in fashion. The pieces that never make it to shelves don’t just disappear, they pile up. That’s exactly where upcycling steps in, turning what’s forgotten into something new,…
By Nina Weiß As consumers, we like to believe our choices are personal and unique, but they are influenced by systems designed to predict our preferences. Algorithms are everywhere, quietly shaping so many parts of our lives. They determine what shows up on our screens and shape what we see, think and consume. One significant…
By Nina Weiß When we think about fashion, we often associate it with trends, self-expression, or aesthetic choices. But clothing is more than just fabric, it’s a powerful social tool. What we wear sends messages about who we are, where we belong, and how we want to be perceived. These signals can create a sense…
By Nina Weiß Fashion is more than just a reflection of personal taste or seasonal trends. It plays an important role in shaping how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others. Clothing choices can send strong signals about status, intention, and identity, whether consciously or unconsciously. Recent psychological research has started to…
By Katharina von Plettenberg The fashion industry is undergoing a significant digital transformation, with boundaries between online and physical retail becoming increasingly blurred. Technology is changing the way people discover, try on and purchase clothing. This change has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a sharp increase in online shopping and…
By Katharina von Plettenberg An increasing number of fashion brands are presenting themselves as sustainable, but often it’s just for show. To appear more responsible, companies like H&M highlight their “Close the Loop” initiative, while Shein promotes its supposedly eco-friendly line “evoluShein”. Greenwashing involves making environmentally friendly claims that sound good but aren’t supported by…
By Katharina von Plettenberg The fashion industry faces a striking paradox. Consumers today are more aware than ever that their clothes are often made under poor and exploitative working conditions. However, many people still buy cheap fashion items as if nothing were wrong. In the last 15 years, global clothing production has nearly doubled, driven…
By Victor Schäfer Fashion trends used to be decided by designers, magazines, and fashion weeks. Today, this has changed. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram allow everyday users to influence what people wear, sometimes more than luxury brands. An algorithm can now decide what becomes popular. A teenager’s outfit video on TikTok can reach millions and…