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Burberry Is First Brand To Launch Apple Music Channel

September 15, 2015

Burberry Apple Music Channel

Last night, Burberry become the first brand to offer curated music on the Apple Music streaming service. In fact, Burberry is the first brand to officially align with any streaming service to offer curated playlists. The move makes a lot of sense, especially for a fashion brand – music and fashion have long gone hand in hand. By launching a channel of hand-picked music, Burberry is able to express the persona of their brand in a new way and to a new audience. Currently the 3 playlists offered by Burberry; they are focused on British music and are themed around runway shows, emerging artists, and favorite tunes of the company’s Chief Creative Officer / CEO.

Since Apple’s service launched almost 3 months ago, there has been a section of playlists curated by 3rd parties, but those were almost exclusively offered by various publications such as Wired and Rolling Stone. The move into content offered by brands makes a lot of sense and Burberry was a logical first choice, with Apple’s Angela Ahrendts having been hired away from the CEO role at the British fashion company. [We also wouldn’t be shocked to see a Hermès channel launch in the not too distant future.] It will be interesting to see if Burberry maintains the momentum of keeping their channel updated and if other brands will launch similar offerings. Given the ultra-competitive music streaming space, if we had to guess, other brands will shortly launch similar offerings which will be exclusive to different streaming services.

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by Doug Parker
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Fashion

Chromat’s Intel Powered Sports Bra Reacts To Your Body Temperature

September 14, 2015

CHROMAT Bra Dress NYFW

This weekend at New York Fashion Week, Chromat showed their vision of the future of fashion tech. While some brands are focused on LEDs and similar ways for wearers to express themselves, Chromat’s garments are designed to react to you and your environment. Powered by Intel’s new Curie chip, which was designed for wearables, Chromat showed off two fashion tech looks: a temperature adjusting sports bra and a dress that reacts to adrenaline. The sports bra is the more practical of the two. The Curie module inside the bra monitors perspiration, respiration, and body temperature. Based off of those readings, vents on the bra can open to provide more air to help your body better temperature regulate. Once your body’s temperature is controlled, the vents can close. The adrenaline reacting dress features a large 3D printed structure on the back, this structure can expand to become larger when the Curie module senses the wearer’s adrenaline levels rise. The concept is to physically mimic the body’s fight-or-flight instinct, in the same way animals will increase their stance when they are preparing to fight (think: a bear standing on its hind legs).

It is interesting to see how different designers are interpreting fashion tech. It illustrates how powerful technology can be in fashion, powering both design and increased functionality. While it is unlikely that you will be able to head to the store to pickup Chromat’s sports bra, it helps set the stage for what will come. Also, a big shout out to Chromat’s model casting, which was racially diverse and included plus sized models.

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by Doug Parker
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Zac Posen NYFW LED Dress Made With Code
Fashion

Zac Posen Shows LED Dress Coded By Teen Girls At NYFW

September 11, 2015

Zac Posen NYFW LED Dress Made With Code

One of the biggest hits at designer Zac Posen’s New York Fashion Week showcase this week was an LED dress. The dress, beautiful in its own right, was made even more striking because of the people behind it; a team of teenage girls coded the dress’s amazing LED display. Through a partnership with Google’s Made With Code initiative, mentor and fashion engineer Maddy Maxey reached out to NYC’s Flatiron School, Black Girls Code organization, and Lower East Side Girls Club. The girls were presented with a drag-and-drop coding interface and were given a day to design LED animations, but it was not until later that they were told what it was for. Fifty of the girls involved were even in attendance at Zac Posen’s show.

We have talked about it before, but getting women of all ages more involved in STEM is vital. According to Made With Code less than 1% of women study computer science. This is horribly disproportionate and worrisome, especially for a field which is having more and more of an impact on our culture. Made With Code attempts to make coding more accessible to girls through gamification and educating them about real-world applications of computer science skills. If you want to tryout the interface the girls used to code the dress, Made With Code has posted it on their website. Head past the break to check out the LED dress (worn by model model Coco Rocha).  

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by Doug Parker
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2015 AppleTV M2M Made2Measure WME IMG NYFW
Fashion

WME/IMG Launching Fashion Network Exclusively On AppleTV

September 10, 2015

2015 AppleTV M2M Made2Measure WME IMG NYFW

WME/IMG has made it known that it is launching a fashion network exclusively on the AppleTV. The deal is a first-of-its-kind for Apple and will see the company behind New York Fashion Week provide exclusive content to Apple’s over-the-top (OTT) box. According to the New York Times, the network will be entitled Made 2 Measure and will feature on-demand classic fashion films and documentaries, an original documentary series on designers, industry issues and trends, and an inside perspective of new looks from shows that took place at WME/IMG venues. The launch of M2M is an interesting move by WME/IMG. We have discussed that NYFW has been facing an identify crisis, needing to choose between courting the trade and the mass populace. Launching an on-demand network seems to signify that WME/IMG is going to continue to chase the general consumer.

