Leading packing materials company Avery Dennison and IoT platform maker Evrything have teamed up with fashion house Rochambeau to develop connected jackets.
The firms are working with the New York-based fashion house to produce and sell an exclusive fall run of “Bright BMBR” connected jackets.
They’re powered by Avery Dennison’s Janela platform and Evrything’s intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) cloud solution, and will offer customers dining, art, retail and fashion experiences.
At the forefront of fashion
They sport one-of-a-kind digital experiences and are to be demonstrated at Decoded Fashion NYC, which takes place between November 1st and 2nd.
A retail launch will follow at the start of December through the fashion designer’s exclusive retail partner The New Stand, a retail store offering physical and digital experiences.
In total, the Vogue Fashion Fund finalist has produced fifteen unique connected jackets, all of which let customers unlock a selection of New York City restaurant, gallery, club, retail and fashion experiences.
The company is also lined up to take part in New York Fashion Week, exclusively handpicked by Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour.
Related: What’s the future of IoT in retail?
From connected jackets to high-tech garments
Each jacket is kitted out with the latest IoT technology. On the left sleeve, there’s a hidden zipper pocket containing a custom NFC chip and QR code.
Using these, customers can connect to the jacket through their smartphones and access a plethora of curated experiences offered by the fashion house.
Users can trigger the garment to give them a VIP pass to a sold-out, highly popular event – like a tour at New Release gallery or dinner at Toro restaurant. They’re all chosen by Rochambeau’s founders.
There’s also the ability for wearers to get personalized gifts. They just have to scan their phone when they’re near one of The new Stand’s retail outlets.
Smart partnership
Avery Dennison has contributed its world-renowned hardware and manufacturing might, while Evrything has combined its digital product identity and data management platforms.
Andy Hobsbawm, CMO and co-founder at EVRYTHNG, said: “Every forward-thinking fashion brand and retailer is working out how to combine physical stores with digital media and services, all powered by intelligent data platforms to personalize the experience of buying and owning products.”
“This highly innovative, physical-digital partnership adds cloud software capabilities to physical apparel to show how it’s done.”
Deon Stander, vice president and general manager of Avery Dennison’s RBIS division, said: “Avery Dennison works with leaders in the apparel and footwear industry worldwide, and we are always looking to work with the next generation of global fashion brands.”
“We are delighted to collaborate with Rochambeau and demonstrate how adding digital identities to garments creates a valuable, new channel for consumer engagement to support our retail brand customers.”
Laurence Chandler, founder of Rochambeau, said: “We started Rochambeau as an outlet for creative expression and artistic collaboration.”
“We can’t think of a more amazing way to do this than to create beautiful garments with culture and connectivity stitched into the very fabric of the item. We’re excited about designing more Rochambeau products which are born digital.”
Technology will revolutionize fashion
Stephan Buehler, CEO of TexTrace, believes that connected tech and sensors will revolutionize the fashion and retail worlds in many different ways.
In particular, he says traditional technologies like RFID are being given a new lease of life and have a variety of new capabilities. “Although RFID technology has been around since the 1940’s, the retail sector has only recently started to see the benefits the technology presents to inventory accuracy, shrink reduction and security,” he says.