Wearable technology the future of wearables
Early October. The Apple Watch invades Paris Fashion Week . L 'Cupertino company chooses the concept store Colette for his debut, under the curious gaze of Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld.
A few days after the smartwatch is the protagonist of the cover of the November issue of Vogue China, worn by the model Liu Wen. With seven straps and a myriad of visual possibilities, the latest Tim Cook is set to make the leap from the subject for geeks in real fashion product. Thanks to a careful strategy of marketing the Apple sneaks into the ranks of fashion influencers and magazines: "The clock is first of all a product designer masterful - emphasizes Jony Ive, designer of the brand founded by Steve Jobs." The technology comes almost to the second. "It 'a beautiful object, a device that might like it even if you do not like this kind of thing." The world of geeks chasing the fashion for some time, looking for a new audience and, therefore, greater impact on the economy.
According to many as Diane Von Furstenberg, the happy marriage between the two fields is only a matter time. According to the designer, "The definition of fashion, which last year launched the Google Glass is the air du temps, the essence of time in which we live, so it is absolutely normal that meetings technology." Other opinion is Carine Roitfeld, editor in chief of CR Fashion Book according to which: "The problem of the technology is that it is cold."
Anonymous, devoid of an interesting design, often downright nasty these inventions are far from being the object of desire for crowds of fashionistas.
How to create wearable technologies that people really want to wear?
This is the real problem. Designers today continue to collaborate with engineers looking for that Holy Grail that will trigger the revolution. Acer with Christian Cowan-Sanluis, name behind many looks of Lady Gaga launches Selfie Hat, while Opening Ceremony offers the bracialetto MICA (My Intelligent Communication Accessory) device made with Intel that allows you to stay connected to the display of messages and other notifications directly on the wrist.
The last years are full of experiments more or less successful, but the history of fashion and technology has roots much further. E 'of 1956 the Electric Dress by Atsuko Tanaka, early 80s dress cyborg Steve Mann. And how not to mention the metallic dress by Paco Rabanne or the space suit of Pierre Cardin?
In the twentieth century, the prevailing approach is linked to the future, with geometry, metal materials inspired by the robots. Now things have changed. The technology to simplify, to make clothes and accessories more comfortable, washable, special. And if until now the industry of fashion has turned to scientists and engineers to create better fabrics and prints 3D, tomorrow who knows.
Will the Apple Watch to change things? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, we give you our top five of the best creations born from the marriage of fashion and technology.
# 1.The Crystallisation Collection of Iris Van Herpen.
The Dutch designer for his proposal spring-summer 2012 haute couture collaborates with the company MGX by Materialise el 'artist Daniel Widrig. Together they create a series of 3D printed dresses inspired by the transformation of a liquid crystal. When technology becomes synonymous with new craftsmanship.
# 2. Hussein Chalayan's Morphing Dresses.
SS07 season, with the collection One hundred and eleven stylist always innovative, wearable technology transforms into a sophisticated object and conceptual: 5 suits, three decades. Chalayan made a series of dresses with microchips and animatronics that turn, to dress in Victorian style flapper creation, as part of Dior's New Look in the work of Paco Rabanne.
# 3. Richard Nicoll's optic dress
That seen on the catwalks of London this year is perhaps the first real example of truly successful wearable technologies. Richard Nicoll, collaborating with the company XO Studio, create a dress made with a fabric fiber activated by high intensity LEDs, ethereal and magical effect.
# 4. Ying Gao's Inditex of Indifference.
Algorithms and fashion. Gao Ying, professor of Montreal, created a collection of ready-to-wear inspired by the indifference of internet users towards politics. Gao collects data from an online survey and use them to manipulate the structure of a shirt over the course of four weeks.
# 5. Paco Rabanne's Manifesto collection
And 'the late' 60s, Jane Birkin, Francoise Hardy and Brigitte Bardot are wearing clothes made of metal and hard plastic. And 'the revolution fashionable Paco Rabanne.
