Muchaneta Ten Napel on utilizing tech as a tool to change how fashion does business, not a crutch that will *save us all* & preparing for the fashion policy changes that are on the horizon

In episode 308, Kestrel welcomes Muchaneta Ten Napel, the founder of Shape Innovate and FashNerd.com, to the show. As a fashion economist, a lecturer, a writer, a consultant and the founder of Shape Innovate and FashNerd.com, Muchaneta is powering change through a multifaceted approach. 

“To many people, today, to be sustainable is a way of draining money out of your company — it’s not a money-making initiative. And that’s the kind of thoughts that I would like to really change. Because for me, that merger of fashion and technology is growing and changing. It’s going beyond the wearable tech that we all were kind of excited about, and all the different devices. It’s now the idea of using innovation to make a social impact and to problem solve when it comes to sustainability — that’s where technology is now.” 
-Muchaneta

Fashion’s obsession with technology is something we’ve spoken about before – there’s this sentiment that often permeates the space, hyping tech to be some sort of avenue that will serendipitously save us all from the climate crisis.

From investors to the media, tech is often held up on a pedestal, and treated as though it’s going to be the reason or the way we change fashion for the better. 

From my lens, there’s no golden ticket – we need so many avenues and approaches – you know, we need regulatory change and we need corporate change, and we need individual change and collective advocacy. 

And as we’ve talked about before – there are so many important reasons to not only look into the future, but also to look back into history and culture. For example, we can learn so much from Indigenous practices – from farming techniques to dyeing approaches and beyond.

And when it comes to tech today, more and more information is coming out that highlights the complications that can come with these new innovations, from an equity lens – I think of some of the conversations around AI connected to the *stealing* of art, or the way some brands have used AI to generate so-called diverse models, instead of actually hiring and paying Black and Brown Indigenous models. 

There’s a lot there. This week’s guest launched one of the early platforms dedicated to exploring the intersections of fashion and tech back in 2015, so she clearly has an affinity for exploring what technology can offer the fashion space. At the same time, she doesn’t buy into this sentiment that *tech will save us all* – instead, she thinks of it as one of many tools that are necessary to address fashion’s inequitable systems.

This week’s episode goes down an array of tangents connected to fashion – from technology to policy to media, we’re getting into some of the important reasons that the future of fashion is intrinsically multifaceted.

Quotes & links from the conversation:

• “We need to stop using innovation as a marketing tool — because I feel sometimes the fashion industry hasn’t got the ability to commit to the idea of innovation and push it forward so everyone can reap the benefits of technology but they’re very keen to use it as a marketing ploy to push forward an idea, a thought, an experience. And the problem I have with that is that they don’t commit to it — it’s a moment and I feel like it cheapens the technology, it makes people not take it as seriously as they could do. The view of what technology is to fashion is I guess muddied by the way it’s used as a marketing tool.” -Muchaneta (14:49)

• “The fashion industry is very me focused, rather than we focused — so how can we as an industry realize the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and work together for a common goal?” -Muchaneta (16:07)

• “If we are planting these great ideas in bad soil and expecting it to flourish, well, of course we’re going to fail. So, when it comes to being sustainable as a brand, you need to have it in your DNA, it needs to be part of your strategy in order for it to flourish.” -Muchaneta (17:45)

• “You can’t blame ignorance and lack of knowledge on your bad decisions because the information is there — it’s a question of whether you choose to become a catalyst for change or you choose to just continue trading like we’re back in 1996.” -Muchaneta (26:00)

• “Technology is not something that is going to save us — far from that — but what it will do — is make it easier for us to save ourselves.” -Muchaneta (29:03)

• “What we’re trying to use with technology — we’re not trying to take away the creativity of fashion — we’re trying to change how fashion does business.” -Muchaneta (31:00)

• Shape Innovate Website

• FashNerd.com Website

• Culture and Creative Industries (CCI) Taskforce UN Climate Change Global Innovation Hub (for those who want to stay ahead of the coming changes)

• Muchaneta’s LinkedIn

• Follow Shape Innvovate on Instagram >

• Follow FashNerd.com on Instagram >