Fashion is an ever changing environment with trends, designs and styles changing every season. However, in the last few years, fashion has come on in leaps and bounds and it’s not just about this season’s colour anymore. Everything from environmental fashion to fashion made from a printer to bikinis which can charge your mobile phone, it’s all happening as technology makes it to the forefront of many campaigns and fashion houses, which const more jobs. Here we look at the top eight technological advances in fashion today and how wearable it really is.
3D fashion
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3D printers hit the scene a couple of years ago after a decade in the production stages and have been extremely successful in areas such as architecture and medicine. 3D printers are only now emerging in the world of fashion yet the first examples have been very impressive. From bikinis to 3D shoes, it has all been thought of and there is no reason why this type of technology cannot be used commercially for efficient and quick fashion accessories.
Solar power fashion
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This hit the street a while ago yet was considered a fad and a catwalk stunt so no consumers took any real notice. However, that may be about to change as designers aren’t about to let us forget about this niche product development and insist that it could be a real hit in the future. The primary aim of this type of fashion is to enable us to charge our every day devices such as mobile phones and MP3 players and the latest examples can do this quite well.
Recycled fashion
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Anyone who is anyone has jumped on the green bandwagon recently and if you are partial to renewable energy, a Toyota Prius and recycled paper, this could be perfect for you. Many companies are now looking at ways to use recycled products in their clothing lines without compromising the look and feel of their products. From clothes made of rubbish to eco friendly swimsuits, there are examples of this phenomenon everywhere. Carmina Campus’s new handbag line is made from recycled Mini car parts – you can’t get cooler than that!
Illuminated fashion
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You only needed to be watching the London Olympics to know that laser fashion is on the cusp on becoming really really big. Many fashion designers such Rhyme and Reason and niche websites such as Lightgod and Fashionblinkylights have started to produce illuminated clothing, namely jackets which use lasers and LED lights to add a little something to clothing. This is probably not a trend which will become widespread throughout fashion but definitely has a place in niche areas and within the performing arts.
Fabric laser cutting fashion
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Want to create unique, accurate designs quickly and efficiently? Then laser cutting it is. Fashion designers including Forever 21 and Phillip Lim have gone for laser etching and are using it on not only clothes, but shoes, belts and jewellery as well. The great thing about this technology is that it can actually be used by Joe Bloggs as well. Many websites offer custom designed laser etching and if you have big bucks you can buy a laser machine that does all the work for you.
Fitness fashion
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Sketchers started the craze with their Shape Up Shoe which was designed to help you burn more calories when you used them for running and many other designers have followed suit. The Power Diet Shoes from Love Those Shoes are built with technology which apparently helps you shift those pesky pounds far easier than if you were wearing standard shoes. With more and more of us becoming very weight conscious these are bound to become a hit and the market just seems to be growing and growing.
RFID Tracking fashion
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OK, so this is probably a bit too much like ‘Big Brother’ for some consumers to stomach but there is no denying that it is a huge leap for fashion technology. RFID fashion is all about chips, which sit invisibly within the clothing you wear. They can be used for many purposes whether it be to track the kids wearing the clothing, to track who buys what and where, to allowing a consumer to pick up an item in store, walk out with it and pay for it without lifting a finger, all done by the RFID chip communicating wirelessly with your bank. It is in the early stages but could in theory change the fashion world, and the way we shop, forever. Department store, Galeria Kaufhof in Essen, Germany is leading the way with this new tech and is hoping to branch out to other stores soon.
Kinetic fashion
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We create electricity with every minute move we make. That adds up to a nice amount of power if we are active day in day out. Now, what fashion designers and scientists are working together to discover is how we can be less wasteful of that energy and use it for something. Kinetic watches which have been on the market for some time have the right idea and it is hoped in the next decade or so, kinetic clothing will be in the shops which store up your electricity and then use it to charge your electrical devices such as mobile phones and MP3 players. It is a long way off but designers such as Soledad Martin and Rafael Rozenkranz say they are nearly there…
Author: Jenny B loves how fashion and technology has been constructed together to create a trend! Jobs within the construction industry are growing and if you are looking for a new trend why not check out the latest Careers in Construction and see how you can design your future!