Why Disrupting The Industry With Technology Is The New Fashion Statement
Written by PAGE Editor
Technology is disrupting industries with faster, cheaper, and more efficient ways to produce products. The fashion industry is no exception. Technology is almost becoming a fashion statement itself. As new technology is becoming cheaper and more readily available, more designers will incorporate it into their clothing lines. Fashion and technology are merging to create a new future of fashion tech.
How We Shop
It seems every clothing company wants us to create an account when shopping online. Companies use these accounts to track the items customers look at and the ones they don't. If they are lucky enough to have our email, they send a following twelve hours later, inviting us to finish the transaction we left in our virtual carts. These data points are used further to send us tailored emails of items similar to our recent purchases. The application of data science is allowing companies to squeeze the most out of their customers.
Enabling and Stopping Bots
An unfortunate part of the fashion industry is those who use technology to purchase dozens of exclusive merchandise to sell for a significantly higher rate to those who are willing to pay. People use automated bots to purchase exclusive items within seconds of their release, leaving less tech-savvy purchasers out of luck even when they check out with items they will actually wear.
These bots are bad for business. Bots sour buyers and reduce the equitability of releasing shoes in stores. To combat these bots, fashion companies, large retailers, and smaller local shoe shops need to up their cybersecurity teams.
Augmented Reality
Online shopping has its advantages over trekking from store to store, but there is no substitute for trying on clothing articles. Augmented reality, integrating virtual and actual realities, allows consumers to see how clothes will look like on them. Augmented reality allows customers to see the fit, color, and shape of items in a 3D space rather than just on models. This technology might help customers shop online with more confidence and reduce the number of returns.
Clothes for the Internet
Companies are taking their brands to people that can't actually wear the items. Top companies, like Ralph Lauren, have created clothes for your virtual presence. You can get high-end threads for your BitMoji, Sims charter, and other virtual representations of yourself.
Ensuring Authenticity
Shoes, purses, and high-end brands are often counterfeited and sold as the real thing. As more fashion is sold online from resellers and people making room for their newest seasonal apparel, it is hard to determine items' authenticity until they arrive at our doorstep. Blockchain technology is creating digital tags for items that can verify previous owners and authenticity of items.
This technology is also used to verify diamonds, and other precious stones, as what they advertised, preventing shady retailers from advertising ill-gotten stones as humanely sourced. This technology is protecting buyers and sellers from fraudsters. Software engineers are bullying these security features to stop fraud and maintain the authenticity of the brand.
Wearable Tech
People are using the latest edition of iWatch with unique bands to make a statement about themselves. Wearing the latest watch or fitness band shows people that you have the newest tech or care about the number of steps you take in a day. These devices that look cool also provide valuable services. Wearable tech has a greater impact on our lives than a pair of shoes. The trend is going to last for a while as tech companies continue to make advancement to their capabilities.
Unfortunately, the wearable tech from tech companies looks like software engineers made them. Watch brands and other traditional fashion companies are incorporating wearable tech into the newest fashion lines. Future collaborations between tech and fashion icons will produce in-demand fashion tech.
Enhanced Fabrics
Not all wearable technology is visible. Forward-thinking entrepreneurs incorporate tiny wires and nodes into the fabric to make it responsive to changes in the body. These new technologies help people with blood flow issues improve their posture and track body temperature. A future where the thermostat automatically adjusts to our body isn't out of the realm of possibility.
Join The Fashion Tech Industry
Technology is allowing fashion designers and coders to create truly impressive technologies. As these technologies become more common, fashion companies will find more ways to incorporate them and improve their appeal. You can join the fashion tech industry by learning how to code at a top coding bootcamp.
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