The commercial above is for Playstation Network, but I find it to be a remarkable visualization of one possibility of what the future of interactive fashion may look like. From Hussein Chalayan’s “Airborne” video dress to Philip’s Lumalive Technology, designers and technologists are experimenting with embedding LEDs into fashion to create textile-based display technologies. Why is this important? It is as important to create possible future scenarios of the use and implementation of interactive fashion as it is to create the garment prototype itself. Scenarios help us conceptualize a use and context as well as consider the the potential cultural implications of these future products.
Tommy Hilfiger, for their latest campaign ‘My Jeans, My Music’, created an interactive in-store audio installation that fused fashion with technology. For the launch of a new denim range, five new styles of jeans were given a unique soundtrack. The soundtrack was “locked” inside the jeans and was “released” when swiped against a giant interactive audio cassette.
The giant audio cassette is equip with an RFID Reader, car audio amplifier, subwoofer and speakers. The jeans themselves are embedded with RFID tags that when swiped against the giant cassette ‘released the music’. 38 cassettes were built and interactive retail installation was launched in 8 countries across Europe.
Watch the “My Jeans, My Denim” video below. The installation was a collaboration between de-construct and kin design. Why is this Important? Probably the best known fusion of high fashion with high tech in a retail environment is Prada’s Soho store in Manhattan. The success of Prada’s high tech store concept is questionable at best and, consequently, fashion brands appear to be hesitant to fully embrace an interactive shopping experience. Hilfiger’s interactive in-store audio installation is perhaps a better direction for crafting a new technologically-enhanced retail experience. Lacking all the bells and whistles of the Prada store, which was packed heavy with experimental tech, it will also stay clear of all the technical mishaps. The installation is quite simple and the experience delightful without all the complexity and wizardry of Prada’s “Magic Mirror.”
Pierre Cardin Space-Age Fashion of 1970. I discovered a lovely set of retro-futuristic fashion videos from youtube user cosmocorps2000. I find the futuristic fashion designs of decades prior both amusing and enlightening. I wonder how long (10 years? 20 years?) before all the forward-looking fashion archived on this blog will appear dated. Enjoy the videos! André Courrèges Fashion of 1968 (German TV) Gorgeous futuristic fashion from the 1960’s from designers like Pierre Cardin, André Courrèges, Paco Rabanne etc. Most of the scenes are from the German TV-Show “Paris Aktuell”.