From the Ralph Lauren Polo Tech tee at the U.S. Open this year to Apple’s Watch wrist-computer (and Motorola Android devices and Samsung Electronics just like it) to Sensoria’s upcoming smart sock (and bras and shirt) ‘smart’ wearables with their pedometers, blood monitors and winking illuminations seem to be the coming thing for fashion. Whether it is the true invasion of technology or art in America (made in other places for sure) all these designs, gadgets and meters built into our clothes are surely the coming thing, as they have already come to us.
As The FashionWare Show at CES tell us (this year’s convention will be held Jan. 6th through the 9th at the Venetian/Sands convention Center in Las Vegas, see here for details) this industry is now $14 billion strong. Featuring wares more akin to science fiction or that would fit right along with our new futuristically inspired “Space and Time” line (see here), there will be nano-fabrics on hand at FashionWare this year, bionics and many other wearable tech devices and apparel. From glasses to belts to 3D printed wear textiles to solar-charged handbags, it will be ‘the future is now’ three days to be sure.
But there is more to this all then just shirts that can monitor your heart rate.
At New York Fashion week designer CuteCircuit (they made Katy Perry’s Met Gala dress featuring startling LED) revealed more dresses, bags, and pantsuits…all that could be programmed with different patterns and designs. And this week at London’s Fashion Week Richard Nicoll revealed his “jellyfish” dress, a creation made from strings of fiber optics.
Where this will all lead us, if anywhere at all, who knows? The sports applications of wearable wear seems practical, these other designs might fall out of fashion well before they even get tested. One thing is for certain though fashion, as always, keeps moving forward.
