Tech-tility: Activewear goes beyond performance and functionality.  
Name : Favour Ebede Student ID : W16660351 1
Content page 1. Introduction 2. Smart Clothing 3. Climate Adaptive Clothing 4. Trend Pyramid 5. Luxury meets Performance 6. New Futures: Tomorrow is Here 7. Filters & False Realities 8. Semiotic Square 9. ASOS - My Style Is Never Done 10. Conclusion
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Introduction In this screen age, the distinction between the real and the virtual is becoming harder to decipher. As the world is shifting towards being digital, tech-tility ( the blurring of the physical and digital) explores this change and how brands will adapt to it. The aim of this report is to discover how tech-tility is applied in modern active wear along with it’s cultural and historical references as well as connotations. This report will cover the advancement of smart clothing, and the rise of protective dressing which is influenced by the firemen suits. The concept of protection from, cold, war, fire etc. is brought about by smart clothing. More advancements in technology meant that these smart materials needed to be further improved. It elaborates on climate adaptive clothing and the global crisis that is climate change. Climate change has been about for centuries, which brought about the Little Ice Age that revolutionised renaissance fashion. During that time, the elites were much indulged in their fashion and opulence lifestyle. The next section is informed by the changes of sportswear silhouettes and fabrics used to create sci-fi inspired or post-apocalyptic fashion as well as the idea of luxurious sports wear with an evening wear feel. Sportswear has a new purpose and it is more than just performance. Artificial intelligence and virtual reality have brought about the creation of CGI models, but this idea of an idealised perfect woman is influenced by social media. It goes further to dissect the ASOS advert (My Style Is Never Done) on its associations with tech-tility and its references. The conclusion is the effect of immaterial fashion on the fashion industry with a proposal for the next communicative medium brands can use to appeal to consumers.
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Smart Clothing The new generation of smart clothing is demanding more than just performance, it is expected to ultimately enable and support the wearer to perform at their optimum. Developments in biomechanic scientific materials presents new functions in performance sportswear such as being able to create smart, adaptive and protective clothing to cater for the ever-changing lifestyle and needs of the consumer. The technology is becoming intuitive and is able to react in real time, responding to the wearer’s movement and updates its functionality based on the personal data. Although there have been product launches from the likes of brands like Levi’s and Google, smart clothing is yet to gain the momentum. A recent study by Juniper research expects connected clothing to become the fastest growing clothing sector by 2020 with a worth of £764 million (Stott, 2019) Concussions are the leading cause of concern for sports organisations as the evolution of modern athletes have pushed the limits of performance. The notion of protection from clothes have been around since the beginning of time and has had various connotations for cultures. In Biblical times, the earliest form of protective garments were leaves worn by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The array of dangers prevented by clothing are endless, allowing the body to exist in dangerous environments, substances while preventing body injuries. Protective clothing became popular in the second half of the twentieth century. In the mid 1960s, flame resistant fabrics like Nomex and Kevlar aramid fibres were developed to withstand gunpowder and firearms during war. These materials were used in combination of breathing devices to allow firefighters enter burning buildings. There would always be a need for progression of protective clothing, as it is an endless cycle of unpredictable environmental climate as well as advancing technology (Unknown, 2019). The concept of protective wear have recently inspired designers to create fashion from the original fire man suit.
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Climate Adaptive Clothing The rapid pace of Climate change has brought about unfavourable weather conditions which continues to worsen overtime. Brands are responding to this change by implementing sustainable practises while having more flexibility in their design approach as smart fabrics are used to create apparel that is suitable for shifting temperatures. Stone Island just released a thermo-sensitive Ice jacket that changes colour from white to grey due to cold weather and possesses a freeze proof lining to protect from cold weather (Varga, 2018). Furthermore, a Canadian brand known as SKINNCore has invented a self heating apparel with a wireless heating system that adapts to the body’s optimum temperature. Designed to heat up specific areas according to personal preference settings on the app and is most suitable for sports or everyday use (Sexty, 2018). 
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Climate change is a phenomenon that holds great social and political consequences and has been in history for centuries. The only difference is the increment of temperature over the years. The Little Ice Age was a rapidly freezing climate around the 14th and the 19th centuries. The history of fashion changed as the cold became worse in the 16th century which had an influence on renaissance clothing which Stone Island championed warmer styles such as floor length coats, tight bodices, heavy drapery and layers. The Elites of the time had a likeness for things to made with luxury from the elaborate pearl lined fashionable hats down to the gold thread of their coats made from actual strips of gold. Their opulence ignored the crisis at the time by transitioning to sable-lined sleeves and fur lined mantels threaded with gold while the poor lost their homes and died from starvation or diseases (Eagles, 2017).
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Trend Pyramid  Smart materials Sportswear Luxury
Trickle down effect Scientific materials were initially used in clothing as a source of protection from fire arm, war and hazardous environments. Sportswear incorporates scientific materials to create climate adaptive or technologically advanced digitally connected apparel. Luxury brands have taken a notice in the potential of Sportswear, and therefore plays on the eclectic mix of performance wear and high fashion. Therefore, becoming a trend that has an influence on the style of fashion innovators, early majority, before being modified to a commercialised trend.
