The new denim line, costing $189 per pair, features an opening above the back pocket outfitted with a battery pack. The charging pocket needs to work with a USB cord found along the seams and connects to a small portable battery pack, which costs an additional $49.
The company claims the jeans include an LED system for monitoring battery level and a built-in protection tech to prevent overcharging.
The #Hello jeans, created in Los Angeles, only work for iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 devices. Also, the clothes are only available right now as women jeans.
Device-charging fashion isn’t entirely new, although it has yet to be available in a concerted way. In 2012, scientists at the University of South Carolina found a way to use a T-shirt to store electrical power. As BBC News wrote then, “It could pave the way for clothes that are able to charge phones and other devices.”
And in 2014, English fashion designer Adrien Sauvage collaborated with Microsoft to create pants that charge your cellphone, using inductive charging, which features an electromagnetic field to transfer electricity between the pants and phone.
“This collaboration is the first full integration of high-end technology and high-end fashion,” said Adam Johnson, Head of UK Marketing at Microsoft Mobile Devices. “The project has been an exploration of other directions that wearable technology may take, with a focus on how our current wireless technology can be integrated into a garment you already wear. We’ll definitely look to continue innovating this space.”
While the pants were available for sale on Amazon, at $340 each, there is no mention of sales figures or if new trousers are being developed.
