Wearing Your Technology On Your Sleeve: The Wearable Tech Trends That Are Driving Fashion

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fashion blog, fashion brands, fashion labels, Fitbit smart watches, freelance fashion designer, garment manufacturer, How can AI benefit the fashion industry?, innovation, LeChal, Levi's the Commuter X jacket in partnership with google, messaging bots, Nadi X Yoga pants, Retail inventory management, startup fashion brands, sustainability, sustainable fashion, Sustainable fashion is no longer an option, Technologies Transforming Fashion Retail, technology, technology can help improve efficiency immensely, use of AI in fashion, virtual reality, wearable tech

The Internet of Things runs on one core principle- everything that can be connected must be connected. While the ethical concerns of such tech innovation are hotly debatable, let us shift our focus to the practical considerations and use of technology in wearable fashion.

Back in 2015, when wearable clothing made an appearance on the scene, it didn’t quite take off. This can be partly attributed to peoples’ reservation about letting their sweater function as an alarm, or a jacket be their visiting card. However, brands and corporations alike have understood the need for sophistication. The options available today are literally no joke.

Here are five wearable tech trends that we see growing by the minute.

1. Smartwatches: They’re here, and they’re on everyone’s wrist. Several consumers report that owning a fitness band makes them more likely to work out. Our brains are driven by a rewards system and we cannot help but rejoice when our activity band buzzes with excitement every time we get in those 10,000 steps. Also, they’re excellent for telling time.

   Evolved forms of smartwatches can be designed to work as SOS signals, to conduct group workouts even remotely and so much more! FitBit’s recent update now makes the band work as a period tracker, and it is only a matter of time before the Apple Watch becomes a quick interface for payments across the globe. What do smartwatches offer? Comfort, cool-nerdiness and a whole lot of style.

2. Shirts and outerwear: Nostalgia gets a new upgrade, with Levi’s iconic trucker jacket, revamped. The Commuter X jacket designed in partnership with Google connects to the phone via Bluetooth and can be used for everything from controlling music to getting directions while you drive.

Practicality cannot be left far behind. The jacket is machine washable once the snap device that is the actual wearable tech component is removed from it with an easy, you guessed it, snap.

The Athos Core series of workout shirts are a nifty, more data-intense replacement for smartwatches. For example, most good smartwatches today cannot be taken into swimming pools, but that’s not the case with apparel. They do cost upward of $350, which may be a sensitive consideration since people usually need more than one pair of workout apparel.

3. Pants: When the shirts can be smart, why should the pants be left far behind? That’s probably the theory behind the Nadi X Yoga pants. These pants are a personal yoga trainer, offering happy inputs for when you need to stretch out each muscle, and they can even prompt you to hold a pose for a given period.

We love these pants because as opposed to the usual monitor devices that collect more than they give out, these pants can be used in real time to train better. Thus, the benefits are obvious and instantaneous.

4. Shoes: Under Armour’s connected sneakers are not just monitoring devices. They can help you correct your gait and prevent running injuries caused by the wrong posture. Much like the yoga pants, we love that they offer support in the moment. Studies show that our likelihood of indulging in physical activity is far higher when we have company- one reason why music works. Wearables like these can help take that idea to the next level.

   Closer home in India, a product by the name of LeChal is able to offer GPS navigation in a shoe. While we’re certainly not looking to a future where we turn left while our shoe stubbornly goes right, the mild haptic feedback offered by LeChal is able to help us navigate while we actually look away from our phones, and at the roads.

5. Fashion that changes colors: With the Gen Zers on the scene and a growing crowd of people born into technology, brands like TwentyFour15 are counting on them to make their wearable dreams a reality. At the 2017 London Fashion Week, they debuted a collection that changes colors at the click of a button and even animates to music! No more buying clothes for all those themed weddings and parties over and over again.

   The multi-faceted use of such technology can turn people into walking billboards if that’s what the Gods of advertising so desire. In any case, we are looking forward to seeing clothes that perform tricks, even though we’re still quite fond of our reversible-sequined outfits to create the same magic.

