Decentrare l'umano alla ricerca di nuovi materiali per il fashion design

For many years, the fashion industry has been at the centre of the debate on the lack of sustainability of its processes and its negative impact on the environment and people. Theoretical and design reflections on the urgency of reducing its ecological footprint, slowing down the pace and decreasing resource consumption levels have multiplied. Recently, however, the idea has emerged that it would be useful to ask not so much how fashion can reduce its impact, but how it can become an active and positive force, also through the use of technology, encouraging a new relationship between man and nature. This contribution aims to answer the question posed by Ezio Manzini concerning the possibility that fashion objects can become agents of positive change, to reweave the web of life that has been torn apart by human action in recent years. This question leads to two seemingly contrasting, but in fact deeply interrelated approaches to fashion design in the 21st century, which are addressed here through a literature review and the analysis of some case studies. The first consists of bringing attention back to the people involved in the manufacturing processes and narrating the fashion production chain. This response is developed through the analysis of the textile company Botto Giuseppe. The second approach is characterised by a post-human vision, a decentralisation of the human being in search of new forms of collaboration with non-humans, including nature and technology. This perspective is investigated through an investigation of living materials, which allow the creation of fashion objects that breathe, grow and regenerate. Unlike traditional materials, these need care and attention and completely transform the relationship of quick and detached enjoyment between consumer and garment, that has been nurtured by fast fashion brands in recent decades. These two directions are part of a constant process of human centralisation and decentralisation, in search of new fashion ecosystems capable of sustaining the future.