At recent electronics and fashion trade shows such as the Consumer Electronics Show, Fashion Tech Berlin, and the Decoded Fashion Summit, smart clothing made its mark.
Fabric featuring interwoven conductive wires or embedded nanotechnology allows jackets, intimates, or t–shirts to accommodate basic phone- or Internet-based communication and information access. It enables clothing to measure biometrics or posture, charge devices, or light up so night-time bikers can signal their turns and braking. It can give VIP access to clubs, restaurants, and shops or trigger free gifts through radio-frequency identification (RFID), near field communication (NFC), or quick response (QR) technology. Some tech-infused apparel is strictly decorative, lighting up in patterns tied to music, breathing, or heartbeat, for example, or incorporating electronic color or sound as a design element.
Designers and fashion marketers such as Pauline van Dongen, Nick Verreos, Sylvia Heisel, and Rochambeau, to name a few, featured many of these applications experimentally at recent trade shows. Not many labels have tried to enter the commercial mainstream yet, although brands such as Levi’s and Ralph Lauren have introduced a couple of basic smart clothing items. ABI Research forecasts that more than 18 million units of smart clothing will be sold annually by 2021.
Meanwhile, smart watches, which were a big focus at some of these same trade shows last year, are not taking off to the degree that marketers had hoped. Researcher International Data Corporation recently reported that smart watches and advanced fitness trackers (defined as those that are compatible with third-party apps) are struggling, while basic fitness bands such as the Fitbit are going strong. In the third quarter of 2016, shipments of wearables grew 3.1% to 23 million units, according to IDC, led by basic fitness bands, which account for 85% of the market and experienced double-digit growth in the period. Shipments of smart watches declined 50% in the same timeframe.
Some designers still seem to still be bullish on smart watches, however, based on recent announcements and introductions. Fossil plans to introduce 300 new smart products this year, with designers such as Armani Exchange in the mix, up from 140 in 2016. Michael Kors and another Armani label, Emporio Armani, also recently launched smart watches.
One more area to keep an eye on: smart jewelry. Companies such as FORMBYTIME and WiseWear have introduced connected rings, earrings, and the like; the latter recently launched a collaboration with celebrity Iris Apfel.
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