BOSTON--Is a fashion and tech industry partnership the equivalent of mixing plaids with stripes, or is this a case of black and white being the perfect match?
After all, there are not many tech events where you need an Italian translator on hand.
John Lester, director of business development and academic programs at Linden Labs, shows Second Life's ''Second Style' fashion magazine.
(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET Networks)Members from both groups eagerly met Tuesday to discuss their mating potential at a place they could both feel comfortable--the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston. The event was hosted by Moda e Technologia, an Italian nonprofit organization that promotes fashion and tech exchange. Big names present included Linden Labs, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dolce & Gabbana, Max Mara, and Italian filmmaker Giacomo Faenza who showed his online short Gadget Men.
A fashion-technology partnership is an obvious benefit for both industries. Venues like Second Life or My Virtual Model could serve as a place for the fashion industry to promote brands and virtually develop the worlds they attempt to create through their clothing lines. Fashion jumping into the world of Web 2.0, virtual worlds, and tech-related products could in turn draw in mainstream shoppers who might not have otherwise bothered before with that kind of tech.
But the event itself revealed fundamental differences, with one crowd easily slipping into presentations with their laptops and the others needing a little tech support when their turn came.
Dolce & Gabbana is known for having already jumped headfirst into technology with digital media promotions, cell phones, ring tones, and wallpaper. They are one of the fashion companies that do seem to get that they can use the Internet and its new tools to both enhance brand image and create new streams of revenue. But even their own digital marketing guy said it could be hard to convince companies to understand the importance of creating things like a virtual presence and products for avatars. Dennis Valle, director of media interaction at Dolce & Gabbana, said that the move to digital is a big jump that will require teaching a whole industry a new vocabulary and explanation of context.
People in the fashion industry normally do their advertising through their fabric and their market research by talking to people out in the world when they travel, he said.
"Advergame, edutainment, advertorial, and docudrama are new terms that will become part of companies' everyday use...Sensorial marketing, a way to understand consumers' actions, thoughts, and intentions, could translate into a new way to meet their needs," Valle said.
After giving a forthright and informative presentation on My Virtual Model, an avatar creation site that incorporates brand name clothes, Louise Guay, the company's president and founder, was met with a question that showed not everyone in her audience had started with her from the same place.
Marina Garzoni, founder of Moda e Technologia, a Milan-based non-profit organization that seeks to bring tech and fashion together.
(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET Networks)So how much do people pay to use this avatar person, asked one audience member? She raised her eyebrows in delightful surprise once Guay explained that it was not the user who paid, but the company promoting the brand.
John Lester, director of business development and academic programs at Linden Labs, explained Second Life's business model by comparing its in-world users to people browsing the Internet for free and its islands or presences as hosted Web sites.
Lester, on the other hand, was not as savvy when it came to fashion. He proudly explained the user-friendly way in which people can incorporate clothing and body parts into their Second Life avatars with a runway worthy slide show and real-time presentation of fashion forward avatars in Second Life. But when he pointed out that friends can even duplicate outfits so they can wear the same thing, he was met with a few snickers and giggles from the audience.
He did, however, manage to hit the important points.
"Whatever you do in Second Life you retain all of the intellectual property rights...Our community is more gender-balanced...our user base has a median age of 35, and it's very international with 70 percent of users outside the U.S.," he said.
What's more, Second Life already has a thriving fashion scene including lighting effects, night clubs, dancing, and even its own Vogue equivalent. He showed Second Style, a virtual magazine whose publisher makes money by selling ad space to retailers of not just avatar clothes, but body parts like noses, lips, and hair. During one phenomenon, Second Life avatars even carried around chickens as an accessory.
Now that's something you don't see on the runway.
Digital cameras are like wallets--pretty much everyone has one. And it's generally unthinkable to go to any event without one--particularly for those of us with a Flickr or Facebook photo-tagging mindset.
