The fashion hydroscape: Aquatic atmospheres and ecological textile practices in Italy

The article introduces the concept of ‘fashion hydroscape’ as a critical framework for understanding the interdependence between fashion and planetary water systems in an age of ecological disasters. Situated in Italy’s geographically and culturally aquatic context, the article examines how water materially and symbolically shapes textile practices, imaginaries and ecological consequences. Building on Arjun Appadurai’s notion of ‘-scapes’ and Patrizia Calefato’s concept of ‘fashionscape’, the fashion hydroscape expands the focus from global cultural flows to environmental atmospheres. Here, we draw on Astrida Neimanis’s posthuman perspective on bodies as interconnected water systems. The water footprint of fashion is invisible and thus defined as virtual water. We conduct a comparative case studies analysis by intertwining two complementary dimensions. The first is the dimension of aquatic atmospheres, exemplified by three case studies: the runway shows by fashion designers Rick Owens and Carol Christian Poell, and the curatorial project In Acqua: H2O Molecole di Creatività. The second is a tangible dimension concerning the hidden water embedded in textile supply chains and the technologies developed to mitigate its impact. Italy’s denim sector offers particularly relevant case studies, including Gimmy Jeans’s revival of locally grown hemp, ALBINI_next’s natural indigo research and Officina39’s reduced-impact denim finishing. The concept of fashion hydroscape reveals fashion as a hydrological agent able to engage more ecocritically with ecosystems.