Earthsuits: Survival And Style on a Changing Planet Earth

[Featured image: Kay Altamira @kayaltamira]

Three months into 2025, it is safe to say that the year has had a brutal start for many. Chaos has erupted across the sphere; from divisive geopolitics to natural disasters, a general sense of gloom continues to linger, and fashion has been feeling it in both quiet and visible ways. 

Barely into the second day of the year, a large fire erupted at Ghana’s Kantamanto Market, destroying the livelihoods of the traders who operate there and bringing new plights to a region that the fashion industry heavily relies on for its circularity efforts. Then, a few days later, more fires exploded across LA—which scientists highlight were made more likely by human-made climate change.  

These fires—while 7,000 miles apart and distinct in their impact—are united in surfacing the vulnerability of human prosperity. Where Ghana is an example of how fashion systems that most of us experience one end of have a longer and more damaging tail in  the global south, LA stands firm as an example of how difficult it’s seemingly become to mitigate environmental changes even in affluent regions that are closer to home, and where the wolf is at the metaphorical door. 

Together, these force majeures are different angles on the same wedge: reminders of  the time-bound nature of climate change and risk mitigation, and spotlights on the distribution of that risk – which is hidden by inequality right up until the point that it becomes unavoidable.

But that wedge doesn’t seem to be getting any further under the skin of industry – in fashion or beyond.  Governments and businesses are rolling back their commitment to social purpose and net zero, and almost a third of UK businesses have never had a sustainability strategy to begin with. 

Then, there’s the news from the EU a few weeks ago that changes to sustainability regulations could exempt up to 80% of companies from the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requirements, and commitments from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to a historic “deregulation”. These are concerning developments, given that the default position of the industry is to comply with the letter of the law, not the spirit. And although many brands will continue forwards with their commitments to disclosure, impact minimisation, decarbonisation and other necessary causes, others will see an offramp ripe for the taking.

All of this fatalistic background is why witnessing Digital Innovation Season (DIS) at Central Saint Martins last month felt so refreshing. The event reminded me of fashion’s ability to not just comply but lead on innovation and societal change. The annual programme of events, workshops, and talks aims to drive digital skills, knowledge, and speculation among the college’s community of interdisciplinary students, acting as a catalyst for exploring their own roles in the future of planet Earth. 

I think everyone can see why that matters, so in the spirit of sharing that rare optimism, here’s what I saw.

Imagining Desirable Futures

This year’s DIS was an introduction to Earthsuits, a two-year initiative that draws from the monumental technological leaps made in the Space Race and how those have cascaded down into the everyday function of workwear, uniforms, and performance gear. The project draws parallels between the present day and the 1960s, to revisit how we successfully adapted the human body to survive in an inhospitable environment – in that case space – and explore how we might approach similar challenges again, now that climate adaptation is as much a part of future-thinking as climate action. 

This time, in an earthbound context, the initiative hopes to drive CSM students to lead with speculative thinking – to reshape how humans not only survive changing climates but also operate societies and systems in harmony with the environment, conscious of its resources, boundaries, and needs. It’s a spotlight on “sustainability” through both the widest and the narrowest, more personal lens – and it has, I think, a lot to teach about how we frame material science, the necessity of innovation, and our industry’s relationship with the world.

In my experience, looking at the future through these dual lenses is the most pragmatic approach. There’s righteous anger about the world today, but also a driven outlook on the need to not only create positive social and environmental impact today, but to develop future-ready innovations through research, design and application. 

Young creatives do this dual-perspective thing exceptionally well. Stephanie Sherman — Course Leader for MA Narrative Environments at CSM, and creator of the Earthsuits initiative — told me how important it is to give students the necessary tools to contextualise their work within a volatile environment whilst leading with an optimistic spirit. “It’s a really exciting provocation for the students to not only think about “OK, what kind of product would I want to design?” But actually, “what is the environment or ecosystem in which that future product might live, how might it work?” 

This is a decision-making matrix that a lot of designers will have operated within when it comes to making products for the near future, and those parallels actually run deeper.