Which wearable tech trend do you think is useful, futuristic, or even plain outrageous? Tell us in the comments below.

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Supriya Ghurye is the founder and owner of Fuel4Fashion. She is a Freelance Fashion Designer and Brand Consultant helping fashion brands to create great products from idea to launch. Fuel4Fashion social links:  Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram

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Technologies Transforming Fashion Retail: The Good, The Bad and The Bizarre

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fashion blog, fashion brands, fashion labels, freelance fashion designer, garment manufacturer, How can AI benefit the fashion industry?, innovation, messaging bots, Retail inventory management, startup fashion brands, sustainability, sustainable fashion, Sustainable fashion is no longer an option, Technologies Transforming Fashion Retail, technology, technology can help improve efficiency immensely, use of AI in fashion, virtual models

When an entire industry is focused on the singular idea of selling, every new innovation is often developed first to support it. Take the Industrial Revolution, for example. The discovery that quite a few manmade tasks could be done by machines instead improved production efficiencies, and gave us a chance to collectively make more and sell more in the same amount of time.

Today, we stand on the brink of yet another technological revolution that is set to change the way we sell. We are talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI), of course. For many of us, even a few years ago, AI as an idea meant a sentient robot is suddenly taking over our jobs and making slaves of us all. But, what we don’t realize is that AI is already here- in Gmail’s auto compose feature and an assistant that calls and makes appointments, to begin with.

Image courtesy: internetofbusiness.com

How can AI benefit the fashion industry, specifically on the retail front? Here are a few options you can explore today.

1. Retail inventory management: Today, we have access to SaaS-based inventory management systems for that can update inventory in real time. The logical next step is systems that can study massive amounts of data from past sales, both within the company and the market in general, plug in the spending patterns and come up with accurate numbers for inventory maintenance. Such a system can reduce the massive wastage we see today in the fashion industry.

2. VR and selling: Once the backend is sorted, you can shift your entire focus to the front, as Neiman Marcus has done in several of their experiential stores. VR enabled mirrors show customers products as they would look on them, along with suggesting combinations and filling the shopping bag with a single swipe. As more and more people look to retail stores as experience centers, technology allows us to catch up and stay one step ahead of customer expectations.

3. Virtual models: Now, this is one aspect that we are quite conflicted about. On the one hand, the use of digital renderings helps businesses display clothes on a variety of body types at a far lesser price than hiring a model for each body type. That said, do digital models set new standards for beauty that are downright unattainable. Businesses using digital models need to consider the implications of doing so, not just on their target demographic but also on the world and its perceptions at large.

4. Messaging bots: Conversations lead to conversions. Until now, it has been impossible to replicate the warmth of an in-store experience online. But with the arrival of intuitive bots that think and speak like human service personnel, this is no longer the case. Businesses using chatbots report a 70% rise in conversion, and that’s just in beauty alone. The message is clear- customers want to talk, and not necessarily with a real person, before making a purchase.

5. New materials on the block: Sustainable fashion is no longer an option, as we discussed in the first article in this series. Customers want it, and they’ll find a way to have it. Textiles today are all about focusing on the source and ensuring fair practices along the way. It isn’t so much about finding new materials to work with as it is about going back to those products that we never considered before, like hemp and bamboo.

6. Connected advertising: Another controversial aspect of retailing today is the trade-off between too much information and convenience. Customers often let sites install cookies and track their browsing for the sake of convenience. But businesses are either unable to leverage all of the information provided to them, or simply unable to protect this data sufficiently. The proof of this is in the very need for new GDPR guidelines that regulate the collection and use of data. That said, there’s no denying the fact that all of this information allows us to advertise to people who are much further along the buying funnel, thus helping us to convert them faster.

If there’s one thing to be said about technology in retail, it is never to overdo anything. When used correctly, technology can help improve efficiency immensely at every step of the way. Just a more efficient way of managing inventory and recycling can help save tons of clothing from going to landfills.

However, there is such a thing as taking it too far, and brands using technology must consider how their customers may perceive each of the new changes being brought in, and whether those changes will be accepted with delight or rejected entirely.

