THAT COMPUTER CHIP YOU’RE WEARING LOOKS FABULOUS Cutting-Edge designs and chic tech at Portland’s FashioNXT Begs the Question: What Will We Be Wearing Next? You can feel the electricity in the chilly October air as the 2013 FashioNXT kicks off in an industrial shipyard not far from downtown Portland. It’s all very low-key – there is no valet parking or shimmering neon lights, just a couple of orange-vested security guards assuring people they are in the right place. Guests scuttle into a giant bay and realize – thanks to the dim lighting, DJ-spun beats and the offer of a wristband so you can buy booze – that they have arrived. The red carpet spills out to welcome them. It’s all about contradiction over the four nights of 2013’s FashioNXT (“fashion next”), which showcases the latest emerging trends in fashion and technical innovation. Disparate things collide here: casual and couture, local and global, unfamiliar and famous and – at the heart of the matter – clothes and computers. “The collision of fashion and technology is both timely and inevitable,” says FashioNXT executive producer and former Intel executive Tito Chowdury. He stands in the purple glow of the VIP lounge wearing a headset and buzzing with anticipation. “We are getting better at blurring the lines. Whileit’s clear computer technology has influenced the growth of the entire fashion industry, from design and manufacturing to marketing and e-commerce, Chowdury believes it will soon be the other way around with the increase of “wearable technology” – clothing and accessories that have computer chips actually embedded within them. “If wearable tech is not a fashion product, no one will wear it,” says Chowdury. In other words, if that headband that reads your mind – or the ergonomically self-correcting suit, or the T-shirt that monitors your heart rate – isn’t extraordinarily beautiful, cool and fashionable, no one will want to wear it. “Fashion has been around for a thousand years, computer technology for about 80,” says Chowdury. “Fashion will always lead technology.” Stilettos, Couture and… Laptops? At the pre-party before the fashion show, several vendors display staples like handbags and jewelry. But the exhibit hall is also alive with the newest in fashion technology. Japan-based Brilliant Service shows off its MIRAMA eyeglasses that can theoretically integrate the Internet and the real world. By using head and hand gestures, the wearer can do things like answer calls, navigate maps and shop for whatever catches the eye. Intel, a major sponsor of FashioNXT, has a faux runway set up where guests can don a pair of shades or a fur wrap and literally walk the runway while a camera captures the experience. A “technology bar” has the new HP Split X2 – a 2-in-1 device powered by Intel that is both a notebook and tablet in one. Guests can use the device to view and print photos, or post them to their social network. Almost everyone has their phone out taking pictures with one hand, holding a cocktail with the other. Behind a giant curtain you can see people straightening chairs, shining the runway. Getting ready. Does This Phone Make Me Look Frumpy? Intel’s sponsorship of FashioNXT and partnership with HP on the hit show Project Runway has helped designers embrace and not shy away from technology. Mark Vaiciulis, Intel’s global marketing manager who for several years has worked with Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn on Project Runway says, “Technology plays a vital role in the design process, whether it is being used as a communication mechanism, a tool to capture inspirations and ideas, or a device used for pattern and line design.” Last season’s Project Runway winner Portlander Michelle Lesniak, who showed off her bold Fall line at FashioNXT, says she uses technology in all areas of her work. She prints digitally onto fabric, creates “mood boards” she can share when collaborating with other artists. “Technology is not just for an office space,” she says. “People wear it now.” Whether our accessory is a funky hat, high-tech sunglasses or the technology we carry around, we want it to stand out, to make a statement. “If we’re constantly looking at our phone,” she says. “We want our phone to look good.” Technology companies are quickly catching on. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently hired Angela Ahrendts, former CEO of Burberry, as senior vice president in charge of Apple’s entire retail and online business. Earlier this year, Apple plucked former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve out of the fashion world and into the tech world as chief of special projects. What’s Next? At Portland’s FashioNXT, several local designers, past participants and winners of Project Runway, plus four unique designers from the Philippines, showed the world vibrant and invigorating approaches to fashion-forward design. In the exciting orbits of both fashion and technology, times are changing. There’s an edge-of-your-seat buzz of anticipation in what the future holds. The collision of indie-fashion, cutting-edge technology and bursting innovation, begs the question: what will we be wearing next? Stay tuned for FashioNXT 2014
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 10:48:11 +0000
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