Fashionably Wired

—Where fashion intersects technology—

[fashionablywired]

Learn how a dress went viral among TV meteorologists

Image source: Reddit

A simple dress found on Amazon for $23 was posted on a Facebook page for meteorologists. Guess what happens!  It’s become the it dress for meteorologists around the globe. Read more

[fashionablywired]

HTC introduces its first wearable, the HTC Grip

The band is one part fitness tracker, one part GPS band and one part smartwatch. It resembles a Nike+ FuelBand, with a similar low-res display built into the band. But the Grip is larger, more ruggedized and actually more comfortable. Its a partnership with HTC and UnderArmour.

For more, read here

[fashionablywired]

The new intersection of fashion & design: Prosthetic Leg Covers

Founded in 2013, ALLELES Design Studio creates fashion-forward prosthetic leg covers that people can afford.  At the intersection of technology, digital design, bionics, fashion and humanity, Alleles aims to empower amputees through providing choice of self-expression.

The project was launched by McCauley Wanner, who thought up the idea at University of Calgary in 2011. Wanner wanted to explore how fashion affects a person's sense of self.  It’s wearable tech that’s practical and fashionable.  Learn more about Alleles here

[fashionablywired]

How a Husband and Wife Team Created a Global Company from Scratch

The American dream is alive and well, and living in Winter Park, Florida. Through hard work and an unwavering belief in what they were doing, the married duo of Anna and Nathan Bond created a successful global business – Rifle Paper Co.Read more

[fashionablywired]

High Tech ERP Helps EvoShield Protect Athletes and Grow Business

Lean how EvoShield, a game-changing protective apparel company, is developing protective equipment that helps prevent injury while playing sports. Its advanced, lightweight protective gear is unique in that it can be molded exactly to each athletes’ body.  Read more

[fashionablywired]

The Digital Asia Effect

By Robb Young, Business of Fashion

A legion of fans obsessed more with her wardrobe than with her emcee patter — no wonder brands like Stella McCartney and Gucci have been falling over themselves to partner with her.  Read more

[fashionablywired]

SAP and Google Glass: Making Work Easier

By Thorsten Leiduck 

SAP and Google Glass at Work co-sponsored an SAP and Google Glass Enterprise Apps Challenge to promote innovation. A team of experts selected three winning apps as the most innovative applications delivering high value to customers, showcasing the best use of SAP platforms and Google Glass.

Read more

[futurescope]

Synthetic Spider Silk enters mass production

The video is a bit cheesy and narcissistic (let’s be honest: typical startup marketing today), but it explains the potentials of synthetic spider silk in the textile industry.

Moreover, Bolt - the California-based company behind the video - claims to have found a way to mass produce artificial silk without any spiders needed. They’re manufacturing their silk through proteins brewed in a genetic engineered yeast with sugar, water and salts (supposedly the process is similar to how beer is made).

Rather than developing the silk for army stuff and security garments, the team plans to make a new line of clothing. Commercial release sometime in 2016.

Be sure to check out the photo essay at TechReview. Synthetic Tech Laboratory Porn.

[Bolt Threads] [read more at TechReview]

[fashionablywired]

The Retail effect of Pope Francis

Pope Francis has finally arrived in the U.S. and he’s making stops in Washington D.C., New York City and Philadelphia.  All three major metros have planned elaborate security details which creates headaches for the average citizen.  And, while the big story may indeed be how to get around road closures, finding public transportation alternatives, and even a place to stay, there’s an interesting retail twist to the Pope’s first major visit stateside.

iPhone 6S and 6S Plus orders delayed in New York UPS will stall deliveries in six Manhattan zip codes (10001, 10007, 10017, 10022, 10023, and 10029) while His Holiness is in town.  The delay means that iPhones expected to arrive on Sept. 25, will be delivered either Saturday or Monday, Sept 28th.

Bizzare Baubles are Selling Fast For retailers, the papal visit is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  The Faithful are expected to spend millions at each stop.  Standard items such as Pope Francis bobble-heads to t-shirts and coffee mugs are selling fast.  But, retailers are also pushing merchandise commemorating the Pope’s visit with some really unusual items.

Etsy is selling a limited edition version of Pope Francis in Rocky-esque boxing gloves for His Holiness’ visit to Philadelphia.

Mozzarella cheese in the image of Pope Francis is also being sold in Philadelphia.  Pastificio Homemade Pasta Co., is preparing blocks of cheese in the shape of Pope Francis in advance of his visit to Philadelphia. "There's no doubt about it, it's definitely cheesy," said Anthony Messina, co-owner of Pastificio. According to Messina, the cheese pope will stand about 6-inches tall, weighs a little more than a pound and will sell for $20 each.

Pope Francis-inspired beer timed to coincide with the visit. Philadelphia Brewing Company has produced Holy Wooder, limited-edition Belgian ale with Pope Francis’ image on the bottle.

While the six-day visit to the U.S. have many retailers cashing in, the popularity of the items itself is an enthusiastic affirmation of the popularity of Pope Francis.

[fashionablywired]

Technology highlights from New York Fashion Week 2015

The future of fashion is on full display at this year’s NYFW 2015.  Wearable Technology is fashionable.  Chromat’s Adrenaline Dress powered by Intel is composed of 3-D printed panels. When the garment senses adrenaline, the dress’s framework mimics the fight-or-flight mode and extends the wearer’s sensory system to form an imposing shape. 