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Supriya Ghurye is the founder and owner of Fuel4Fashion. She is a Freelance Fashion Designer and Brand Consultant helping fashion brands to create great products from idea to launch. Fuel4Fashion social links:  Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram

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The Changing Face Of Fashion: Building A Sustainable Supply Chain

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Alternatives to commercial wool, Alternatives to cotton, Alternatives to Silk, Alternatives to synthetic textiles, building a sustainable supply chain, changing face of fashion, eco fabrics, fabric suppliers, fashion blog, fashion brands, fashion labels, fashion supply chain, freelance fashion designer, garment manufacturer, innovation, reduce wastage, startup fashion brands, sustainability, sustainable fashion

If there’s one retail industry that remains reasonably unaffected by rising prices and inflation, it is apparel. Everyone buys clothes, and the choice is often about which clothes to buy than regarding whether to buy them at all.

“There’s no such thing as too many dresses.”

“One cannot have too many shoes.”

These statements, often made in passing, are reflective of a global economy that rarely sees slumps, if ever. As an answer to ever-changing demands, fast fashion too has come into the picture, change collections six times a year.

However, there is the elephant in the room. And that elephant is squatting squarely in landfills across the globe, weighing trillions of tons, if not more.

As one of the economy’s driving forces, fashion has a responsibility towards adopting sustainable practices, and one way to do that is to build a supply chain that reduces wastage and improves efficiency. What’s more, customers today are starkly aware of the consequences of their buying habits- while they may or may not make fewer purchases, they are certainly looking out for labels that reduce their impact on the planet. Are you one of them?

What is a fashion supply chain? It encompasses everything that happens in the business to bring a product to the shelf for purchase. A supply chain includes design and manufacture, as well as logistics and transportation. In the landmark book titled ‘To Die For’ by Lucy Siegle, she says that this seemingly straightforward step has 101 sub-steps!

The trouble with apparel and sustainability usually begins with the numbers. One pair of jeans never harmed anyone, but one billion? This is why customers are rapidly turning to locally sourced, organic and sustainable clothing. Because today, we could really use a few drops in the ocean.

How can you, as a business, contribute to these efforts? By making your back-end more sustainable. Here are a few pointers to follow:

1. Have absolute control over your inventory. This is important not just for more sales but to be able to produce and market only as much as you can really sell. Overproduction is fast fashion’s biggest problem, but you can help solve that.

2. Offer customization options so that you can go into production on some products only after they have been purchased by the customer. This helps reduce the need for disposal and deep discounts which in turn cause wastage.

3. When you design, design a collection. So many private labels today struggle with trying to do too many things at once. The problem is that all of these things rarely ever fit together. Instead, a capsule for each season is easier to shop, moves more products off your shelves and can be mixed and matched to make several different outfits.

4. Denim are some of the most resource-intensive products to make. Some brands like H&M have started a denim exchange initiative that allows the cloth to come back into production once it has been sufficiently used. Likewise, Levi’s phased out PFCs and found more environment-friendly options to make their denim water repellant. What’s more, some brands are also making denim from shredded plastic recovered from our oceans.

5. Spearhead initiatives to get people to buy less, or to recycle more! As a business, this sounds counterintuitive, but H&M’s Conscious effort proves that it can work. By offering discount coupons for old clothes and a host of initiatives to use more recycled cotton, it is building both price and material efficiencies into its supply chains. By 2020, H&M aims to use only organic or recycled cotton in its production.

As you might have observed from some of these pointers, a sustainable supply chain cannot work in a silo. You need an action plan that works across all stages of the production and buying process. Take the initiative to get people to wear your clothes at least twenty times before throwing them out, a product of good quality.

Likewise, you can also become an advocate for your own clothes by encouraging reselling of unused products- become the marketplace for customers who bought your clothing but never used them.

Each of these actions demands that you make changes every step of the way.

Confused as to where to begin? Get in touch with us using our contact form, for a perspective on how you can make your fashion business more sustainable and friendly for years to come.

