Tech in Fashion

Wearables are one of the most exciting developments in technology, everything is talking about them and millions of developers are working to propose us the best experience that will be part of our life, each minute of our brand experiences. But there’s still plenty of skepticism about everything, the main thing being that the development of wearable’s maybe slowed down in people’s mind by clothing, fashion and luxury industry.

We have to understand that wearables are taking time to imprint our lives on a big scale or through a clear perspective. Google Glass is disclosed, I don’t know anybody wearing a Nike+ fuel band at work anymore and Apple hasn’t disclosed how many watches it is selling every month. Even if sales are stronger than analysts estimate, the Watch hasn’t exactly gotten glowing reviews. Even the most favorable reviews suggest it is not a device for “tech novices.” But the real issue that is appearing right now is those new devices are not attracting much the early adopters that want to look stylish as much as they want to look modern. This is a dilemma that we have to solve pretty quickly as we address the inventions to the same profiles of people – seems to be.

Not Practical – Right now the popularity of exercising and sport is driving much of the activity in wearables. Once upon a time, it wasn’t acceptable to wear sporty clothes. But today, you can wear yoga pants and trainers 24/7 and no one will even notice something unique about you. To be relevant in consumers’ lives, wearables need to extend beyond fitness. It’s obvious that for the Apple Watch to work it is going to have to have a wide selection of apps that different kinds of people can incorporate into their everyday lives. That’s going to require far more options.

Not Stylish – Hermes partnered with Apple on a watch. Ultimately, though, it’s going to take a lot more than a luxury brand to convince users that wearables are fashionable. To begin with, not many people can afford it. Apple assumes that Hermes will inspire other fashion brands to create chic designs that can appeal to a broader market, but that could take a while.

Wearables will also have to deal with their so-called “women problem.” The designs of most wearables are ostensibly unisex, but we know that’s not really true. They have the large faces traditionally associated with men’s watches and are often bulky. To be fair, it’s harder to reconcile the need for memory and software with traditional feminine designs.

Not Subtle – We have to say it without any doubt, wearables are still ugly. That’s central to why Google Glass failed to catch on with consumers, despite having some great functions at hand, from navigation to photography and filming instructional video. It just looked too dorky. If they’re going to build wearables that people are actually excited to wear, tech companies need to understand that consumers don’t want to alter their face. As the designer Syd Mead said ‘Fashion is a temporary affectation. Fashion that’s timeless is actually a practical response to need.’ So we have to combine affect and need, which is a real challenge for the new trends.

Fashion is about bringing out the best you, not hiding behind some bulky handsets. A lot of the greatest innovations in fashion are ones that you can’t (or barely) see, from pockets to beautifully lined suit jackets. Wearable creators should steal from fashion’s playbook and make products that are less showy. The two worlds would collide with difficulty (some great examples can already be showed to some extent http://fashioningtech.com). An established business like fashion will always dictate to emerging trends and new devices, would they be game-changing in terms of behaviors.