Bradley Quinn predicts the future of digital fashion

 

Friday, March 6, 2015 - 4:30pm

Fashion writer and design expert Bradley Quinn spoke to a packed auditorium of 300 OCAD U students, faculty, media and fashion aficionados on February 24, 2015. Thirty-year fashion journalist Jeanne Beker introduced Quinn and moderated the Q & A after his hour-long talk.

Quinn described advances in wearable technology since the first clunky attempts he saw at MIT in the mid-nineties. Most people just think of coloured LED lights sewn into clothes, he says, but, “Now the technology can engage with the wearer and interact in a different way where it can actually tell how the wearer feels. This is a huge shift.”

Advances in nanotechnology mean that microchips are increasingly robust and affordable. Inventions like programmable upholstery measure the consumer experience and send data to corporations for use in future designs. Three-D printing is another driver in wearable technology because of the ability to print conductive materials.

Quinn predicts a “radical shakeup” in the fashion industry five years from now. He says that the fashion graduate today is graduating with “a completely different skill set,” and can code, incorporate algorithms in their design process, and experiment with a wide range of technologies. “They are changing the fashion industry today,” Quinn told his audience, “more than the graduate of only six yrs ago.”

 

 

 

 

Sarah Tranum, "CleanCube Project" Poster
The Office of Research & Innovation is excited to launch of the fourth iteration of the "This is Research" campaign to raise awareness about research at OCAD University.
Rendering of black industrial structure against black background
The Artist Project Contemporary Art Fair and The Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers are excited to announce Andre Baynes as the 2020 Recipient of the Artist Project Career Launcher.
The OCAD U Print Shop will be closing at 6:00pm on Monday, January 27th due to illness. We apologize for any and all inconvenience.   
Photo of two large landscape collages with wood frame door in middle
The Gladstone Hotel and the Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2020 Come Up To My Room Career Launcher, Maxwell Lander and Aaron Jones.
The OCAD University community is deeply saddened by the news of the Ukraine International Airlines plane crash that claimed the lives of 176 people near Tehran yesterday. 
DesignTO bus advertisement rendering.
This year, DesignTO partnered with OCAD University’s Design4 program to create look and feel of the festival’s 10th Anniversary.
OCAD University mourns death of Jeremy Vincent Urbina, student in the Faculty of Art
Abid Virani and Aliwar Pillai, co-founders, Fable Tech Labs (photo courtesy: Forbes)
OCAD U alumni, Alwar Pillai and Abid Virani, co-founders of Fable Tech Labs, were named in Forbes Magazine’s latest Top 30 under 30 list.
Photo of Bradley Quinn, UK fashion forecaster
Image of dress by Robert Tu of MeU featuring embedded LED lights
Friday, March 6, 2015 - 4:30pm

Fashion writer and design expert Bradley Quinn spoke to a packed auditorium of 300 OCAD U students, faculty, media and fashion aficionados on February 24, 2015. Thirty-year fashion journalist Jeanne Beker introduced Quinn and moderated the Q & A after his hour-long talk.

Quinn described advances in wearable technology since the first clunky attempts he saw at MIT in the mid-nineties. Most people just think of coloured LED lights sewn into clothes, he says, but, “Now the technology can engage with the wearer and interact in a different way where it can actually tell how the wearer feels. This is a huge shift.”

Advances in nanotechnology mean that microchips are increasingly robust and affordable. Inventions like programmable upholstery measure the consumer experience and send data to corporations for use in future designs. Three-D printing is another driver in wearable technology because of the ability to print conductive materials.

Quinn predicts a “radical shakeup” in the fashion industry five years from now. He says that the fashion graduate today is graduating with “a completely different skill set,” and can code, incorporate algorithms in their design process, and experiment with a wide range of technologies. “They are changing the fashion industry today,” Quinn told his audience, “more than the graduate of only six yrs ago.”