Anita Murnieks & fashion of the future

How did you come to understand that your LETTONNE brand should be sustainable and friendly to nature?

At the end of my second semester at FIT, I participated in a virtual conference dedicated to sustainability, corporate responsibility and innovation. I was already aware of the negative impact of fast fashion on the environment and began to dig deeper. As a result, I came across a message from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that, in terms of irreversible changes, we have only eight years before the “point of no return”. This is what motivated me to create a business that reduces the negative impact of the fashion industry on the climate, rather than exacerbating it.

I began to think about how to meet the high demand for new fashion photos from online consumers, avoiding the practice of fast fashion . I learned about digital fashion, took the Clo3D online course and learned how to create virtual clothes. This is how my first digital clothing collection was born, and then the LETTONNE brand itself. Digital fashion is a game-changer – virtual clothing requires 97% less carbon to produce than conventional clothing.

To what extent do you yourself follow the rules of sustainable fashion?

Studying cases of fast fashion companies in the last two years has saved me from buying such clothes. But then I realized that this was not enough, since brands in other segments also actively use polyester, the production of which greatly pollutes water and air. From that moment on, I lost all interest in buying new clothes in general. Luckily, New York has the coolest thrift stores, especially in Brooklyn, where I live. True, going to a second-hand store is fraught with spontaneous purchase of unique and beautiful things, but in the end, they do not match your style. Cool, but “not mine” things I sent to children in Ukraine.

The only piece of clothing I haven't yet learned to replace with a sustainable alternative is sneakers. My shoe and bag brand called ˈfyo͞oSHə , a sister brand of LETTONNE , now makes fifteen digital bags and ten digital pairs of shoes, including sneakers. They will be presented in New York in the second quarter of 2023 - also in support of peace in Ukraine. Since ˈfyo͞oSHə plans to create real things with sustainable solutions (we are currently considering 3D printing), I will definitely be able to switch to eco-sneakers in the near future.

You can see several models of shoes from the future ˈfyo͞oSHə collection on these pages. Both pairs are made from denim, which is the hallmark of both brands. Broken mirrors, symbolizing the destruction that occurs during war, form part of the sneaker design, complementing the LETTONNE collection, which can be seen on lettonne.io . Handwritten anti-war slogans on high-top sneakers and LETTONNE avatars, as well as graffiti on clothes, speak of real people and their suffering. If we talk about the main difference between LETTONNE and ˈfyo͞oSHə , then we can say that LETTONNE is in search of solutions, and ˈfyo͞oSHə is in search of reasons, bringing the design to an experimental, not an expert level.

What do you think will happen to fashion in the next ten years?

I believe that in ten years we will live in the era of the metaverse and virtual boutiques will replace the outdated physical stores. In 2033, we will be able to obtain a digital duplicate of each item and learn the history of each item by clicking on a blockchain-based barcode.

Our wardrobes will be fully digitized and an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled system will track the regularity of our outfits. When you open your closet, your style advisor avatar will tell you that you haven't worn your long pink dress in months and offer you to trade it in or resell it on the online secondhand market.

With the help of AI, a global network of wardrobes will emerge, instantly capturing the match between people who want to exchange different things. Kind of like the old-fashioned Tinder app, but for clothes.

On top of that, augmented reality will make online shopping much easier. The 4D glasses will allow you to practically put on a piece of clothing to see if it fits you. And thanks to the subcutaneous touch sensor, you will also feel these clothes. All this will solve the problems with the return of clothes and reduce the carbon footprint associated with shipping.

If tomorrow you were one of the most influential people in the fashion world with unlimited possibilities, what would you do?

I would push for a law to ban the production of oil-based textiles, because when they break down, they form microplastics that pollute the world and eventually enter our bodies. As well as a law allowing children under the age of fourteen to wear clothes made only from natural and organic materials.

I would also impose a limit on the production of textiles and provide each piece of clothing with a blockchain-based barcode with detailed information about how its production has affected the environment.