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Supriya Ghurye is the founder and owner of Fuel4Fashion. She is a Freelance Fashion Designer and Brand Consultant helping fashion brands to create great products from idea to launch. Fuel4Fashion social links:  Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram

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Choosing Sustainability: The Changing Face Of Fashion

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Alternatives to commercial wool, Alternatives to cotton, Alternatives to Silk, Alternatives to synthetic textiles, eco fabrics, fashion blog, fashion brands, fashion labels, freelance fashion designer, innovation, startup fashion brands, sustainability, sustainable fashion, Suzanne Lee, The fashion industry processes

Our December blog series is dedicated to exploring the trends and shifts on the fashion landscape that may be mere blips today, but have the potential to be a full-blown revolution very soon. Our first blog in the series discusses sustainable textile options.

In a TED talk that has since been watch close to a million times, UPS’s Aparna Mehta makes a strong case for buying less and returning even less of clothing. As it turns out, one man’s fashion is another man’s trash. This doesn’t, however, apply on the retail end of things alone. Some studies show that thousands of gallons of water go into making one denim outfit, quantities that we as a planet just cannot afford anymore.

Stella McCartney has come out and taken a stand against fast fashion. Other influencers are following suit. In this scenario, it is worth thinking about sustainable garments from two perspectives. One, sustainable clothing is better for the planet. Two, sustainable clothing really is the future for every fashion business, and the sooner you get started, the better it is for you.

Luckily for us, there are several alternatives to the textiles we now use, and most of them perform at par, if not better than, their traditional counterparts.

• Alternatives to Silk: Perhaps fashion’s guiltiest pleasure, and one that doesn’t get as much of a bad rep as using animal hide is the making of silk. Apart from the process itself, Human rights Watch reports that over 3,50,000 children are employed in the industry.  Luckily, some alternatives have been found, and they are soon gaining prominence. Jute silk and silk derived from other plant fibers are finding acceptance. Ahimsa silk is an Indian innovation of waiting for the silkworm to evacuate its silken residence before using the cocoons for their yarn. IndiaBride and The Ethical Silk Company are just a few brands that are pioneering the use of sustainable silk.

• Alternatives to Cotton: Cotton is one of the most resource-heavycrops to grow. The pesticides and insect repellants used for cotton production often stay in the environment and the soil for many decades to come. One way to reduce the impact of cotton growing is to use organic cotton. Fornow, it is fairly expensive. However, as with all organic product, a rise indemand can quickly increase the supply capabilities and reduce prices.California based Synergy clothing uses organic cotton, as well as cottonblended with help and bamboo to design their clothing. What’s more, they usenatural dyes and follow a fair-trade policy that keeps everyone in the supplychain happy.      

• Alternatives to Synthetic Textiles: Nylon, polyester,and acrylic are some of the biggest pollutants ever produced. Some reportssuggest that even washing these clothes can leech microplastics into our oceansand permanently change the quality of water. It is rather inconvenient, then,that synthetic textiles are also cheap and easy to mass-produce.  Making a switch away from synthetic clothing needs to be a conscious choiceacross the supply chain. Isolated efforts have begun to use bamboo, jute, andhemp as alternatives. Fabric made from these materials is often much morebreathable as well. The key, of course, is in generating enough demand.

• Alternatives To Commercial Wool: As a textile,wool has many benefits. It generates warmth, wicks away moisture and ishypoallergenic as well. However, commercial practice has driven wool-farmingtowards crowded shelters and animals with very little immunity. Ethical wool is obtained from animals that have been raised on a natural farmin humane conditions, which naturally increases the animals’ immunity andlongevity, as well as the quality of wool itself. Organic wool is often alsodyed with natural dyes, making it that much more suitable for people who areallergic to chemical dyes.

Which of these materials would you want to experiment with in your next collection? What would be your biggest hindrance to doing so?

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Supriya Ghurye is the founder and owner of Fuel4Fashion. She is a Freelance Fashion Designer and Brand Consultant helping fashion brands to create great products from idea to launch. Fuel4Fashion social links:  Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram 

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Eco Fabrics made out of Milk,Tea and Coffee Beans!