When I asked Stephanie about the initial inspiration behind Earthsuits, I was intrigued to find out how rooted the idea was in an everyday pain point we’ve probably all experienced when travelling.  “Back when I was doing a lot of work travel, I would dream of having a really versatile modularly designed jacket that would layer up and zip out, allowing for different climates and functions, instead of packing all these different bulky items. So this concept of deeply functional, adaptive, versatile design has stayed with me vs. the type of ultra specific fit for one purpose only kind of fashion that is ubiquitous.” 

And the fact that so many of our pervasive systems and products, from trainers to memory foam and modern media formats, were born from the space race makes this historical point in time a natural reference for new approaches to resolving–an at first–seemingly small yet universal challenge.If fashion took a step back,could we address how we climate control our bodies, adapt to different environments, and reduce consumption through innovation?   

A Space Race for the Modern Age

Although the precipitating incident was the Cold War, the original space race launched us into a time of dreamlike optimism. Society looked on in awe at the seeming boundlessness of human imagination and endeavour. Some of the world’s brightest minds were forced to create for new environments, looking at human survival in an atmosphere so unlike our own. As a result, thought leaders such as designers, architects, engineers, and scientists had to completely recontextualise user needs, ask new questions and build systems and frameworks around solutions that changed the everyday world as we know it. 

What makes a 21st-century iteration even more exciting is the sophistication of digital technologies and how this might advance solutions even further. The space tech economy is a rapidly growing industry. According to the UK Space Agency, in 2023, the space sector was already generating £17.5 billion for the UK economy each year, and more than 80 countries now have a presence in space. 

It is important to caveat that the commodification of space should be closely watched and scrutinised. We cannot afford to fixate on purely looking outward to space, away from the Earth, instead of inwards, while our planet desperately calls for change. However, solving a problem as wild as how humans live on Mars could generate new solutions for how humans live on Earth in extreme weather conditions or thrive with limited resources.

Earthsuits perfectly illustrates the need to look through varied and diverse atmospheres to address the many wicked problems we face. “it was really exciting to think about all these different scales at which we sense the planet–from satellites that are looking at a really zoomed out view, to sensors that are looking at microscopic things–and that kind of inspired us to actually consider more deeply the scale of the human in all of this and what’s actually the future for humans themselves as sort of sensors for the planet?” Sherman explains. And we can already see this starting to crystallise in the industry. 

Scales of Innovation: From Outerspace, Planet Earth to the Human Body

Earthwave, for example, pairs satellite technology with AI to model and predict the effects of climate change. Their Digital Twin Antarctica project aims to help us understand the current state of the ice sheet and its evolution under different climate scenarios. It is an essential piece of work that will allow us to look into the future consequences of climate change in vulnerable regions. 

As fashion forecasting becomes increasingly dependent on data and AI, brands should consider how these types of models and datasets can allow them to think more holistically about their supply chains and the ecosystems in which they operate now and in the future. If brands are genuinely committed to driving positive impact for people, the planet, and profit, understanding the consequences of operational decisions should be essential, especially as margins become increasingly vulnerable to weather events such as droughts, floods, and fires. 

Then, looking from the Earth outwards, we can find solutions developed by startups like Space Forge, a company that uses space’s unique environmental qualities, such as microgravity, to manufacture materials more effectively and efficiently. For the fashion industry, understanding the impact of outer space on the development of manufacturing can bring a myriad of opportunities for brands that may help reduce natural resource depletion and redefine complex production systems. 

Finally, shifting focus to a more granular view, we should consider the natural resources that we as individual humans can control and how we, too, are a component of biological ecosystems. For example, Aquaporin – a water filtration company – has developed a membrane technology that enables astronauts to purify sweat, condensation, and urine into drinking water to allow extended space journeys. As the Earth’s natural resources become increasingly depleted, it is easy to see how this technology can be applied in supporting humans here on Earth to survive extreme conditions, ultimately resulting in more people getting access to secure, clean water. So, why not consider how these types of innovations and technologies could unfold within the fashion industry, especially when making a single cotton t-shirt, uses 2,700 litres of fresh water and according to estimates, this is enough to meet one person’s drinking needs for 2.5 years. 

