Digital Journal — Many people don’t know that nylon was invented in the mid-1930s and by the ’60s, Spandex was stretching out across the world. These two textiles revolutionized the fashion industry, marking the beginning of a family of synthetic fabrics and the start of the visible incorporation of technology with fashion.
Technology is now embossed into almost everything lifestyle. Consumers not only expect the marriage of the two industries, but welcome it.
Case in point: There isn’t a product that has received more hype in the last few years than the iPod. While the MP3 marvel was an instant money-maker, an even bigger cash cow emerged out of accessories. Cash registers all over the world are chachinging to the iPod tune.
Shopaholics can relish in iPod cases designed by Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Juicy Couture. Moreover, companies like Thomas Pink out of the UK have designed both a Nano-concealing tie and a commuter shirt that hides the fluorescent mini-jukebox.
The iPod craze has also found itself right in your pants; one of the most anticipated tech-fashion releases of the year is Levi’s RedWire DLX jeans, which have an iPod “docking station” implanted into the pocket. “This brings blue jeans into the 21st century,” Levi spokeswoman Amy Jasmer told Business Week. “The idea is to merge fashion and technology together.”
The $200 jeans will have a sewn-in control panel so wearers don’t have to constantly take the iPod out of the jeans to fiddle with functions. The RedWire DLX jeans are expected to launch later in 2006.
More and more, the fashion world is looking at the technology world, and vise versa, to sex up a product line and boost sales.
Look at Apple’s latest sales pitch for its new MacBook: It’s been improved technically and aesthetically, but what’s getting the most attention in the fashion world is its colour — the new model is black as opposed to the original white one. The simple change in colour has fashion heads doing complete 360s.
That’s because the fashion world has decided it now looks better to carry the exclusive black model. White is so last year.
If that isn’t convincing enough, consumer analysts actually predict Apple’s premium pricing on the black MacBook will improve sales because, as fashion dictates, the more expensive an item, the more fashionable and desirable it is. It’s a perfect case of fashion beating functionality and rational pricing.
Today, technology is sexy. It is fashionable. On the heels of Apple’s successes, more and more independent and major labels are following suit and incorporating technology into designs.
Last autumn, Black Box Nation created an inflatable dress that used a hacked vacuum cleaner to inflate the dress and give it added volume. The design by Emily Albinski and Diana Eng (known in the fashion design community from her recent stint as a featured designer on Bravo’s Project Runway) shocked the world when it appeared on the front cover of ID Magazine.
The dress was designed to “make technology, math and science more accessible through fashion…and the design process more accessible through science,” according to the company’s website.
Ridiculous? Maybe to some. But it’s only the beginning.
Feminine-looking Bluetooth headsets, t-shirts with digital clocks embedded inside, electrically heated undershirts and slippers with flashlights in them so you don’t trip down the stairs when you’re having a midnight snack — these are just some of the latest inventions from no-name designers who hope to get rich.
Also, an Austrian company called Trash Design Manufaktur actually makes accessories and jewellery out of computer keys, cellphone buttons, wires and cables.
Will people actually wear a Caps Lock necklace? How about an Ethernet-woven bracelet? Some designers seem to think so.
The funny thing is: The majority of these new inventions are so ridiculously thought-out it’s hard to imagine people would be receptive at all.
What do you think about the marriage of fashion and technology? Post your comments below.
