Despite the terrible news reaching us every day, if you do look at human development over the long term, things are actually overall better now than they used to be.

The fashion collection is a continuation of a Beautiful Numbers project created by Austrian designer Stefan Sagmeister. Short-term media like Twitter and hourly news create an impression of a world out of control, with democracy in peril, ubiquitous conflicts, and an overall outlook of doom. But if we look at developments concerning the world from a long-term perspective – the only sense-making way – almost any aspect concerning humanity seems to get better.

Sagmeister initially created a series of lenticular prints and paintings. The goal behind these visualizations was that viewers might want to place them into their living rooms as reminders that the latest tweets are just tiny blips in an overall rather healthy environment.

This idea was then extended to garments. The fashion collection consists of only 7 pieces: two shirts, a pair of trousers, a sweater, a jacket and a coat. Each of them represents the data in a visual form. For example:

Lightning Jacket

Loose fit, water repellent bomber jacket with lightning print. The graphics show that in 1915, 50 people died struck by lightning (per 1 million people). In 2015, only a single person died. Progress predicting the weather and safety equipment have vastly improved. Accidents don’t just happen: Preventing them is actually a moral triumph.

Progress Shirt 

French seamed shirt, featuring 99 embroidered dots. The embroidery shows that 100 years ago 1 out of 100 women died while bearing a child. Today only 1 out of 100 breast cancer patients succumbs to the disease. Having a child used to be as dangerous as having breast cancer.

Opinions Coat 

In 1990 almost half of all Americans believed women should return to their traditional roles in society. Twenty years later only a quarter of Americans shared that opinion. While this is still way too many, things are getting better.

“We want our garments to last for years and years. They are about long-term thinking. They are also about long-term lasting.” explains Sagmeister. All pieces were produced in New York City, which allowed the creators to actually meet up and work closely with the pattern makers, seamstresses and finishers.

The collection launched on April 4th and will be sold at Sagmeister123.com

Sagmeister123 consists of three people: Stefan Sagmeister – collection designer, Anni Kuan producer and Karolina Ciecholewska who designed the website and runs social media.

More information about Beautiful Numbers – WEBSITE