Fashion trends change faster than the wind. One day, small handbags are in and the next day it’s all about shortalls for adults. Well, fashion as we know it is about to get even crazier… or should we say techier? At Re:Make 2015, our annual conference and festival (tickets here!), we’re going to be showing off + sneak peeking some of the incredible ways that technology and fashion are colliding to redefine geek-chic as just plain chic. Let’s just say these upgrades and advancements are game changing, as in they’re going to completely change the way you shop. In case you can’t wait ’til September 11+12 to find out how the future will look for fashion girls, get a taste of how technology is changing your relationship with fashion for the better right here.
1. You Can Customize Pretty Much AnythingOnline:Sweaters? Check. Shoes? Check. Accessories? Yup, that too. Pretty much your entire wardrobe can be made bespoke online these days, exactly how you want ’em to look. There’s so much customizable clothing out there, you don’t even need to be afraid of showing up somewhere wearing the same thing as one of your pals.
2. You Can Find the Perfect Fit With Body Scanners: It’s one of the perils of online shopping: you fall in love with a garment or accessory on-screen and can’t wait to slip it on for its official debut, but when it arrives, it just doesn’t fit — even though it’s your size. Now, body scanning technology that can take your exact measurements through your smartphone(!!) is taking the disappointment (and ill fit) out of shopping completely. Tired of the underwire of your bra digging into your side? Scan your bod with the custom bra company ThirdLove and find your perfect fit (no try-ons necessary!). The same goes for sunglasses — the designer eyewear company Ditto allows you to digitally “try on” the sunnies you’re crushing on with its face scan technology to ensure they fit your face shape.
3. You’ll Consider 3D Printing the New Sewing: Needle and thread are great, but they’re old news. The latest development in clothing production is 3D printing, which has come a long way from the stiff, rigid objects it spewed at first. Now, 3D-printed clothing and accessories are actually movable, body-hugging and delicate — in other words, pretty darn wearable. Take the game-changing Electroloom, which actually prints fabric (back when we first heard about them, they were still on Kickstarter. Now, we’re going to be seeing them at Re:Make 2015!) and Nervous System’s kinematics technology that have found a way to print plastic that moves just like fabric.
4. Your Clothing Can Help You Be More Productive + Efficient: Clothing of the future (which is now) will be multi-tasking, keeping you clothed, stylish but also much more in tune with yourself and your surroundings. Take Brrr!, a company started by two former Spanx execs that pioneered clothes made with a cooling + UV-protective fabric to literally help you chill on sweltering days (like rn), and French swimwear brand Spinali Designs that incorporates a sensor chip into its bikinis that reminds you to reapply sunblock. Thanks to these clothes, unsavory tan lines could be officially a thing of the past. But summer clothing isn’t the only sartorial smarty pants: fall clothing + denim go-to brand Levi’s has teamed up with Google to launch Project Jacquard, a collection of tech-embeded clothing that uses conductive yarn to make your tees and jeans connect directly to your smartphone.
5. You Can Ditch the Phone All Day With a Ring, Bracelet orWatch: Gasp. Dare we suggest it? Wearable tech is so nifty and stylish these days, you could be kept in the loop like you are with your smartphone attached to your palm by keeping it in your purse and stacking up your arm- and wrist-candy. On our wearable wishlists is the smart cocktail ring, Ringly, which alerts you to what’s going on with your phone (from calls to low battery and more), Intel x Opening Ceremony’s Mica bracelet, the fashion-forward cuff that gives you styling tips and SMS alerts and do we even need to mention the Apple Watch?
6. You Can Shop With a Text, Tweet orPin: Technology is truly the great connector. Aside from keeping us close to our friends, tastemakers and celebs, it now connects you to the next item you need in your closet and makes shopping for it as easy + seamless as texting, tweeting or pinning. Nordstrom recently launched TextStyle, a text-to-shop service, while Marc Jacobs’s UK pop-up shop instructed shoppers to tweet to win swag. But you don’t even have to go to specific stores or brands to effortlessly buy your goods. Pinterest just launched a buyable pins option on their app you can use to shop from your fave Pinterest boards. Style inspo turns into #OOTD just like that.
7. You’re Shopping What You Want to Shop: Long gone are the days of shopping the clothing line a designer or brand presents (if you want them to be, that is). Kickstarter and other crowdfunding style sites like SF’s Betabrand + UK-based Knyttan are allowing creatives all over the world to showcase their ideas for the next big thing in style, and *we’re* determining just what it’ll be. Choosing exactly where you want to put your money is a very powerful thing, not to mention the rad feeling of backing a super innovative fashion design that becomes next season’s biggest trend.
8. You Can Have Your Packages Delivered by Drones…Soon: No more waiting around for the delivery man. Soon, we’ll be able to order our clothes online and have them dropped off at our doorstep by flying drone. Fingers crossed that since they’re not piloted by humans they can actually make deliveries after normal work hours (oh, and while we’re at it, can the Tacocopter just happen already?). (via The Guardian)
If you haven’t gotten your tickets to Re:Make yet, get them here!
What do you think about technology playing a role in fashion? Tell us in the comments below!
