Would More Regulation Really Benefit the Fashion Industry?

In his post "Some Competing Economics of Copyright and Fashion,"  Josh Wright points out that new legislation for copyrighting fashion designs seeks to protect designers against identical knock-offs. One of the main supporters of the new bill has been Diane Von Furstenberg, but in the post "Copycats: A Tale of Two Jackets," the case is made that her design team also relies on inspiration from other brands, and that it's not just Forever 21 and H & M that could find themselves in court as a result of these new rules.

In this video from TED.com, Johanna Blakely makes a very good case for why more regulation would lead to less creativity and innovation within the fashion industry:

A Step Closer to Virtual Shopping

One of the reasons that luxury brands  have been slow to embrace the internet is the difficultly of conveying the quality of a product on an e-commerce site. This is a challenge not limited to websites selling luxury goods, but for e-tailers in general. Although zooms and multiple views have been able to provide a better sense of what a product actually looks like, there is still a kind of virtual glass window between shoppers and online merchandise.

Video has been the next step in creating a richer e-commerce shopping experience and the full-screen videos on Dolce & Gabbana's Fall 2010 handbags microsite with extreme close-ups of each bag in 360 degrees, are the best I have seen so far. The videos are not just visually mesmerizing, but somehow also provide the experience of having gone into a store and picking up one of these handbags (with the exception of not feeling the material). An example is above, but I recommend going to the Dolce & Gabbana website if you would like to see what's next in online shopping. 3D and sensory technology for e-commerce seem a distant future, but these videos definitely bring online shopping one step closer.

Wearable Technology

Designer Syuzi Pakhchyan is trying to get you to put some technology in your fashion

Maker Profile - Wearable Technology on Make: television from make magazine on Vimeo.

The Virtual Dressing Room by Zugara

Fashionista is a new application developed by interactive marketing and advertising agency Zugara that hopes to give online shoppers the ability to virtually try on clothing using a laptop and a webcam. The video above explains how it works.

This is definitely the most realistic way to see how clothing will look on your body on any website, and the initial set up with a marker ensures a more accurate placement of the garment. A big part of the appeal of Fashionista is the hands-free navigation, which allows the user to feel as though they are actually shopping and not just scrolling through images on a site. The Virtual Dressing room is definitely innovative, but it will be for e-commerce sites to determine whether or not it actually contributes to any increase in sales: will it this application really make a big difference in terms of convincing shoppers to buy things that they wouldn't otherwise?

Go to tobi.com to try it for yourself

Luxe Laptops by Douglas Little

From elle.com

High-tech meets high-fashion in a new collaboration between Dell and D.L. & Co. creative director Douglas Little. The designer has created a limited-edition line of opulent Adamo laptop skins, which evoke various “Tales of Technology”—working with Bergdorf Goodman’s senior director of visual presentation, David Hoey, to enhance each computer’s concept with a dazzling display in the store’s famed Fifth Avenue windows. Little spoke with us about the project.

Ultimate Temptation

“This one’s obviously based on Eve, the apple, and the snake,” says Little about the biblically inspired Swarovski serpent. “Michael Schmidt, a costume designer who does Cher, Madonna, and Grace Jones, collaborated with me on this.”

Reshaping Technology

“This is caiman crocodile skin, which we pieced together,” says Little. “We just used its shape to make the corsetry. It’s all hand-stitched and embellished with black-diamond Swarovski crystals.”

Divine Design

“This laptop is about chemical symbolism and the idea of the beginning and the ending; it’s about creation,” says Little. “I wanted to use a primitive concept that had a lot of historical research as the basis but also that felt like a lush brooch and very relevant to what’s currently happening in fashion.” Its accompanying window includes a trio of hoop-skirted mannequins styled after Russian nesting dolls.

The Princess and the PC

“The story of the Princess and the Pea is that the princess is the only one who can feel the pea underneath her mattresses, so this speaks to the idea that this is the slimmest laptop available,” Little reveals about this laser-etched mother-of-pearl design.

Enter to win one of the limited edition Adamo's here

Photos: Dell

BCBG's Definition of Fast Fashion

From bcbg.com

Max Azaria's BCBG line kicked off New York Fashion Week's Spring 2010 shows Thursday morning with more than just a new Spring collection: two of the looks from the show, bright graphic dresses, were available for purchase on the BCBG website even before the models walked the runway.

From bcbg.com

Last season, designer brands like Michael Kors and Halston experimented with online fashion shows; Kors streamed his show live from Bryant Park on michaelkors.com and Halston produced a short video presentation for its Fall 2009 collection in lieu of a runway show. It seems that now designers are taking the next steps to evaluate and re-structure strategies for online selling, and also looking at how to better engage customers.
The issue of how to better target customers was the central theme at the CFDA's forum on the state of the New York fashion industry in July, during which designers said that it would be easier to excite shoppers about collections if there was not a six month gap between runway presentations and deliveries to stores. As Roland Mouret recently pointed out when speaking at the Apple store in London on the future of fashion and technology with Natalie Massenet, "What I'm interested now in my way to work is to arrive to a certain point to deliver the collection straight away after the show, because I think we're not in a time any more where you want to wait six months for a collection arrive. You see it online, you want it now." It seems as though the race to instantly satisfy fashion consumers is on and so far, Max Azaria is in the lead.

Fashion Camp NYC

Summer might well be over, judging by the drop in temperatures in New York City this week, but that doesn't mean it's too late for camp! FashionCampNY is an innovative open-conference that seeks to connect fashion-lovers to discuss the role of technology in fashion, and the future of the fashion industry. The conference takes place this weekend, September 12th and 13th, and is free. Attendees must however either lead or assist with a workshop.


