Bradley Quinn predicts the future of digital fashion
Friday, March 6, 2015 - 4:30pm
Bradley Quinn
Dress by Robert Tu, MeU
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.”
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.”