Third Wave Fashion // MARCH 2014 // THE FIT TECH ISSUE | Page 22

THE FASHION TECH REPORT

Consider this: Run DMC’s “My
Adidas” didn’t have a whole lot to do
with promoting fitness, but it had
everything to do with selling an
image, one that could be replicated by
huge audiences. Fashion. e same
thing happened with Nike’s Air
Jordan, the North Face fleece jacket
trend that took over high schools in
the early 2000s and the appearance of
Patagonia outdoor gear in every “hip”
new brand appealing to millennials
and the mid-life crises of the world
caught up with wanderlust to escape
the norm.
at was just the start. Bean boots
didn’t just show up in the GQ office
one day, just like Nike didn’t

FITTECH

accidentally start using rose gold on
their FuelBands. anks in large part
to the explosive nature that tech has,
the fashion industry was virtually
dealt an ultimatum to either embrace
what was happening or get le
behind. Essentially, to ignore the shi
to include fittech and wearables in
general, would be to ignore fashion
tech. And it’s difficult to ignore that if
you’re reading this report.
Of course, as with anything that
involves tech, there is an inherent risk.
Like the dot com boom, there’s always
potential for things to plateau or fizzle
out, and that has a number of industry
insiders worried about the actual
practicality of wearables. But with the
ability of fashion houses and

fashionistas to make a market
popular, life trackers aren’t just a fast
growing bubble on its way to popping.
e question of course is, why does
anyone need a life tracker especially
when there are seemingly 20 different
options that all do virtually the same
thing. But the same argument could
be made against shoes, coats and
definitely handbags. Fashion, as much
as we love it, is rarely about
practicality, and though we expect
technology to become basically
invisible, we don’t require it, and as
long as it’s “cool” we’ll want to be seen
with it whether serves a real purpose
or not.

“Bean boots didn’t
just show up in the
GQ office one day,
just like Nike didn’t
accidentally start
using rose gold on
their FuelBands.”
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