For more information visit fashioncamp.org

Norma Kamali's New Outlook on Fashion

“Between new technology and the economy, the fashion industry will never be the same. If I continue doing what I’m doing, I may not stay in business. It’s time to rethink and look at what’s working and what’s not.” Norma Kamali


See Norma Kamali's presentation entitled "The Democratization of Fashion" Sept. 17 at the Soho Apple store.

Roland Mouret on Fashion & Technology

Technology tends to be double-edged sword; for every advantage, there's a disadvantage. For instance Net-a-porter's a great platform for you because you're a young brand and it allows you to by-pass traditional distribution of your goods and get it into the hands of the customer directly. On the other hand, in a matter of hours of you're sending new looks down the runway and the pictures travel around the world. So, how as a designer do you protect your designs? How do you protect your hard work, your labor from the seedier side of technology which allows people to reproduce your work?


Roland Mouret:

I think the great thing about it is it push you to think outside of the box. I know what the problem of copying and information traveling even before the event happened. What I'm interested now in my way to work is to arrive to a certain point to deliver the collection straight away after the show, because I think we're not in a time any more where you want to wait six months for a collection arrive. You see it online, you want it now. Especially with the kind of things happening around us; there is no more season. That mean it's about the product and it's about an emotion you have with that product. My work at the moment is to deliver closer to my show. The next show I'm going to present in October, end of September/beginning of October. We will starting to deliver it in November, in stores. It's not magic, it's just a way to organize yourself and to sell it in advance, and to be ready there. And the show has to be closer to the delivery and like that it can't be copied.



This is an excerpt from a talk given by Natalie Massenet and Roland Mouret at the Apple store in London on fashion and technology. You can download the entire podcast on iTunes.

Hussein Chalayan: Digital Apparel

Hussein Chalayan is the master of incorporating technology into fashion design. In this clip, he explains how small lasers are used to add an intense sparkle effect to a dress from his S/S 2008 collection.

Talking Fashion and Technology with Agnieszka Kij: Links a la Mode

Portrait of Agnieszka Kij by Ray Chang

Agnieszka Kij of Net-a-Porter spoke to Style Gourmand about Net-a-Porter's new iPhone app, and about where fashion and technology meet.


A couple weeks ago Natalie Massenet, NAP founder, and designer Roland Mouret appeared at the Apple store in London to discuss fashion and technology. Although fashion and technology seem like two disparate areas, they both attract creative passionate people, just with very different ways of expressing their ideas: how much do you think fashion is influencing technology and vice versa?

The brilliant thing is that no matter where you live, technology enables you to see, interact and get inspired by fashion. More and more designers are realising this and are looking to see how they can harness technology to deliver something new. I love designers who constantly push boundaries (Hussein Chalayan is a great example), but it’s no longer just about creating a beautiful product, it’s also about how creative you can be in getting it to your customer. I think the dialogue between fashion and technology is only just beginning and that we will continue to be surprised by the results.

So Natalie and Roland were also discussing the new Net-a-Porter shopping app that launched this week. Can you tell us a little bit about it? What kinds of features does it have and how is it different from other fashion apps?

It’s the first app where you can actually purchase the latest fashion via a streamlined purchase path. Most apps take you out of the APP and into a separate browser to make a payment. With the NET-APP, you stay within the application throughout the entire payment process. I also am particularly proud of the level of product details we provide for all the ‘what’s new products.’ There are 5 images per product all taken from different angles and zoom functionality so that our customers can see everything from the fabric texture to the smallest stitch! This means you can really shop and access luxury fashion wherever you are – last week I was sitting on the beach in California browsing NET-A-PORTER’s ‘what’s new’ section and magazine - what else does a girl need?

Since your work requires you to be both a techie and a fashionista at the same time, who in the worlds of fashion and technology do you find most inspiring?

There are many people I find inspiring in technology such as Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Steve Jobs but I find I am mostly inspired by the people I work with at NET-A-PORTER. There is nothing more exciting than coming up with an idea, then speaking about it with my colleagues, fine-tuning it and then working on delivering it. Fashion inspirations are harder to pinpoint. Living in London and working in fashion company I constantly see brilliant things. I can be inspired by anything from a teenager crossing the street in east London to a model coming into our offices for a casting.

How did you get into the fashion industry?

It was actually quite by accident. I came to London from Poland about 5 years ago and applied for a job at NET-A-PORTER…and instantly fell in love!

Have you always had an interest in fashion or is it just an occupational hazard?

I have always had interest in design and aesthetics and fashion definitely falls within these categories.

Your hands-down favorite items in your closet:

I have 3 - a stripy white and navy blue top which goes with everything, some Eley Kishimoto ballerinas and I always have a pair of classic white Converse in my closet.

The coolest thing you've seen lately:

I went on a road trip across the US recently and fell in love with old American cars all over again…but then I saw the old cruise bikes in New Orleans and think they are even cooler!

Complete the sentence: You're always naked without comfortable shoes

What one gadget can you not live without?

iPhone, iPhone, iPhone

What new gadget have we never heard of, but in the future won't be able to live without?

3D technology – imagine 3D touch screens computer where you can design a chair for example and then instantly print it on your 3D printer.

The New "It" Bag: A Digital Clutch

The Digital Clutch from HP, designed by Vivienne Tam, $699.99 at hp.com