UPDATE: The official website is now live, including a 2015 release window and a sign-up to be notified of updates.
Today Ralph Lauren has announced the launch of a new brand, Polo Tech. Polo Tech represents the fashion mainstay’s first foray into smart clothing. The black T-shirt has silver threads woven into the fabric. These threads track and then transmit biometric data to a small black box on the shirt that also captures movement information. The black box then stores the data until the user syncs it to the accompanying app. If all of this sounds awfully familiar, it is because this is basically a rebranding of OMsignal’s shirt, which we covered earlier this year. The company has partnered with OMsignal to deliver the technology portion of the clothing. Ralph Lauren promises to expand the Polo Tech line over the coming months, suggesting that a dress shirt is also in the works. Hopefully it will not be as skin tight. While there has been no pricing announced yet, you can see the shirt in action starting this week.
Ball boys at select US Open matches will be wearing the new Polo Tech shirt. Additionally, Marcos Giron, making his Grand Slam premier at the US Open this year, will be wearing the shirt during his matches. Ralph Lauren is quick to point out that they are the first company to utilize a global sporting event to launch wearable tech clothing.