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Anke Domaske, coffee beans fabric, dairy products, eco fabrics, fashion blog, freelance fashion designer, innovation, kombucha fabric, milk fabric, OMilch, Suzanne Lee, Tea fabric, The fashion industry

The fashion industry these days, seems to be cleaning itself by creating various environment friendly alternatives. Fashion designers have started a crusade to change the image of apparel industry which is considered to be one of the dirtiest industry. There are mainly two reasons. Firstly the cotton crops and synthetic fibers inflict the environment and secondly the outdated machinery and manufacturing methods which is used for dyeing of the fabric creates water pollution and other environment hazards. According to the United States Energy transmission, the fashion industry is the fifth largest contributor of CO2 in the atmosphere. The consumers are now gradually becoming aware and are saying no to these hazardous fabrics and other age-old techniques. That’s why the designers are compelled to create fabrics that are eco-friendly as well as harmless to the environment.

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/bWZjXU
Coffee Beans fabric

This year’s New York Fashion Week displayed the inclination of designers to create fabrics out of food, bear bottles, develop air dye techniques and smart tailoring methods.

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/ZUnacP
Fabric made out of coffee beans

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/pWKYot
EcoFabric

Conventionally in our homes – milk, tea and coffee stay together but this technical era has tried to use it to make the fashion industry more sustainable. So a German microbiology-student-turned-designer Anke Domaske used dairy products to create an “Eco Milk Fiber” called OMilch. Another such technical pioneer slash sport clothing crusader is a company called Virus who has devised a method to use recycled dairy products to create cool apparel. Suzzanne Lee is one such designer striving to make eco fabric out Kombucha which is a type of fermented tea with the help of “symbiotic ‘colony’ of bacteria and yeast”.

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/Sxxa6T
Kombucha: Fermented Black tea also now used as a fabric

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/M9eJDD
Recycled Fabric

All these innovations have set the stage for new and credible eco-fibers which are changing the social scenario.  Standards are ensured to harvest the raw materials already available with us so that each person who is working in this polluting fashion world can provide best green services.

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/nUFMmm
Zoom the fabric-Coffee fabric

What is your opinion? Sound off in the comments section.

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Supriya Ghurye is the founder and owner of Fuel4Fashion. She is a Freelance Fashion Designer, Sourcing and Manufacturing Consultant helping fashion brands to plan, design and develop new collections with small quantity garment manufacturing. Fuel4Fashion social links: Twitter, Pinterest Instagram

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Innovation in fashion industry processes : Part 1- Air Dying

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air dyeing, apparels, dyeing, eco friendly processes, fashion, fashion blog, freelance fashion designer, garments, innovation, sustainability, technology

The lack of innovation in the fashion industry is apparent by the steps the big brands are taking to revolutionize their products. Recently Lewis created the buzz in the market by creating water less jeans that require 96% less water to wash.  Yet another mind blowing technology innovated to save water is Air Dying. This method of air dying fabrics uses air instead of water to pound clothes. Air replaces water to penetrate dyes inside the fibers and it also requires lesser force to dry since water becomes too heavy on the fabrics to later rinse and dry.

Hazardous dying

Apparel industry actually requires a lot of innovation that’s why critiques are quite happy with the technology of Air Dying fabrics. This technology though limited to US and to synthetic materials, can be a big breakthrough for the world in the days to come.  Fashion industry has a big hand in polluting water as each colored fabric requires about 100 gallons of water to dye, in the traditional ways.

Rivers get badly polluted due to industrial waste

The bad implications of marine life are another side effect of this water dying. Thus Air Dying fabrics did really change the face of the fashion industry, in eco-friendly way. Apart from Air Dying fabrics, many other revolutions are required today to make the fashion industry, a sustainable one. There is an increasing need of waste disposal. There are thousands of garments cut and designed every day, not each of them is used and most of them are thrown away in the big bins.

Large bins storing waste cloths

SO what do you think can be the ways in which fashion designers can add a little innovation in their work and save the planet?