The all-fashion channel is expected to premiere in October, likely coinciding with the launch of the all new AppleTV. It has been widely discussed that Apple is planning to use the new device to launch a television service. After discussions with networks stalled earlier this year, the company is looking for alternative, exclusive content to build an audience; it was previously rumored that Apple had bid on a new show featuring the stars from Top Gear. The company likely wants a large active user base to increase their negotiating power with television networks.

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by Doug Parker
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Periscope Ralph Lauren NYFW 2015 2016 Spring
Fashion

Ralph Lauren To Use Periscope To Live Stream NYFW Show

September 9, 2015

Periscope Ralph Lauren NYFW 2015 2016 Spring

WWD is reporting that Ralph Lauren has partnered with Periscope to live stream the designer’s upcoming NYFW show. In a first, the Periscope stream will also be displayed live on a video billboard in London’s Piccadilly Circus. As events such as NYFW are becoming more consumer focused, live video streaming makes a lot of sense. According to David Lauren, EVP of global marketing, advertising, and corporate communications, the shared experience is so compelling because viewers know “that someone in Japan is seeing the same thing as someone as [sic] London or New York at the same time.” While Periscope has an impressive user base of over 10 million users, utilizing a billboard in London allows Ralph Lauren to simultaneously reach a broader audience; according to Lauren, over 2 million people pass through Piccadilly Circus every week.

Ralph Lauren is no stranger to utilizing technology. The fashion company’s first runway show for their Polo Women’s collection was done via a “4D projection” on The Lake in Central Park and they recently launched the Polo Tech smartshirt through a partnership with OMsignal. Discussing technology, Lauren said, “You have to be willing to try new things and take a few risks, and you have to figure out a way to connect both fashion and technology so it makes sense.” The Spring 2016 collection will be broadcast live from Skylight Clarkson Square on Thursday, September 17th at 11am EDT. This is also a notable move for Periscope; combined with news that the service will deploy an app for the upcoming AppleTV, the Twitter owned company seems to be making a strong push to increase awareness.

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by Doug Parker
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Fashion Tech Path Mainstream Culture Adoption
Fashion

Fashion Tech’s Path To Mainstream Culture

September 4, 2015

Wearable Tech

While we couldn’t make the trek across the Atlantic for yesterday’s Interlaced 2015 runway show and discussions, it is a great opportunity to look at fashion tech and contemplate what the future might hold. Theoretically fashion tech has so much potential, but currently it feels nonexistent in our daily lives. Besides enhanced textiles, there are very few fashion tech items being sold to the public. Part of that is a technology and cost issue, but it also is a perception issue, and that is changing.

The past 12 months have been huge for wearable technology. Up until now, most devices have been $150 or less and were extremely specialized in functionality. With the release of a slew of Android Wear devices and the Apple Watch consumers are beginning to become more comfortable with wearing technology and paying a premium for it. A smartwatch is really the first piece of personal technology that is on display. A phone is thrown into your pocket, but a watch is in plain sight constantly. There is no discrete way to use it, once you raise your wrist to look at the time or interact with it, it is obvious you are using a smart watch. From personal experience,  

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by Doug Parker
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Fashion

Interlaced Is Fashion Show Dedicated To Fashion Tech

August 26, 2015

Interlaced 2015 London Fashion Tech Show

Next week a fashion show with catwalk dedicated entirely to fashion tech will happen in London. The September 3 event is called Interlaced and will serve not only as a opportunity for designers to show off their work, but also as a touch point for the industry to discuss their path forward and to speak with potential customers. With so much cutting edge work in wearables and fashion technology being done by small companies funded by incubators, small VCs, and crowdsourcing, their work often flies under the radar. Interlaced is designed to bring these companies to the forefront. Participants in the event will represent 3D printing in fashion, wearable technology, sustainable fashion through technology, and funding.

The organizers want to unite innovators in fashion tech and prove that wearable-technology is not a dirty word in the industry. Early products created negative connotations of technology being used without justification; as a result designers are finding the need to omit the word “wearable” when dealing with smart clothing. To that end, Interlaced will include discussion sessions. Amongst the topics being discussed are whether ‘wearables’ needs to be rebranded, retail strategies, and how to find a mainstream audience. The organizers also view Interlaced as an opportunity to start a dialogue with end-users to understand what they are looking for and inform them of where the next wave of fashion is headed. Tickets are still available for £99.

While it is great to see a standalone fashion show showcasing fashion technology, it is too bad that such an event cannot take place later in month, during London’s Fashion Week. There are isolated events and conferences dedicated to wearable technology and fashion tech, but I think to start making real inroads, things like Interlaced need to be timed with major fashion events.

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by Doug Parker
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