Wearable technology has become increasingly popular in fashion trend in recent years, in particular the smartwatch, where we can see many traditional watchmakers and fashion brands such as such as Apple, Pebble, LG, Motorola, Tag Heuer, Fossil, Samsung and Sony, are getting in on the act. But smartwatches are just the first wave of wearable technology, next up is smart clothing.
What is smart clothing?
Smart clothing is clothing with electronics embedded in it. This can be to transform the clothes, communicate to other hardware or even generate energy. One of the first companies to start with smart clothing was Cutecircuit, launched in 2004. They make dresses with electronics embedded, worn by Katy Perry, Nicole Scherzinger & Irina Shayk.
Some innovative players driving adoption include Athos, Heddoko, Hexoskin, Mimo, Mondevices, OMsignal, Owlet, Sensoria, and Textronics. And recently joining these brands are giants such as Ralph Lauren, Samsung, Google and Levi’s. who are working on Project Jacquard, which aims to integrate computing power into textiles.
Smart clothing today targets mostly sports professionals. However, it will soon extend beyond fitness to target a wide range of personal, health, and enterprise uses. The forward-looking brands are pursuing worker and public servant safety, interactive gaming, children’s health monitoring, and the elder care markets. New market segments not only expand the addressable market but also serve to prove that the technology can perform in a broader and more austere set of environmental conditions and applications.
