Dear Impossible Readers,
Forget Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest. Forget about all those nice pictures and videos of how nice, big, tidy or classy your closet could look if only… Making you feel worse about yourself. You can even forget about the IKEA PAX wardrobe. Or the capsule wardrobe that makes you anxious (and bores the hell out of my colourful life).
Now imagine something even better. How about we just Ctrl + Alt + Delete the closet?
Meet The Loomer, The Devil that prints Prada. An intelligent machine that does not store your clothes. It makes them.
It lives quietly in the corner, waiting for your next outfit request. You wake up, and The Loomer prints your clothes for the day. Your size, your style, your vibe. When you are ready for a change, The Loomer recycles your clothes on the spot. Clean and ready for your next creation. No laundry. No clutter. No mismatched socks. (My partner always pairs the socks before hanging them. That is why I procrastinate doing sock laundry. Luckily, The Loomer would not care.)
Et voilà. A futuristic 3D clothes printer that creates real, wearable garments from reusable smart fibres. It knows your body, your taste, your needs. Every piece is made to fit you perfectly.
But wait, there is more. This machine also recycles your used clothes and reuses the base material to make new ones. Today’s pyjama could be tomorrow’s business suit. That party dress from Friday? It is your Tuesday’s underwear now.
Unexpected weather conditions due to climate change? No worries, go to the nearest clothing vending machine and print your favourite piece on the spot. When you no longer need it, return it to any nearby vending machine or toss it back into The Loomer at home.
It is cleverly wasteless fashion. Subscribe to your favourite brands or designers. Print what you love.
Once upon a time in the far future, The Loomer is running the catwalk.
So, what can we do today? Apps already exist that can measure your body using just your phone (e.g., Fytted, 3DLook, RedThread). AI lets you see how clothes would look on a 3D avatar that actually resembles you (e.g., Style.me, Clo-Z, Google Shopping). And more and more brands are producing garments only after you order, tailored exactly to your size (e.g., Son of a Tailor, Zozo, Indochino). The technology and infrastructure are here. What is missing is stitching it all together and making the infrastructure affordable and accessible for everyone. A tool that combines accurate sizing, virtual previews, and made-to-order delivery could launch today.
The fashion industry does not just change with the seasons. It changes the seasons. It cries rivers of blue jeans dye and flushes goldfish of microplastics down the toilet. It wraps every second purchase in layers of emissions, from express shipping to boomerang returns. All for clothes we wear like a pinch of salt.
Instead, imagine a system where nothing is wasted, where every fibre is reused, every design intentional, and every piece made only when someone actually wants it. The Loomer might sound like science fiction, but the future of fashion will not be stitched by nostalgia. It will be printed by imagination.
The ultimate closet that cares about you and our planet.
See you in the future,
Yours Possibly
P.S. Cannot wait to go on holiday without packing.
Environmental Impact of the Fashion Industry
| Category | Today’s Impact | References (Accessed 7 August 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| 💧 | Approx. 93 billion cubic meters annually | Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017), UNEP (2019), |
| 🌫️ | Up to 10% of global emissions | Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017), UN (2019) |
| 🗑️ | 92 million tonnes of waste per year | Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017), UNEP (2025) |
| 🧿 | 35% of microplastics in oceans from textiles | IUCN (2017) |
| ☣️ | Toxic dyes pollute rivers, 20% of global wastewater | Greenpeace (2012), UNEP (2019), UN (2019) |
The Fashion Food Chain
| Industry | Inertia | Further Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 🛢️ | Polyester is cheap and everywhere. Recycling it is hard, and they profit from fast, disposable fashion. | Shirvanimoghaddam et al. (2020) |
| 🏭 | Built for mass production, not personalization. Made-to-order disrupts their scale-based efficiency. | Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017) |
| 👚 | Quick trends, low prices. Slowing down or localizing production threatens their model. | Niinimäki et al. (2020) |
| ♻️ | Textile waste is part of their business cycle. Less waste could mean less revenue. | EEA (2022) |
| 📱 | Algorithms love overconsumption. One perfect sweater does not fuel endless clicks. | Vladimirova et al. (2023) |
Further Reading
3Dnatives (2022) 3D knitwear: how 3D printing is revolutionizing fashion. [Accessed 14 Aug 2025].
Chafik, A.A., Gaber, J., Tayane, S., Ennaji, M., Bourgeois, J. and Ghazawi, T.E., 2024. From conventional to programmable matter systems: A review of design, materials, and technologies. ACM Computing Surveys, 56(8), pp.1-26.
Dulal, M., Modha, H.R.M., Liu, J., Islam, M.R., Carr, C., Hasan, T., Thorn, R.M.S., Afroj, S. and Karim, N., 2025. Sustainable, Wearable, and Eco‐Friendly Electronic Textiles. Energy & Environmental Materials, 8(3), p.e12854.
Reyes Sarmiento, A. (2024) The future of fashion is here: how 3D printing is changing the industry. FashionUnited, 4 December. [Accessed 14 Aug 2025].
Stoppa, M. and Chiolerio, A., 2014. Wearable electronics and smart textiles: A critical review. sensors, 14(7), pp.11957-11992.
Stratasys (n.d.) 3DFashion Technology – direct-to-textile 3D printing for fashion. [Accessed 14 Aug 2025].
impossibly possible 
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