Smart Clothes Are The Future of Wearables Get this crap off of my wrist. Why are we so fixated on watches and bands? The wearable tech market is full of fitness-obsessed products for workout-loving people with thick wrists and deep pockets. No one in the industry wants to admit it, but the wrist is probably not the best place to stick a bunch of sensors, and activity tracking may not even be the best use for all those sensors. If we want wearables to become truly wearable, companies need to start looking at the clothes we wear every day of our lives. Forget bands, make more smart clothes Although the idea of smart clothing has floated around for a few years, little has come of it, until now. Slipping on a smart t-shirt or hooking on a smart bra in the morning doesn’t require any extra effort. No matter your age, gender, or fitness level, you have one choice every day: wear clothes or get arrested for indecent exposure. The main problem with current fitness bands and smartwatches is that they’re so conspicuous. OMsignal OMbra
5 Technology Trends Transforming the Fashion Industry - Fashion GPSFashion GPS By Anish Singh, CTO, Fashion GPS The innovations taking place at the intersection of fashion and technology are profoundly amazing and transformative. In many respects, the fashion industry today bears little resemblance to that of a decade ago—and will change even more in the decade ahead. Legendary businessman Peter Drucker famously said, ”Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.” I am, however, going to energize your imagination with five trends that will help create that unpredictable future—trends that are taking shape right now, that Fashion GPS is tracking closely, and with which all of us in the fashion industry will need to grapple in the years ahead. 1. What it’s about: The most obvious examples of wearable technology today are Google Glass and a variety of smartwatches—but these are rudimentary first steps into the realm of wearable tech. 2. 4. 5.
Prabal Gurung Fall 2012 — Review A moment here to take stock of the current position of New York Fashion Week, and the transformation it’s undergone in the space of a decade. In the frantic rush to critique who’s doing what season by season, it’s easy to forget how, ten years back, just after 9/11, there was virtually no young designer scene in New York. Proenza Schouler was just starting out, and that was it. Those who were struggling to find a place amongst the senior establishment giants were in no position to even dream of connecting with an international audience, which would be actively seeking their clothes and listening to their point of view. Now, in spite of the recession, there are dreams in New York—dreams which are hitting critical mass for a whole new generation of talent set on a course of daring and expansion. The scale of Prabal Gurung’s show is a perfect illustration of that generational jump in confidence.
Luxury Brands Using Social Media Marketing Online «FMM Louis Vuitton - Ad Campaign How Should Luxury Brands Engage in Social Media? This past week, Women’s Wear Daily released an extensive recap of the WWD Luxury Forum. The consensus among luxury professionals is that luxury brands and retailers need to build solid marketing foundations online and those foundations (based off of social media) should focus on building communities and keeping audiences engaged. Ogilvy Digital 360′s Rohit Bhargava and Forrester Research Analyst Jeremiah Owyang recently compiled better practice recommendations for luxury brands venturing into the social media arena. Can luxury retailers venture into social marketing without losing their prestige, aspirational values and sophistication? In order for luxury brands to distinguish themselves diluting their brand, Owyang suggests that luxury brands: 1. 2. My Thoughts: This is usually our first recommendation to clients: add social sharing buttons. 3. Fashism.com 4. 5.
The Tech of Fashion: 10 Ways Technology Drives Tomorrow's Fashion View in gallery Like any other art, the long-term trends in fashion are often driven by advancements in technology. New materials merge with the old and new needs drive innovation while fashion slowly evolves. Protection in Fashion: Armor and Information When we enter dangerous endeavors, from biking through the city to fighting fires, the clothes we wear can help keep us safe. Protection in Fashion Gallery Recycling in Fashion As fresh materials become harder to come by and/or less sustainable, the need to recycle existing fabrics becomes more important. Recycling in Fashion Gallery Kinetic Energy in Fashion When we walk, run or dance, our movement can be converted into electrical energy. Kinetic Energy in Fashion Gallery Solar Power Fashion Where a surface meets the sun, solar energy can be captured. Solar Power Fashion Gallery Environmentally Responsive Fashion The environment around us is changing, and our fashion can respond to that in artful or informative ways. 3D Printed Fashion
London fashion week: why technology is in fashion | Media Network At London fashion week the multibillion dollar worlds of tech and fashion are colliding like never before. For many, the launch of Apple’s new watch, announced this week with impeccable timing to coincide with the global fashion weeks, will mark an important turning point for fashion tech, a new sector with huge potential for growth. While Apple’s entry into the market is almost guaranteed to boost the industry’s profile, in reality the fashion industry has been driving fashion tech for years. Fashion tech is much more than just tech inside a timepiece, and nowhere is this more apparent than in London. In 2010, London Fashion Week was the first in the world to grant access to the masses by live streaming the runways. Now, everyone has their smartphone camera primed, ready to make their contribution to the zeitgeist. The next generation of high tech fashionistas are already emerging. Two rising stars from this growing trend are Kate Unsworth and Roberta Lucca.
High Heel In A Haystack | Clothing Gets Computerized Sure those name brand threads may look good, but when was the last time they allowed you to become a walking sound and light show? The Soundie, part hoodie and part electric keyboard, is a build-it-yourself project now featured on the Instructables website. By touching the Soundie at different points and with different numbers of fingers, different pitches and lights will activate. Vary the amount of contact and you change the light and sound. Can your hoodie play songs? The Soundie works by measuring voltage differences across special iron-on conductive fabric. Along with augmented reality video merging, and total-body interaction media, the Soundie is part of a larger trend of immersion technologies. But we’re totally skipping the other amazing part of the Soundie: it’s build it yourself! The Arduino LilyPad microcontroller board - sew cool! Just as Kanjun Qiu and Instructables is providing the know-how, Arduino is providing the means.
Fashion’s big brands follow the money to join the wearable tech revolution | Technology We’ve all been there. You rush out of the house to catch the train to work, elbow your way into a seat and immediately reach for your smartphone. But it isn’t there. It might sound like the stuff of sci-fi, but clothes that double up as smartphones aren’t as far away as you might think. From its studio in Shoreditch in east London, Rosella and her team have been fusing technology with clothing for a decade and have a reputation for coming up with some of the most innovative stuff. Britain – and London especially – has long been seen as a trendsetter in smart clothing. One big brand name that’s keen to talk about wearables is Ralph Lauren. “The technology has evolved to a point where it can now be synthesised with clothing. There will be outfits for our children that will tell us if they’re getting enough exercise, and jackets warning us if our blood pressure is too high. But why now? His company, which employs 50 people, is throwing its resources into designing technology for clothes.