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Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Wearable Tech Track Field Phelps Jacket Cycling Rowing Crew Visa
Clothing, Olympics, Shoes, Sports, Wearable Technology

Wearable Tech Found At The Rio Summer Olympics

August 4, 2016

Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Wearable Tech Track Field Phelps Jacket Cycling Rowing Crew Visa

In less than 2 days the first medals will be handed out at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. In the 4 years since London’s 2012 Games, wearable technology has emerged as a vital aspect of sports. From training to game day, technology is helping athletes realize their peak potential and even provide a competitive edge. The wearable tech being used isn’t just smart watches and connected devices. It also includes cutting edge fabrics and 3D printed accessories. Head past the break to find some of the technologies being used at this summer’s Olympics.  

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by Doug Parker
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Year In Review

Year In Review: Editor’s Picks – Biggest News Of 2015

January 4, 2016

2015 Year In Review Wrap Up_Editors Picks Top Stories Wearables Fashion Tech Environment

From smartwatches, to connected dressing rooms, to recycled clothing, 2015 was an incredible year for fashion and technology. We saw advances to help us be better global citizens, encourage kids to be smarter, and keep us connected at all times. While 2016 promises to be the year that fashion tech and wearables begin to find their audience, 2015 laid the groundwork!

Head past the break as we take a look at the stories we believe shaped the industry in 2015 and that will define where the integration of fashion and technology is headed.  

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by Doug Parker
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ralph lauren Polo Oak Labs smart dressing room
Retail

Polo Ralph Lauren Launches Smart Dressing Rooms

November 18, 2015

ralph lauren Polo Oak Labs smart dressing room

Ralph Lauren announced today that it has partnered with Oak Labs to launch smart dressing rooms in their flagship Polo store on 5th Avenue in New York. When you enter the dressing room, RFID tags on the clothes you are trying on are automatically read and the mirror displays which size and styles you have brought in. As you try on items, you can select it on the mirror to see other sizes and colors are available. If you need a different size or want to see another color, simply tap the screen and a salesperson will bring it to you. As you are trying on items, the mirror displays a complete “look” featuring the article of clothing. You can use the “look” as a fit guide, to get ideas on how it would fit into your wardrobe, or even shop the “look” and have the other items brought to you in the dressing room. The new dressing rooms also address the sometimes misleading lighting in a fitting room, offering three on-brand lighting simulations: 5th Avenue Daylight, East Hampton Sunset, or Evening At The Polo Bar. While you cannot check out directly from the fitting room, like at Rebecca Minkoff, when you are finished in the dressing room you can have the items you tried on automatically texted to yourself, complete with a web link. Unlike the Polo Tech shirt which was announced a year before it launched, the high tech dressing rooms are already up and running. There are 4 specially equipped rooms on both the men’s and the women’s floors of the Polo Ralph Lauren store.

If you haven’t heard of Ralph Lauren’s partner for their smart dressing room, there is a good reason; Ralph Lauren is Oak Labs the first client. Based out of San Francisco, Oak Labs is only a few months old and  

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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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Wearable Technology

Ralph Lauren Announces Availability & Pricing Of Polo Tech Shirt

August 21, 2015

Ralph Lauren Polo Tech Shirt

At a media event in NYC today, Ralph Lauren finally released more information about their connected Polo Tech shirt. You would be forgiven if you had forgotten about the shirt though; little has been said about it since an initial announcement by the company almost a year ago. But it seems the device is finally ready for the public. Created through a partnership with OMsignal, the activity tracking shirt will launch on August 27th for $295. The lengthly delay between announcement and launch was surprising given that the shirt appears to be nearly identical to OMsignal’s shirt. It seems as though the hold up might have been with software. Ralph Lauren’s shirt utilizes its own mobile app, which is completely unique from the OMsignal software. The company sought to offer a mobile experience that not only tracks your biometrics but also provides guided workouts that adjust in real time to those readings.

According to Ralph Lauren, this is just the first product in a line of connected clothing. Next up, a version of the Polo Tech shirt for women (not surprising given that OMsignal is also expected to release a women’s version soon). David Lauren, the company’s EVP of global advertising, marketing, and corporate communication, also mentioned that a connected polo shirt and even a suit were possibilities in the future.

In case you need a refresher, the Polo Tech shirt is a compression T-shirt embedded with sensors. Those sensors are able to detect everything ranging from basic activity tracking information, such as steps taken, to detailed biometrics, such as breathing depth and how hard you are pushing yourself. The information is gathered via a small black box attached to the shirt and fed to your phone via Bluetooth.

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by Doug Parker
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Purse

Ralph Lauren Announces Ricky Bag With Phone Charger

December 8, 2014

Ralph Lauren Ricky With Light USB

Ralph Lauren has announced a new version of their iconic Ricky Bag which features an integrated battery. The battery is designed to power a light that automatically turns on or off when you lift a flap on the inside of the purse. Working much like the magical light inside of a refrigerator, the light turns on to help you find things lost in the clutter of your bag. The battery also allows you to use an USB cord to charge your phone. According to Ralph Lauren, the bag took 8 months to develop. No word on how long the battery will keep your phone charged, but it has enough juice to run the light for 4 to 5 months. To recharge the battery, you will have to connect it to your computer’s USB port. Given that Ralph Lauren partnered with OMsignal on their smart shirt, we wish the company would have reached out to Everpurse about using their charging mat technology. The bag will have extremely limited availability before the Holidays at Ralph Lauren’s flagship stores. It will become more widely available in February 2015. Having the Ralph Lauren’s latest and greatest will cost you $5,000, a significant premium over the $3,500 standard Ricky Bag. As far as colors, as Mr. Lauren put it (in reference to Henry Ford), “You can have it in any color you want, as long as it’s black.” Head past the break for a video. 

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by Doug Parker
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Gift Guide 2014 Wearable Devices
Gift Guide

Gift Guide 2014: Wearable Devices

December 5, 2014

Gift Guide 2014 Wearable DevicesIs the person on your gift list not very tech oriented but always missing their phone ringing or the important text (or Snapchat) that you send them? Maybe they need something that discreetly hides just enough technology to keep them better connected. Do you know someone who isn’t afraid of tech but is looking for something that is functionally very targeted. Perhaps they need a device that serves a very focused purpose.

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by Doug Parker
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