Streetwear
Bubble up effect Streetwear plays an important role for designers, trend forecasters in determining the next trend for upcoming seasons. Luxury brands adapt the new idea to create new fashion forward collections which paves a new way for more exclusive offering new fabrics, silhouettes and even collaborations.Sportswear with performance at their core will then start adopting luxury fashions to appeal to new consumers. In the quest for exclusivity, scientific materials are developed for robotic textiles and more advanced functions in sports wear.
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Luxury Meets Performance Fashion was not a priority to Sportswear giants like Nike, as they considered performance to be at the core of their values. However with the recent surge of interest in wellness and fitness next to the established athleisure trend, the demand is higher than ever for the sportswear market. It was estimated to have had a revenue of £134 billion, an increment from 8 percent the previous year outperforming non sportswear apparel and footwear by 4%. As the market becomes more saturated, sports brands need to challenge the status quo to further intersect sports and lifestyle as it’s becoming the uniform of a new generation. Luxury fashion houses like Balenciaga, A-COLD-WALL*, 1017 ALYX 9SM have managed to find the balance between luxury and performance. Nike, being the world’s leading sports retailer has paved the way by collaborating to sustain it’s position as key player in the market. In 2018 Nike released a range of track suits with Martine Rose as well as football collections with Dior’s Kim Jones (Morency, 2019). The biggest moment for designer performance wear Offwhite SS 19/20 show in collaboration with Nike. The track and field inspired collection showcased 8 elite gold medal winning athletes alongside familiar fashion models such as Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid.
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New Futures: Tomorrow is here According to the Future Laboratory, Luxury index claims that luxurians are eschewing comfort and safety in exchange for extreme outdoor sports in order to engage with the mind, body and brain. Originally, outdoor inspired collections were driven purely by aesthetic. For modern and traditional luxury brands to avoid irrelevance, they must appeal to both the functional and aesthetic demands of the active consumer (Friend, 2019). Due to poor weather conditions, performance ski and snow wear including skin goggles and salopettes is now being incorporated in urban styling with a futuristic postapocalyptic spin (Varga, 2018). Over the years fashion has developed an interest in space age futuristic fashion, from Hussein Chalayan’s transformative wearable tech in the nineties, to Alexander Mcqueen’s utopian world set in Plato’s Atlantis in 2009 as well as Iris Van Herpen experimental dresses made from 3d printers. Even more recently, the interest in a dystopian/post-apocalyptic galactic world was showcased on AW17 runway collections. There were foil-covered bulbous distorted forms at Commes des Garçons, diamanté glitter bodysuits on models covered head to toe at Gucci. Karl Lagerfield show was set in a rocket launch runway with spacesuits, Christopher Kane made his input with his cosmic prints, while Paco Rabanne brought back his signature chain-metal aluminium dress. This is all happening under the influence of sci-fi films as fashion doesn’t happen in it’s bubble. These past two years have seen a current boom in sci- fi with numerous anticipated blockbusters such as, Blade Runner 2049, long overdue prequel Alien : Covenant, afro-futuristic marvel movie Black Panther, not to mention Star Wars: The Force which had the biggest opening weekends in a single territory. As the world approaches a fantastical cosmos, that was only once read in books, it’s bound to have an effect in fashion (Hunt, 2017). Space Age fashion started in the sixties-era with revolutionary top contributors like Courrèges, Paco Rabanne, and Pierre Cardin who were influenced by the global space age.
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This Space era was about pushing boundaries and exploring possibilities of the unknown and foreseeable future which was imagined to have advanced technology, flying cars and aliens. In the midst of global crisis and climate change, as well as experiencing a turning point in technological innovation, it’s no surprise that Space references are booming at a time of uncertainty. Space Age 60s obsession came about due to the Cold War happening at the time. Uncertainty brings about anxiety, so therefore futuristic fashion is a chance to escape reality to get a feel of what living in the future would be like, a chance to correct the current situation and a chance to hope for a better future (Vernuccio, 2017).
The direction for AW 18 remained futuristic with a focus on fabric and textiles. The Clothes are making dramatic bold statements, with reflective fabrics, iridescent PVCs, Perpex, slinky metallic chainmail rather than playing it safe and commercial. Metallic finishes are styled across layers from head to toe with a mix of gold and/or silver and also as accessories. The fascination with AI-inpired metallic finishes and cyborgs would impact activewear with a retro-futuristic style that is both functional and luxurious (Varga, 2018)
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Filters & False Realities This is Shudu, she’s known as the first digital supermodel designed by Photographer Cameron- James Wilson and was first used to promote Fenty Beauty products. There was a lot of speculation going on about whether she was real or not at the time. She also did a campaign with Balmain that received a lot of backlash about using a perfect fake black model instead of a real Black model, a demographic that remains underrepresented in the fashion industry. Although Shudu is an idealised female creation of the male gaze and could well be problematic for most women’s body image. This problem of body dysmorphia started with social media especially with the influencer culture, Celebrities like the Kardashians have already been blurring the lines of reality with use of filters, photoshop and cosmetic surgery. So Having a model like Shudu only expands on a culture of virtual identity that already existed.
