How Innovative is Innovation? Discussion of the Representation of Fibre and Textile Innovations in the Pages of "Vogue Italia"

From the earliest publications on fashion and sustainability, the questions related to the textile industry impact were always analysed anddiscussed by the academics of the field. Having as a methodological background an in-depth, cover-to-cover Content Analysis of the entire Vogue Italia archive, the study focuses on representations of fibre and textile innovations on the pages of one of the most influential fashion magazines between 1965 and 1980. The study aims to explore if, and if so, how those representations link to the concept of fashion sustainability understood as an array of interrelated environmental, socio-cultural and economic perspectives. The Content Analysis mentioned above is instrumental; thus, the results, used as an insight for identifying the relevant content, will not be a point of discussion in this paper. Instead, contents are identified to illustrate the characteristics of fibres and textiles discourse. The findings are then discussed in light of the characteristics of sustainable fashion today, pointing to the problems deriving from technological determinism and the need for more integrated approaches towards sustainability. The reflection on how ground-breaking innovation was once presented in fashion media opens for questions on how we continue to accept partial information today and could hopefully be translated into actual actions of information demand and a quest for complete pipeline transparency.