Smartphones and other smart electronics move-over: it’s time for smart-clothes.
New York’s Fashion Week saw the roll-out of smart fashion – in this case, dresses and sports bras made with tiny electronic sensors intended to respond to the wearer’s body, according to an article in Fortune.
A collaboration between five year-old “architectural sportswear” company Chromat and tech giant Intel, the clothing line debuted with a Fashion Week runway show earlier this month. The smart clothes use Intel’s “Curie” module, which mixes batteries, motion sensors and wireless connections. The sensors can monitor the wearer’s body heat, opening vents to cool the body when needed, and can also sense when the body produces adrenaline or is stressed, responding by expanding to cover any anxiety.
The smart clothes are not yet available in stores, as the company needs approval by the Federal Communications Commission before the products can be marketed to the public.
Intel is wooing the Fashion Week crowd to position the company as the leader in fashionable and functional smart clothing, according to one company executive, who noted that women especially needed functional clothing to be beautiful as well.
In addition to clothing, Intel made its presence known during Fashion Week with drones used to take aerial images of the show, tablets used for check-in, and interactive dressing room mirrors that allows visitors to try-on clothing virtually.