I’d always been pretty skeptical when it comes to fashion and its relationship with technology. I’m sure I’m not the only person to think that 3D-printed clothing looks a bit OTT, and I maintain that people who wear Apple Watches are the same kind of people who boast about ‘never carrying cash’ and upload pictures of their cars to social media. Yawn.
About a year ago, though, I realised that maybe all these techy types really were having the last laugh. When I started working as a writer for Decoded Fashion, one of the industry’s leading voices in fashion tech, my opinion of fashion’s intersection with technology was completely altered. The first major lesson I learnt? Fashion tech isn’t all about phone-charging bags and wacky light-up dresses (or ‘gimmickry’, as I like to call it). It hasn’t even got a lot to do with smartwatches like the Apple Watch or fitness wearables like the Fitbit, regardless of the amount of publicity they continue to receive. There’s a lot more to fashion-tech partnerships than meets the eye – indeed, the tech element often can’t be seen at all – and the possibilities to this unlikely relationship are endless. So which innovative fash-tech trends and products should you care about? Read on to find out…
Really clever (but really normal-looking) clothes
It would be Google, of course, to take the idea of wearable tech and turn it on its head. The technology giant has partnered with Levi’s to launch Project Jacquard, which, at its roots, is a ‘smart textiles’ project. Project Jacquard’s wares – including its most recent product, a tech-infused denim jacket – incorporate special conductive yarns which can be seamlessly interwoven with familiar, natural yarns like cotton (or synthetic yarns like polyester), which makes the finished product look markedly ‘normal’. The video above explains Project Jacquard, and its endless potential, much better than I ever could hope to.
The tiny piece of hardware that adapts to your needs
Intel has been making waves at New York Fashion Week for its last two seasons, and you can’t really blame the tech company for muscling in on the fashion world because, seemingly, the two fit together rather nicely. Intel’s stand-out offering is its Curie Module, a minuscule piece of hardware which serves up a lot of bang for its buck. The Curie Module has been picked up on by sports-and-streetwear-led brand Chromat, who have, so far, used the technology to allow garments to adapt to the wearer’s body shape and even heart rate. One Intel-powered Chromat product, the Adrenaline Dress, notes changes its wearer’s heart rate and other sensory motions and forms an “imposing shape” to protect the wearer when the Curie Module senses danger.
Wearables that you’ll actually want to wear
We all know about the Apple Watch and the Fitbit but, thankfully, there are less obtrusive, more stylish options on the market that are worth a look if you’re intrigued by wearables but aren’t quite prepared to slap a clunky screen around your wrist. My personal favourite is Kovert Designs‘ Altruis smart jewellery, which packs a powerful tech punch while looking like a dream. Kovert’s founder, Kate Unsworth, has an interesting mission with her wearable tech start-up: to use technology to reduce the stress technology has brought to our lives. It actually makes sense when you read into it – honestly. The UK start-up’s Altruis stones are embedded into beautiful, minimal pieces of jewellery, which then, in sync with its wearer’s phone, will vibrate to notify you if you have received any sort of notification on your phone, be it a call, Whatsapp or email. The premise is that the Altruis stone will reduce the amount of time spent anxiously checking your phone every two minutes just in case that important email you were waiting on has come through. Obviously, the Altruis technology works at its best when synced up with designated ‘important’ contacts, so your jewellery won’t start vibrating every time you receive yet another Candy Crush request.
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The unlikely link between Bitcoin and expensive trainers
It could be argued that there are downsides to fashion’s budding relationship with technology, with one of the downsides being that smarter technology makes fashion fakery even easier. Counterfeiting is, sadly, big business in fashion (it’s worth about $60 billion as we speak), but some tech companies have been looking into new ways to stomp out fakery. One such effort has been made by fashion authentication business Chronicled, which has worked with 3D printers Origin to create 3D-printed ‘smart tags’, which can be embedded into clothing in order for it to be tracked. Brooklyn-based footwear brand Greats has jumped on the idea and is currently trialling the idea, placing the smart tags into its popular ‘Beast Mode’ trainers. Interestingly, Chronicled took inspiration from the oft-controversial cryptocurrency Bitcoin when developing the smart tags, opting to use As Crypto Coins News explains, “Chronicled recognised that blockchain technology ensures bitcoins cannot be counterfeited since an encrypted database inseparably links each bitcoin transaction to the prior transaction. The blockchain authenticates the bitcoin and provides a complete record of anyone who spent it.”
So, if you come across some rare sneakers but you’re not sure if they’re legit, you can whack out Chronicled’s dedicated authentication app and let that smart blockchain technology tell you exactly where they’ve been. Who says fashion types can’t do smart things, too?!
Images via Chromat / Kovert Designs/VINAYA / Chronicled