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Semiotic Square Utility is to functional as Sportswear is to Performance which makes them contrary to each other. Although, interchangeable in certain context, they have different meanings. Sportswear is complementary to Luxury because when combined it forms a lifestyle for the right consumer. Sportswear is the extreme opposite of cyber but the two extremes fusing together creates a balance, which is Tech-tility, the space between the real and virtual. Moreover, Cyber and Luxury are contrary to each other despite being remote from reality as they both sell an idea of what could be but ultimately are opposed to each other. Luxury(real) is the complete opposite of Utility, but when the latter is immersed in a cyber world it becomes virtual reality.
ASOS (My Style is Never Done) “In the ad, Jazzelle explores every side of her personality from an extraterrestrial being to a futuristic cowboy. The campaign invites customers to play with the various aspects of their own personal style.” (ASOS, 2018) The opening scene shows a woman beamed down from the sky, which suggests an extraterrestrial life form visiting from another planet. She appears to have human features like the alien-like human Bowie played in The Man Who Fell To Earth(1976) Its immediately an obvious reference to space and technology, just by the the silver sequinned bodysuit, the projection and spotlight from the sky. The spotlight from the sky indicates that there is a spaceship above her, this is no doubt a figment of imagination because in the real world, we are yet to know what aliens look like, whether UFOs exist or if they are capable of travelling to earth. Alien narratives are usually found in books or films and there is still some postulation about the reality of aliens so it’s still just an escapist fantasy.
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In the second scene, she is embellished with silver diamantĂŠ crystals on her hair, face and body to while also adding an element of luxury. Her medusa-esque crystal braids creates a
futuristic version of the mythology of medusa with snake-like hair. The spotlights source are now obvious, as she performs on the platform. She is also wearing sportswear which plays further on the idea of performance.
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This part of the video highlights the essence of tech-tility as it goes from her offline persona to her virtual persona. The switch between alternate universe to a world set in dystopian time overrun by robots, references a similar narrative in The Matrix. Jazelle is also styled with a futuristic post-apocalyptic look like that of Tank Girl, from the plaster on her nose to earring, and rugged styling. The digital world gives us the freedom to explore our multiple personalities in a way that is considered unrealistic in the real world. It shows us that self expression is shifting towards the more expressive side disregarding beauty and societal norms with the part where she’s seen growing spots, pixie ears, big eyes and eventually goes to the virtual anime scene. ASOS is trying to sell us the idea that style and self expression is beyond physical as she adapts to different scenarios and situations.
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The final scene shows Jazelle sitting on herself as a centaur, which being a mythological creature, is considered as virtual. Here she attempts to blur the lines between sex, gender and human, a reference to Eartheater’s music video and album Irisiri, which is an embodiment of how the alien and outsider inhabit our bodies. The environment, though with natural elements is computer generated implying a virtual world. Jazelle plays herself and is adorned in a silver sequinned suit from head to toe, again which signifies luxury and futuristic fashion. Furthermore the drone is controlled by the centaur, which amalgamates technology and fantasy, a juxtaposition of real and virtual.
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Conclusion Overconsumption and supply chain is still a concerning global issue, with the fashion industry being the major contributor. It is anticipated to become worse by 2050, reaching up to 25% of the world’s carbon budget. Consumers are becoming more eco-conscious of sustainability and are seeking brands who are willing to offer a full commitment to sustainability, not just for marketing purposes. Brands are thinking ahead on how they can appeal to these new type of consumers without leading to the mass consumption of fast fashion (Braithewaite, 2018). Immaterial fashion brings about a sustainable way we can consume clothes through a digital medium. It offers offers opportunities to designers to create garments by digital rendering, therefore streamlines the production process and reduces waste, leaving little to no room for error (Bishop, 2019). It even extends beyond production, the advancement of technology has made it possible to create catwalk simulations and advertisement visuals, which would not have been possible with the limitations of ordinary industry equipments. Brand will no longer need to dictate trends as these new algorithms will be able to predict new ideas from existing fashion and create personalised products for consumers (Stott and Piras, 2018). In addition, blockchain technology offers a new approach to exclusivity that would change clothing ownership regarding when where and how a digital clothing can be used (Maxwell, 2018) The world is becoming more digital, and brands are looking for ways to find the balance between the physical and digital through gamification by creating digital versions of their products in virtual environments. In 2021, sports is expected to reach a 2 billion revenue while gaining 299 million viewers. Competitive gaming is expanding and is creating new opportunities for sportswear through influencers, virtual influencers and in -game products (Varga). Video games as a communication scheme for brands, will be at an advantage to connect to the digitally advancing consumer and to also tap into a new market, as the connection between film, music and games are all fluid and ever expanding.
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Consumer Board
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