Relay Column: The World & History Connected by the Warp & Weft of Ikat: From India to Marie Antoinette & the Modern Day (Kumi Eguchi)

Inquiring ChatGPT About Fashion & Technology

What comes to mind when you hear the keywords fashion and technology? To explore this theme, I first asked ChatGPT, the latest technology, what it could suggest regarding fashion and technology. It provided intriguing responses such as "smart wear," "fashion VR/AR," "flexible displays," "movable materials," "smart textiles," "digital fashion," "sustainable fashion," and "AI-assisted fashion design." While I will refrain from elaborating on each point here, what connects them is that they all reflect cutting-edge technology and ideas, showcasing possibilities for future fashion. It would not be an exaggeration to say that fashion continues to evolve alongside technology.

While it seems recent that fashion has become possible through technology, traditional crafts, which have been inherited for generations, also utilized the cutting-edge "technology" of their time, resulting in textiles that have continued to the present day. One such example is "kasuri," known outside of Japan as "ikat."