Even in today’s technologically advanced world, the human hand is still the best tool when it comes to creating complex clothes. Though much of the clothing production process is already automated – from picking cotton to cutting fabric – no robot has been able to carry out all of the complex tasks involved in creating, say, a simple pair of jeans or a T-shirt. Well, until now, that is. 

Sewbo, Inc. has recently announced that it has used an industrial robot to sew together a T-shirt, effectively achieving the long-sought goal of fully-automated garment production. The company, the brainchild of former web-designer and sole employee Jonathan Zornow, hopes that this will allow manufacturers to create higher-quality clothes at lower costs.

So how has Sewbo achieved what so many have tried for? Taking inspiration from the world of 3D printing, Sewbo’s technique involves temporarily stiffening fabrics, which allows robots to interact with fabrics as they would sheet metal. The fabric-stiffener is water-soluble, and is removed at the end with a simple rinse in hot water.

To date, Sewbo have been using an off-the-shelf Universal Robot. However, any suitable robot can be programmed to carry out the process using specialist software – it’s the process, rather than the tech, that’s the real breakthrough here.  

Whilst this and similar innovations undoubtedly hold the potential to revolutionise the fashion industry’s production processes, they also put millions of people in Asia and southeast Asia at risk of losing their jobs. According to the International Labour Organisation, 90 percent of garment and footwear workers in Cambodia and Vietnam are at risk of losing their jobs to automated production lines.  

So, will Sewbo’s innovation help make way for a world in which fast-fashion need not rely on ethically dubious sweatshops? Or does it threaten an important part of certain developing economies?

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