Clothing has always been Wearable Technology

As we move towards Industry 5.0, fashion can lead the way in piloting new applications for such innovations. It has been done before, after all. “… the Industrial Revolution in the UK was really driven by technologies related to sewing and mass manufacturing…” Sherman tells me, which is why “Clothing has always been Wearable Technology” is an aspect of the Earthsuits philosophy that particularly stands out. 

Historic innovation in garment technology can sometimes be described as akin to that found in digital technology. Just consider the impact that denim has had on workwear or the zip has had on functionality. Yet, we sit at a point in time where imagining new climates and future human needs has often implied radical new approaches to functional and performance-enhancing clothing. Think about the garments described in the pages of sci-fi novels, illustrated in comic books, and materialised in blockbuster movies. As a result, these concepts have always felt relatively speculative – far removed from the here and now. 

While in reality, the solution to surviving in the desert might not be the stillsuit from Dune – which allows wearers to live in the harsh environment of the desert planet –  it is essential that we begin to question how humans will survive in a climate-vulnerable region such as the Middle East in 50 years time in a very real and manufacturable way. 

These sci-fi narratives also emphasise the importance of indigenous communities, which have thrived in “inhospitable” environments for centuries, by listening to the ecosystems surrounding them and how we can learn from these places. An increasing number of businesses are beginning to understand the benefits of working with local communities and safeguarding heritage processes in their sustainability initiatives. Still, more must be done to recognise and respect traditional methods, approaches, and routes to problem-solving, learning from what has happened before, and reapply these in new contexts. 

The Materials for Human Adaptation in a Better World

Arguably, the crux of human survival on a future planet Earth is underpinned by the materials we surround ourselves with. Innovations in material technology are already demonstrating their potential to shape our ability to adapt. For instance, RHEON Labs, a startup born out of NASA, has developed an energy-absorbing super polymer that can be applied to protective wear for motorcyclists and gym-goers alike — a powerful example of how solutions designed for extreme environments can be repurposed to enhance everyday safety and comfort.

Not long ago, I was scrolling through Instagram and came across a post lamenting the development of new temperature-controlling textiles that aim to help humans stay cool in increasingly hot environments. This person argued that we shouldn’t give into climate change but should rage against it, focusing on solutions that resolve global warming instead of mitigating our biological challenges to adapt to it. This tension highlights a critical question: should innovation prioritise helping us endure environmental shifts or focus on preventing those shifts altogether?

I might have previously been inclined to agree with the latter, but as we have already seen this year, the likelihood of natural disasters is increasingly putting human life at risk. So, shouldn’t we prepare for all eventualities? 

Businesses should be careful not to view these options as two separate and forked pathways, choosing to either safeguard and regenerate the natural world or prepare for its transformation. If we continue on our current course, these approaches must go hand in hand. 

And new textiles illustrate the ability to address these challenges through a dual approach. Material innovation not only allows us to use technology to adapt our bodies more immediately but also, in the same breath, address the effects of existing unsustainable fibres and processes. 

37.5® Technology does just this, using infrared energy to regulate body temperature and enhance the speed at which the material biodegrades. Even when we consider a garment as “ubiquitous” as the puffer jacket, we can still strive to achieve both temperature control and sustainability. Pangaia, for example, has pioneered FLWRDWN™. This plant-based material uses wildflowers, a biopolymer, and aerogel to create a fully biodegradable, cruelty-free alternative to traditional down insulation. 

These innovations demonstrate how textiles can do more than just respond to our immediate needs — they can also inspire new ways of thinking about how clothing interacts with the environment on a larger scale.

Planetary-Sensing

The Earthsuits initiative encourages us to take this step further in material development, questioning how we can use our clothing as opportunities to understand and make sense of the changing world around us so we ourselves might not just adapt but monitor climate change. 

