Five Ways Technology Has Shaped Fashion

Posted on by Ashley Laurel

By Philip J Reed, on behalf of Aston Royal

Technology has influenced fashion since the invention of the sewing machine. High-technology has been incorporated into the fashion industry in many ways. Fashion shows that were previously exclusive events are now streamed online. QR codes allow an enhanced buying experience, teenage bloggers are dictating styles and new fabrics and embedded technologies have practically converted garments into wearable computers. Here’s a list of five ways technology is currently shaping fashion.

Onlookers at the live streamed Burberry show during LFW in Feb. 2011

1. Live streamed fashion shows

Fashion shows used to be exclusive events for the wealthy, fashionistas and journalists. Now companies like Burberry have turned their fashion shows into live events streamed to all their locations and onto a billboard-sized screen in Picadilly Circus. People can watch and buy the latest fashions directly from their smartphones via the Runway to Reality application.

2. Blogs

Bloggers have become a powerful force in the fashion world. Teenage bloggers are in the front row for some of the biggest fashion shows around the world. The power they have to make or break a style is incredible. With their approving blog post, a new designer can become instantly famous. The blogger’s weapon of choice is the smartphone or electronic tablet. They command armies of buyers with disposable income who want to be on the cutting edge of fashion.

Silk scarf created by Crystal J. Robinson

3. QR codes

QR codes are the latest form of barcodes. The main difference is these codes have built-in links to websites. By scanning the QR code on a garment, a buyer can be whizzed to a web page or mobile magazine with additional information on the product and styling suggestions. Other applications overlay text on the garment’s scanned image describing the fabric qualities and fine tailoring.

4. Online Fittings

For those who can’t get to the store, mobile platforms bring the store to them. These mobile platforms permit you to print a digitally coded photo of a ring, for example. Cut out the ring’s image, and put it on your hand. When you hold your hand up to your webcam, the software shows what the real ring would look like on you. Hair salons can also offer a 3-D view of how you’d look in a particular hairstyle before you go under the scissors.

5. High-tech clothing

Fabric batteries can power computers that are built-into jackets and coats. Advanced applications of this technology can lead to clothing that can charge MP3 devices or smartphones. Textile batteries can also be used to heat clothing. Flexible, wearable displays are on their way. Rather than color t-shirts, you’ll soon see animated t-shirts and other garments. Athletic garments will soon be equipped with heart monitors and pedometers.

Who knows what advances tomorrow will bring? One thing is for sure. If there’s a way for it to be applied to the highly competitive and ever-evolving fashion world, somebody will figure out a way to use it.

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Philip is a writer and fashion enthusiast, working in association with Aston Royal Fine Jewelers. Feel free to browse their selection of birthstone rings, and contact them with any questions you might have!

Virtual Dressing Room Assistant Helps Online Shoppers with Sizing

Posted on by Ashley Laurel

Have you ever been a size S at one store and a size M at another? Often I shop on ecommerce sites headquartered in Europe or Asia hoping to find a little something different, and the scariest part is trying to find a good fit for a new piece of apparel.

Enter Fits.me, a company that offers the technology online clothing retailers can use to give customers a realistic view of how different sizes of a piece of clothing will fit their body.

“Our robots and the Virtual Fitting Room technology have solved the main problem that online clothing retailers face – the lack of a fitting room,” Heikki Haldre, CEO and co-founder of Fits.me said.

The technology, created by teams from Estonia (Tartu University and Tallinn Technical University) and Germany (Human Solutions GmbH), is the basis for the robotic mannequins whose shapes can deftly shrink to slimmer sizes or grow to hunkier frames. These robots- there are 14 total- can morph into 100,000 body shapes.

Right now, brands like Ermenegildo Zegna (a men’s luxury brand), Thomas Pink, and Park & Bond use this technology to help give their clients a better understanding of how their pieces fit. Why did all the men’s retailers jump on board first? According to the Fits.me team, a man’s torso is less complicated than a woman’s so the team started there, back in 2010. And just recently, the first woman’s robot model was launched.

Vogue magazine named Fits.me one of the most influential names in digital fashion in their 2012 Online Fashion 100 list so rest assured, this invention is fashion forward. Now here’s hoping the Fits.me team can create an army of robots to send to more than a few luxury retailers so I can spend less time on guesswork and returns and more time shopping for pieces that will actually flatter.

HP Keeps Fashion Moving Forward

Posted on by Ashley Laurel

HP has been on my radar as a tech company to watch in terms collaboration with the fashion industry for a few years now.

Not only did HP give up and coming designers on Project Runway more access to their design tools during a few seasons of the show, but the tech giant also collaborated with fashion designer Vivienne Tam during New York Fashion Week Spring 2009 show to create the HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Laptop dubbed the “world’s first digital clutch”.

