The Future Dons Smart Fashion
And it looks Lit. I am eagerly waiting to exist in a future where I can communicate with my entire wardrobe.
No, not just because I live alone, but because it’s super-cool and will be damn convinient.
Digital interactions are shaping the standard of living and the way we communicate with our surroundings.
The ‘Smart-Products’ → ‘Smart-Home’ → ‘Smart-Life’ transition is gaining momentum.
So let’s talk about ‘Smart-Fashion.’
Growing up, I could have never fathomed that fabric can be fabricated into a technology harbour with concepts like the Internet of Things. But I guess that’s evolution.
Also, innovation.
Brands are investing revenue into generating and implementing tech innovations in the fashion industry for multiple reasons.
From operations, logistics, to inventing smart-jackets and jeans, we are witnessing what I’d like to refer to as the era of ‘Smart Fashion’.
Founded and designed by Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz, London-based CuteCircuit designs wearable technology. It’s innovative, state of the art designs was donned by Katy Perry at the MET Gala as early as 2013. (Image Below)
Sensors and GPS technology have been instrumental in shaping the initial stages of wearable tech.
Although, when it comes to wearable tech, the innovations have been synonymous with fitness for a majority of brands, a.k.a the Fitbit Rage.
That’s where the gap surfaces. Albeit, not for long.
Many brands are moving away from just fitness wearable technology and innovating more real time wearables for everyone. And all sections of the fashion supply chain as well.
The Levi’s-Intel collaboration is a stepping stone in this direction. Incepted in 2015 and implemented in 2106, Levi’s installed Intel’s RFID sensors in stores to track clothing inventory through IoT. Brands processing Item level or batch level authentication is not only beneficial to customers but also to the entire supply-chain management for issues of inventory control among many others.
In 2015, JoeJeans launched its #HELLO collection which had the portable charger attached to its loop for iPhones.
BUT, for me personally, the Commuter Tucker Jacket takes the cake.
By 2017, Levi’s successfully teamed up with Google to create the ‘Connected Jacket’. Levi’s designed the Commuter Tucker Jacket with Jacquard by Google woven into its sleeves. The ‘Smart Jacket’ allows people to communicate, navigate and listen to music, among other things, merely by a swipe on the sleeve of the jacket. By turning the sleeve into a screen through the Jacquard app, commuter tucker jacket is my favorite so far.
The Levi’s-Google collaboration is only a glimpse into the future of connected clothing.
And the future is not far where we could talk and connect with our entire wardrobe. IoT enabled clothes and merchandise can effectively change the quality of everyday life.
Brands can implement similar technologies to even fight back counterfeiting and fake products by making their products ‘smart’ or by simply connecting them to the internet.
For small brands, Levi’s is an example of how technology can be incorporated into fashion. Jacquard is a small piece of the larger connected world of IoT and clearly demonstrates the scope that lies within the domain of wearable technology.
I’ll leave you with this video to decide for yourself, “What the future of Wearable Tech looks like”
Copyright Sharon Ahluwalia
