Make it beautiful: how the fashion industry is giving tech a hand

For the fashion-conscious, wearable gadgets are currently not
wearable. But at CES 2014, fashion moguls and global tech authorities
are finally chatting about how to fix that problem. Design as a function
isn't a new idea, but the fashion industry thinks about it differently —
and the tech industry is starting to listen.

On Monday, Intel shared
the stage with Barneys New York, the Council of Fashion Designers of
America, and Opening Ceremony as they announced a collaboration between
the fashion industry and the tech industry to make wearables more
beautiful as they become more ubiquitous. That, Barneys New York COO
Daniella Vitale says, is more opportunity than challenge. "One of the
greatest opportunities for wearable technology as a concept to be
successful is fairly simple," she said. "Design a beautiful accessory
that our customers would desire."

Vitale mentioned nothing
about functionality, connectivity, or specs. She knows while design can
aid functionality by helping a product do what it was made to do, it can
also be a function. Fashion isn’t about specs and features, it’s about
aesthetic and personality — how something looks, how it looks on you,
and how it makes you feel when you're wearing it. "The things we wear
are personal reflections of ourselves," said Ayse Ildeniz, vice
president of business development and strategy for Intel's New Devices
Group. "We somehow get emotionally connected to them." With the way
wearables are designed today, they do not evoke the same personal
attachment as, say, a Ferragamo blazer or J Brand pants. Wearables say
"look at me, I'm tech-savvy" rather than "look at me, I'm fashionable."

But things are changing.
There are clear examples at CES that tech companies are starting to
think about fashion and design. The Netatmo June bracelet is made with Louis Vuitton and Camille Toupet-designed jewels that tracks your sun exposure. There’s also the MetaWatch,
designed by ex-Fossil engineers and made with premium metals and
classic leather wristbands. But the most noteworthy wearable at CES was
the Pebble Steel smartwatch.
It’s designed to be worn with either a stainless steel band or a
genuine leather strap, forgoing the ostentatious sportiness of the
original for a modern, sleek look. Pebble designer Steve Johns said that
the new design was influenced by both traditional watches and modern
technology like cellphones — a balance that’s previously proven elusive,
but that Pebble is quickly finding.

Traditional and modern design can make fashionable devices

Pebble knows it needs to
be fashionable to stay relevant in the wearable market (not to mention
staying competitive among wristwatches), but Johns says that sometimes
technology lags behind what’s required to fit beautiful designs. "It
seems to me that designers don't have any challenges designing beautiful
concepts," Johns says, "but most of the time the technology is never
mature enough to meet those demands. But wearables are a growing
industry so I can see the manufacturers making it more of a priority to
design into small devices."

Designers are also making it a
priority to reach out to tech companies to put their stamps on gadgets.
FitBit announced a collaboration with Tory Burch to make fashionable
necklaces and bracelets for its activity-tracking devices — and Burch
approached FitBit, not the other way around. Unfortunately, only a
prototype is ready right now, but even if the finished product isn’t
available yet, it’s yet another example of how fashion professionals
know that they can contribute to technology using their design eyes, and
how eager they are to do so. It’s also another way for designers to
reach out to new customers who might have never purchased one of their
regular accessories. On the tech side, wearable companies now don't have
to focus on perfecting the basics; they can take the time to make
pieces of beauty that are also functional gadgets.

"Designers
don't have any challenges designing beautiful concepts, but most of the
time the technology is never mature enough to meet those demands."

Collaboration or not,
it’s really the mentality of the tech industry and consumers that must
change — and it is changing, slowly. Aesthetics may have moved up on the
priority lists of gadget companies, but tech specs still rule. For all
its good looks, what’s most celebrated about the Pebble Steel
is what the watch does. If tech companies and consumers can start
thinking about aesthetics the same way they think about specs, it’ll
open up a new range of opportunities for fashion-forward devices.
There's no reason why wearables still look like "wearables" — they
should be Vacheron Constantin watches, Tiffany bracelets, and Warby
Parker glasses.

That was the sentiment
expressed by Intel’s fashion partners this week. "I think a lot of the
functionalities are going to be very appealing, but I do think that the
design element will be very paramount," said Matthew Woolsey, SVP of
digital for Barneys New York, at a CES panel this week. "The quality of
the design speaks to us first, and I think it speaks to our customer
first, so I think that achieving on the design will allow the customer
to start to build that emotional relationship in a way that maybe hasn’t
happened yet with wearable technology."

"What we’re looking for
is to emphasize the technological aspects of the piece, but to make
something that doesn’t feel like a piece of hardware," agreed a
representative from Opening Ceremony. "[Something] that feels like a
piece of jewelry or a covetable object in and of itself that we’ll be
excited to wear." Specs and features have historically been the
technology industry’s primary targets, and even something like the
Pebble Steel clearly prioritizes its functionality. It’s clear that that
will have to change if wearables are to take off outside their most
obvious demographics.

Variation in design is crucial for successful fashion

A greater level of
variation in design is also crucial for smart fashion to be successful.
Now, if something is a hit, everyone wants it, lots of people buy it,
and with so many people wearing the same thing good design becomes a
commodity. For fashion, an industry that places so much value on
originality, that's a huge problem. If everyone wears the same shirt,
eventually we'll all look the same — and being the "same" is equivalent
to fashion death.

This is where the tech
industry can do what it does best: innovate. It’s gotten to the point
where technology companies have innovated with wearables so much that
the standard is pretty accessible; it’s relatively easy to make a fairly
decent wearable now. Not all technologies can match all great designs
yet, and vise versa, but the talks between technologists and designers
will speed that process up. And if technology can be distilled down to
its purest form so it can be applied to any accessory or piece of
clothing, that will be the gateway the fashion industry needs to do what
it does best — make it look good. Make it beautiful. Make it work.

Sam Byford contributed to this report.