Ayse Ildeniz, VP of the New Devices Group at Intel wrote in her blog post “By using sensors and and innovative shape memory alloy, the responsive garments reflect a concept known as biomimicry, where nature is used to solve complex human problems.”  Learn more about Chromat here.

Drones on the runway

With the help of a Yuneec Typhoon quadcopter, Rebecca Minkoff’s runway show was viewed through the air.  The drones provided viewers outside of the runway an opportunity to share in the show with a full aerial view of the entire atmosphere.  Get to see who’s who in the audience as well as view the collection.

Live Streaming

One of the great ironies of Fashion Week is its supposed exclusivity into the glamorous world of fashion with only a select few insiders invited (fashion editors, celebrities, designers).  But, social media has changed all that.  Now anyone can stream live runway shows right from the comfort of their own home.  Fashion houses get their looks out to a wider audience and create buzz.  And over 2.6 million viewers streamed the live shows. 

Its allowed for the average person to weigh in on the latest fashions and screen the looks as they come out.  And, it is here to stay.  

Photos: Chromat, Rebecca Minkoff, Marc Jacobs.com

[wgsn]

Pat McGrath has created a series of make-up looks for CoverGirl’s new colour collection inspired by the upcoming Star Wars film, The Force Awakens. 

Subscribers CLICK HERE to see our full autumn make-up campaign trend analysis. 

[tomemrich]

Wearables, 3D printing and IoT - oh my! Designers of Things conference schedule now live!

We are pleased to announce that the Designers of Things conference schedule is now live. This year’s event, which takes place in San Jose December 2-3, features 4 tracks with thought leaders and pioneers speaking on wearable tech, the Internet of Things and 3D printing.

Keep reading

[fashionablywired]

The Ultimate Travel Jacket

This travel jacket for men and women started a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of reaching $20,000 during a 2 month period.  Well, it reached $9.19 million in just weeks.  Check it out.

[fashionablywired]

NFL Players and Sports Science meet Wearables

Preseason NFL football has kicked off and there’s been a rash of injuries especially from torn ACLs.  Standout wide receivers - Kelvin Benjamin (Carolina) and Jordy Nelson (Green Bay) have been shut down for the entire season with non-contact ACL tears suffered during practice.  (cue Alan Iverson voice here – ‘Practice!’ ) Yes, I’m talking practice. 

Fantasy football players have to be worried as much as the NFL teams affected by these injuries. Well, there is a solution for all this because 70% of all ACR tears are non-contact injuries.  Prevention of non-contact ACL tears is possible with a combination of sports science and wearable technology. 

A company that’s been working with NFL teams to reduce the risk of injuries using technology is Catapult.  It evaluates players using wearable performance monitors to measure athletes for risk of injury and readiness to return and play. They’ve developed normative data for each position to objectively measure a player’s risk against that of the control group. 

Catapult uses wearables to measure the risk of injury as part of practice and provides the data so that teams can reduce the number of injuries. Fifteen NFL teams have already employed Catapult’s wearable monitoring technology to improve their player’s performance. 

Studies have shown that wearable monitors, dehydration tests and other techniques can be used to identify players at risk. And, by sitting players out or improved conditioning or even better diets can prevent soft tissue injuries to hamstrings, tendons and ligaments. 

So, gain an edge on your fantasy football player by figuring out if he’s using these preventive methods during training camp.

[fashionablywired]

Why Has Apple Been Poaching Fashion Execs?

By Vikram Alexei Kansara and Helena Pike (Business of Fashion)

                Photo: Angela Ahrendts (www.appleinsider.com)

Apple has embraced fashion hiring top executives Paul Deneve, former CEO of Yves Saint Laurent, and Angela Ahrendts, former CEO of Burberry.  Why? The answer has to do with more than just the Apple Watch.  Read more

[fashionablywired]

Futuristic  Retail Trends – Powered by Internet of Things

Gartner, Inc. forecasts that 4.9 billion connected things will be in use in 2015, up 30 percent from 2014, and will reach 50 billion by 2020. These devices would go beyond PCs, Smartphones, tablets and range from alarm clocks to air coolers to washing machines to cars, basically, almost every machine and  In short, IoT is about creating a virtual planet of machines- both human and non-human that “breathe” data. Read more

[fashionablywired]

Discover the Future of Fashion at the 2015 International Talent Support (ITS) Awards

The 2015 International Talent Support (ITS) contest is a prestigious competition that brings together young fashion designers from around the world to Trieste, Italy to showcase their interpretation of a theme.  This year's theme was ‘The Future’.  Forty finalists were selected to present their designs with prizes totaling 100,000 Euros ($110,000) in multiple categories.

The showcase winner in the fashion category was Paula Knorr from Germany. Allyssia Alleyne said her collection consists of “tight, shimmering dresses -- replete with tassels, Lurex, and lots of red -- was praised by the jury for being feminine, wearable and, ironically, perfect for today.”

Designers from all over the world were represented at the contest - Japan, Switzerland, South Korea, Italy, Austria, China, Israel, Germany and France showcased their interpretations of the future of fashion. Interestingly, the designs centered on fashion that weren’t evocative of sci-fi interpretations of fashion but rather something that’s wearable for the fashion conscious consumer today.

The competition was summarized perfectly by ITS founder and director Barbara Franchin, "The only way to predict the future is to create it, When you're young, you're completely free of obstacles; there's nothing you can't do."  

For aspiring designers, find more information about the 2016 contest.