Why Wear It

Picture by our keynote speaker Moritz Waldemeyer

Fashion is an extremely powerful vehicle for communication. As an individual, you can translate your entire personality and create your own dialogue through what you wear. This is a market that has evolved and grown over time, yet can still remain personal to the individual.

Today, wearable technology has made progression in the fashion world. You only have to sample a selection of the latest catwalk and fashion shows to understand that wearable garments and accessories are more prominent than ever before. Designers are jumping at the opportunity to capture a glimpse of this new wave of technology enhanced fashion. The question is, after all the hype that will inevitably follow – will any of the new releases actually provide something that has true market appeal, beyond the early adopter set?

One challenge that faces this emerging industry is the ability to combine something that is both highly functional, and aesthetically desirable. In order for these designs and concept to reach a mass market, inevitably, the design has to fit. There is a real difference between making technology wearable versus making technology products that are desirable and genuinely engage with consumers through good design practice. This is why a universal dialogue is necessary. It’s time for the fashion industry to embrace technology for its full functionalities, and for tech companies to realise that they can’t do it on their own.

The market is currently on course to be worth some 3 billion by 2018. But with a true multidisciplinary approach and greater collaboration, Beecham believes that the market can accelerate and has the potential to be worth 9.3 billion by 2018**. Wear It provides the means for greater knowledge share between the technology and fashion industries that is the ultimate key to success. Until now we haven’t been able to communicate effectively – Wear It Berlin want to enhance the functionalities of what is perceived as wearable fashion, to improve the communication of your fashion and integrate the fashion world and the technical.

**Figures taken from Wearable Technology report 2014, Beecham Research
[ http://www.beechamresearch.com/news.aspx ]

Picture by our speaker Madeleine Cordier

Today computers, and therefore the Internet are almost wholly dependent on human beings for information. Nearly all of the data available on the Internet were first captured and created by human beings by typing, pressing a record button, taking a digital picture or scanning a bar code.
The problem is, people have limited time, attention and accuracy – all of which means they are not very good at capturing data about things in the real world. The Internet of Things provides unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network and thus eliminating human-human or human-computer interaction.
The fact that you can now use your smartphone to unlock your front door, turn on the lights, adjust your thermostat, and set your television recorder is all thanks to the unprecedented levels of connectivity emerging in what’s generally called the Internet of Things. A ‘thing’ can take a variety of different meanings and perceptions. It may be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal with a biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network.
If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things, using data they gathered without any help from us, we would be able to track and count everything and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling and whether they were fresh or past their best.

What part does wearable technology play in the wider trend towards an Internet of Things? We see wearable technology itself as a key enabler for this, rather than an end in itself. We see wearable tech as playing a critical role in the drive to greater connectivity, where we will interact with intelligent spaces through wearable devices.

Wear It seeks to stretch the Internet of Things through the discovery of truly disruptive new technology, in the form of e-textiles and so much more. This is achieved through a genuine multidisciplinary dialogue and through cooperation and collaboration of our strong community. We want to bring new dimensions to your connected life by exploring beyond smartphone capabilities into a generation of human-centric technology.

Picture by our speaker Jan Zimmermann, Forster Rohner

It is common knowledge that Germany is a leader in the industry of tech textiles and today, research in advanced textiles is at par with any other form of advanced material. From textiles employing antimicrobial technologies for use in medical applications and sweat-resistant weave architecture for athletic apparel, to intelligently-designed wearable smart shirt, carpets, and sports turf.
We are constantly seeking out new functionalities in our textiles and we have the ideal conditions to do this, with elitist resources, knowledge and science and offers of sustainability. However, what challenges this new wave of tech textiles is investment. Wear It provides the necessary link between industry and investor. We invite people from all industries to join this revolution of design thinking – to develop truly multidisciplinary and innovative ideas and bring these to market.