Yet most recently, HP collaborated with Marchesa, a brand known for their beautifully crafted gowns in to-die-for textiles during the fashion label’s appearance at New York Fashion Week Spring 2012.

Source: Photo from last week's VIP HP event

The other night I was invited to attend an exclusive HP event where I got to learn the details about HP’s collaboration with Marchesa and how the two brands partnered to bring high tech to Marchesa’s runway show after party. Like I did last week at the VIP event, attendees of Marchesa’s party had a chance to see the result of the collaboration called  “tech art”. Like online multimedia shows, one design looks very Gothic with black Swarovski crystals dotted across the top of a black lid, and one more fit for a princess with its sparkly silver on silver design.

Party goers also we also the first to experience HP’s new Photon Engine solution. Viewers donned special glasses and then looked upon a wall that used an HP Z800 Workstation and multiple projectors to see 3D images of designs from the Marchesa runway show they just watched life.

Source: HP

The perks? The ability to see Marchesa’s designs up close, and for a longer amount of time. As anyone who’s attended a fashion show can attest to, models strutting on the runway move so fast it can be hard to see small details of each design they wear. And after a show, clothing can usually been seen via printed lookbook or on a live model. This 3D technology lets editors and enthusiasts have a second chance look at the designs they just saw go down the runway live.

Ultimately, the Photon Engine solution can be used to view 2D video, content from the web, photos, and print documents all on one surface. While only available in the US, this solution might be useful for industries outside of fashion as well, like the medical, sports, and entertainment industries. Even an architectural firm or urban planning committee could very well utilize this technology.

Three Digital Ways I’m "Attending" NY Fashion Week

Posted on by Ashley Laurel

First of all, happy NY Fashion Week!!

Couldn’t be in NYC this season for Fashion Week, so I found a few ways to keep up with the excitement from California.

Last fall I mentioned Inside the Tents, part of the Style Coalition website. Currently, there are 65 bloggers contributing to the site. Collectively they’re covering the week based on their thoughts on the shows they’re attending, as well as how they’re selecting their outfits for each event. This site also cuts out the Twitter clutter and shows a live stream of only the accounts of the bloggers involved in Fashion Week. This might be helpful to some people, but I already know which blogs are my favorite to read.

One particular blog that I like so far, from another place on the web, is Daily Front Row’s Chic Report (maybe in part because it lists FNO’s must have accessory as the iPhone app Lustr). I also like that this blog is featuring interviews.

Tonight I excitedly logged into First Comes Fashion, a site that is live streaming select shows (rumor is, about 30), to view Richie Rich’s show, which I’m excited to say featured designs by my friend Amanda Curtis. I may get up early to watch BCBG Max Azria show live as well (7 am here!), but who knows because I want to rest up for Fashion’s Night Out in San Francisco.

Well, so far so good, but there’s tons more to come throughout the week.  All I have to say is thank God for technology and ask how are you keeping up with the madness?

UNIQLO Creates Interactive Virtual Fashion Show

Posted on by Ashley Laurel


Ready for this? A virtual fashion show that’s not only visually stimulating, but also lets you choose outfits literally off the models to learn more information while the show continues on- no more waiting for details until after the show.

UNIQLO, a Japan-based casual wear clothing brand that’s been around since 1984 (the same year Steve Jobs debuted the first Apple Macintosh computer) has become super tech-friendly in its recent endeavor. New York Fashion Week may make more headlines where I live, but UNIQLO’s Tokyo 2009 Collection is the most unique show I’ve seen in months, in terms of technology anyway.

My only complaint is that you can’t check out what other show “attendees” are wearing- half the fun of attending a show.


 

Fashionistas to Turn Gamers?

Posted on by Ashley Laurel

What do 505 Games, IMG and Pat McGrath have in common? Offering gamer fashionistas a chance to get inside the tents during Fashion Week. Virtually speaking that is.


2010 will mark the launch of multiple Fashion Week-based games that will showcase models, clothing designers and the runways of Paris, New York, LA, and Milan. McGrath and pal Noel Gordon came up with the original concept that will be playable on iPhone and Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony game consoles.


An online game will allow designers from around the world to create items online to be sold as virtual goods, and in some cases, as real goods, Adam Kline, president of 505 Games U.S. said during an interview a few months ago.

The games will be promoted by way of retail stores, such as Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy, and social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter.

“By combining IMG Fashion’s experience, expertise and relationships in this space with 505 Games’ abilities, I’m sure we will all soon become video game fashionistas,” IMG fashion senior VP Fern Mallis said in a statement a few months ago.

Since the games are still in early development stages, there’s much speculation as to what the game series will entail. A virtual encounter with an Anna Wintour avatar? A virtual backstage pass to a Zac Posen show?

Hopefully the game series will be fun as well as give players a real taste of the madness that surrounds Fashion Week. At the very least, perhaps turning Fashion Week into a game will break a few stereotypes.