“Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.”
Fashion! It is an almost indispensable aspect of of our daily lives. Likewise, the first half of this decade has given new horizons to fashion industry. If you ask me, the two things which define our fashion trends today are “Fancy Gadgets” and “Fancy Clothes”.
Let’s take the gadget industry first. It has gone through many developments and evolutions over the decades. Not to miss the trends that we have developed in designs of their cases or sleeves. Oh! And how can I forget the Smart Watches and Fitness bands which have become such a huge hit?
Now let’s get to the clothes we wear. It has gone through vast changes in terms of the fabric being used, combination of fabrics, and the range of styles.
At present, the market offers a huge range of choices to us, in both the industries. So, it’s completely up to us to figure out what we like to wear or which gadget or device we are more comfortable with.
The second half of the decade will give us more varieties of available products. Take for instance, the launch of “iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus” a month or so back.
But what expectations do you have from the upcoming decade as far as fashion goes? Will it have any major developments or just a few improvements over the prevailing fashion trends?
I believe, Fashion would get new definitions in the next decade, both for gadgets and clothes. Gadgets could get flexible, foldable, roll able like clothes. And Clothes could come with technical specifications like gadgets.
Looking at the latest gadget launches in the market, it is safe to say that companies are equally focused towards the gadget’s appearance along with its practicality. Therefore, rather than simply being a high-tech tool, gadgets are also an accepted fashion accessory in popular culture. If you agree, then it would be interesting to take a look at the possible future developments of Technology in Fashion.
- Smart Clothes
Smart Clothes
When we think of clothing, we usually just think of it as something we wear to , convey our sense of style and protect us from the environmental elements. But, the future of clothing will change in a big way. Smart textiles are paving the way for this change. So, you could expect the clothes in next decade to have functions similar to mobiles!
We already have AC jackets to beat the heat. A step ahead would be waterproof clothing. And no, I don’t mean designer raincoats! . And your clothes would even have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Memory card slot, display screen (anywhere on the garment and may keep changing as per your choice), Camera, etc. and much more. So, in future we would have a specific kind of fashionable clothes which would come with technical specifications and features. Now I find that totally cool! Though I can’t comment on it’s affordability. That’s another story though.
- Mobile Charging Shoes
Mobile Charging Shoes
One thing is sure about the future. Eco-friendly methods of energy generation will rule the Power industry. Due to the obvious reasons of reducing the global warming and to prevent the non-renewable resources from getting extinct. I would like to think the future would also have more of the “Home Based Energy Generation Systems” evolved around any of the resources like Solar Energy, Hydro-Energy, Wind-Energy, Piezo-Electric Crystals, etc.
Considering the way energy is being produced through the above sources and the experiments going around the world, the next decade would probably see the introduction of Energy Generating Sport Shoes. These shoes would have energy generating circuits using piezo-electric crystals in their soles. So, with every movement of the wearer, energy would be produced which could be stored in the light weight battery attached with the shoe and that would be worn around the ankle. It is predicted the whole day movement of a person can generate ample amount of energy to charge our mobile phones.
- Laptop Bands
Laptop Bands
The launch of the Bendable phone concept by Lenovo this year is enough for us to believe that the Electronics industries have already started to develop flexible gadgets. And for sure this flexibility of screens would also be observed in laptops and tablets in the next decade. With this, there even could be some more major changes in the laptops like increase in battery life.
Laptops have increasingly become slimmer and smaller in size over the years. By the next decade, they may get reduced to the size of a wrist band with a whole day battery life. Portability would be redefined if that is the case!
- Mixed Reality Sun Glasses
Mixed Reality Sun Glasses
When we talk about Fashion accessories, Sun Glasses hold the second position after Watches or Bands. And when all things are changing their styles why should they lag behind? Google Glasses have already entered the market. Let me speculate on the look and feel of Sunglasses for the next decade. Instead of plain Sun Glasses, how about Mixed Reality Sun Glasses? These would work in dual mode: simple Sun Glasses and mixed reality mode. The latter could be achieved by connecting to the mobile or laptops through Bluetooth or any other technique prevailing at that time.
There are three technologies which are being talked about a lot these days viz. Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality. We know their acronyms much better as VR, AR, and MR respectively. It’s easy to distinguish VR from other two but distinguishing between the latter two is a bit tricky. To simplify their distinction, what you experience through Google Glass depicts AR and what you experience through HoloLens is MR.
Talking of MR or Mixed Reality, this is the least- -known of the three. It tries to combine the best aspects of both VR and AR. Mixed Reality refers to the combination or merging of Virtual objects (part of VR) into the real environment (part of AR) in a way that they co-exist together and can interact with each other in real time. Hence, it is also sometimes referred to as Hybrid Reality.
This is just an introduction to what the combination of fashion and technology may create in future. Some initial samples of it are out for us to try. But the advanced products are still being under R&D. We may have such things in the market adding a new range of choices for us. Or they might just be for academic purposes. We don’t know yet..
But for once, imagine such technically advanced products. Our entire lifestyle and shopping experience would change. Well, I have my own bit of wisdom while choosing my fashion statement:
“Fashion is not necessarily about labels. It’s not about brands. It’s about something else that comes from within you”.