Just by carrying out our everyday lives, humans act as data collection mechanisms for various corporate and government agendas. Earthsuits makes the case for the planet as a beneficiary of this activity through wearables. By reimagining what wearables can be, Earthsuits demonstrates how fashion could contribute to environmental wellbeing while continuing to operate as user-centred products. 

After all, if humans are to thrive on our changing planet – and fashion is going to continue to clothe them – we must consider the short-term and long-term possibilities of not only how the climate changes but also how we as individuals impact the Earth. 

“I think working with tech and fashion companies collaboratively on speculative prototypes is really exciting and interesting, pushing the boundaries of what they tend to think wearables can be and should do. For fashion, it’s about thinking through the dynamics between technology and what we wear, how we can better embed emerging and existing technologies, and how we can prepare for future context-changing climates both literally and culturally.” Sherman explains, and her insights point to the need for wearables to extend beyond individual utility and consider the broader societal and environmental benefits that they can provide us.

Like many others, I have been guilty of fixating on typical interpretations of wearables. For example, the more immediate images that come to mind are those of smartwatches and VR headsets—products focused on fitness tracking and elevating lifestyles. But in reality, anything that humans put on their bodies can be considered wearable. 

This expanded definition opens up exciting possibilities for integrating meaningful environmental interactions into everyday clothing. Textile manufacturer Shieldex collaborates with electronics and sensor manufacturers to embed digital technologies into their materials, allowing wearers to detect injuries early and treat the consequences arising from them. But what would it look like if we were to use clothing to sense injuries to planet Earth? 

Such an idea is not entirely speculative. It might look like Photosynthetic Coating™, a textile innovation that takes inspiration from even smaller biological systems than our own. Created by Post Carbon Lab, this system replicates photosynthesis to develop a fabric that absorbs carbon dioxide, actively helping to heal the planet. Solutions such as this exemplify why we must evolve new concepts for wearables from speculative prototypes to functional, manufacturable designs that can be implemented at scale. Only then can they achieve a significant impact and provide meaningful data to inform environmental efforts.

In this way, the future of wearables isn’t about merely replicating the functions of the human body, but evolving it to become more functional and reciprocal to the world around us. Open Bionics exemplifies this idea through its groundbreaking work in prosthetics. As Sherman notes, “During DIS, we had the opportunity to host Tilly Lockey, who is a bionic influencer who lost her arms at a young age to meningitis, and since then has been trying to understand and rethink prosthetics—not as a fake-looking human appendage, but actually to extend the functions and abilities, to think through what prosthetics actually could do or might do or be.” By extending and enhancing human capabilities rather than mimicking them, such innovations redefine what it means to be human in an increasingly technology-integrated world and recontextualises how we can impact the planet as consumers. 

Fashion Always has a Role to Play 

In so many senses, the fashion industry is integral to human survival on a changing planet Earth. In Digital Innovation Season’s closing lecture, Nicholas de Monchaux, author of Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo, touched upon the space race’s ability to capture the public imagination, emphasising its importance in driving innovation and invention. This reminded me of the many occasions when the same has been said about the fashion industry. Donatella Versace says it best: “Fashion is about dreaming and making others dream”. 

While fashion and space tech seem like two wholly unconnected industries, they are united in their ability to make people think differently and push beyond the boundaries of what is considered possible. This is what Earthsuits achieves best: the recognition that the fashion, tech, and broader design sectors have the unbridled imagination to bring speculations of future possibilities to fruition. 

“There are so many different ways to interpret different aspects of the suit, different aspects of the environment, different aspects of wearables, different aspects of the history of these things. We really welcome the opportunity to think through this, through briefs or workshops, or conversations with various industry partners…”  Sherman states, enlightening me on her hopes for how Earthsuits might unfold in collaboration with industry. 

As we find ourselves in climates that are unimagined—or, some would argue, willfully unacknowledged by many—my advice to the fashion industry is to—like CSM students—question the bold new environmental contexts your products, services, and systems could exist within in the future because, as we’ve seen throughout history, this is how we find the spaces where life-changing innovation lives.