Cleopatra Jeans demonstrates the call for a zero-waste future

The potential of technology in the textile space is demonstrated in a new commercial starring none other than Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.

At a recent launch event at the Fashion for Good Museum, an Amsterdam-based facility dedicated to promoting sustainable fashion, Wunderman Thompson and 3D technology firm TG3D revealed a custom-made pair of jeans tailored to suit the historic landmark.

Mariette Hoitink, co-founder of the House of Denim, and fashion industry professionals from Amsterdam Fashion Institute addressed textile waste and potential solutions during the event. 3D design and other technologies were hot topics.

She said that they all know that fashion has a waste problem. They should buy less and more thoughtfully. The fashion and denim sectors are working hard to remedy this, but technology will be the deciding element in the fight against waste.

The jeans were created using 3D scanning from TG3D, as well as historical and genetic studies on modern Coptic Egyptian women to compute Cleopatra’s body form, to demonstrate that fashion waste may be a thing of the past. The dark-wash narrow jeans include a high height and a button fly, as well as elaborate hardware and a leather patch honoring the queen.

Carlos Camacho, Wunderman Thompson Amsterdam executive creative director, said that using innovation to make a pair of jeans for someone who died thousands of years before jeans were invented is not only awesome but also demonstrates how body scanning can play a role in creating a more sustainable fashion industry.

According to Bas Korsten, the company’s global chief creative officer, the jeans are a provocative statement and an inspiring conversation starter—a symbol of how technology can drive us towards a zero-waste future, and that other historical figures such as Joan of Arc, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart could be featured in the next campaign.

TG3D is one of the new 3D design firms emerging to eliminate waste in the fashion supply chain. Its self-service infrared Scanatic 360 Body Scanner scans a consumer in three seconds and collects “millions” of data points on the body surface. Its companion Scanatic Body Service converts 3D data into sets of body measurements, assigning an avatar to each consumer and allowing shops to personalize the data and examine or alter measurement markers.