Perhaps as a result, amateur photogs are snapping up digital cameras at faster rates than even industry analysts expected. The global digital camera market is expected to grow from 122 million cameras shipped this year to more than 138 million by 2011, according to IDC.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
The last four years of digital camera shipments showed declining growth rates, most likely meaning that the consumers who wanted a digital camera purchased one. In fact, IDC says the number of cameras owned by the average household has remained steady at 1.4 each. But recent stronger growth in 2007 shows that current owners are now starting to buy replacements.
In addition, prices of DSLRs have come down far enough so that even less-sophisticated photographers are upgrading from simple point-and-shoots. That, combined with more interest in photography, will lead to DSLRs being a more important factor in the camera market than previously expected, IDC said.
This is good news as cheaper DSLRs will possibly mean improved quality of the photos you're tagged in, but a serious drawback is that a DSLR doesn't fit quite as nicely in a back pocket.
reporter's notebook I've done a lot of risky things as a reporter over the years. I've knocked on doors in the sketchiest of crime-ridden neighborhoods, done midair flips with an acclaimed stunt pilot, and even let Lorena Bobbitt--famous for cutting off her husband's penis with a kitchen knife--give me a manicure using sharp instruments.
But no assignment scared me as much as asking Web fashionista William Sledd to critique the way I dress.
I'd been working on a profile about Sledd, 23, the former Gap manager from Paducah, Ky., who has become an online celebrity through his funny and frank fashion advice video series Ask a Gay Man on YouTube. One of my fellow editors--ever striving for ways to make stories more colorful--suggested I send Sledd photos of my own outfits to see what he had to say. "Yeah, right," was my first reaction. Sure, Sledd starts every video with a friendly, "Hey bitches," but he can be harsh. Here are a few of my favorite zingers:
This is the outfit William Sledd liked best of the five he evaluated. I look 'adorable in that outfit,' he said.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET.com)"Mom jeans are the devil...No Uggs, they're done...The jean we hate more than anything are carpenter jeans for men." (Ask a Gay Man: Denim Edition)
"For real, why wear a toe ring? Why? Your toe does not need jewelry...I don't even understand why people wear toe rings, and they wear them like with flip-flops and there's just like a mess of clutter." (Ask a Gay Man: Summer Rant)
I eventually gave in to the fashion critique idea, in journalistic martyrdom, for the sake of the story. One of our CNET photographers took a daily snapshot of me at work for a week and I sent the photos off to Sledd and nervously awaited judgment day.
What was I so afraid of? I'm a confident, individual thinker who knows beauty is more than fabric deep. And I knew my fashion sense couldn't be too off. But I couldn't help but think of the old ladies with stiff blue hair who probably also feel they are perfectly en vogue.
Sledd, thankfully, gave me his equivalent of a fashion stamp of approval. Now, if this were anyone else, I might chalk his kindness up to the fact that I was about to write a story on him. But if Sledd is one thing, as evidenced above, it's brutally honest.
"If you were a train wreck, I would have let you know...I don't hold back at all," he said, adding that he expected much worse from a mom. "I was hoping for some overalls or a Winnie the Pooh T-shirt...You are so well put together, it's ridiculous. There's nothing bad I can say."
Sledd was a bit "apprehensive" about my peasant shirt, an item he is "not a huge fan of."
Still, I was encouraged by his overall positive feedback, so much so that when he said, "I don't know how old you are," I confidently offered, "I just turned 38." Then came Sledd's unintentional doozie:
"Yeah, I mean, my mom looks a lot worse than this sometimes," he said. (Translation: You're 38? That's so old, you could almost be my mother.)
Ouch. Maybe I should go back to crime reporting.
Online T-shirt retailer Threadless has announced it will be opening its first brick-and-mortar retail store in its hometown of Chicago next month. The store will open its doors on Friday, September 14, and will celebrate the launch with two free concerts that night (one all ages, one over 18).
Threadless has been hailed for its innovative business model, which it calls an "ongoing T-shirt design competition." Creatively inclined fans can submit their own T-shirt design ideas, and winning selections can rake in $2,000 in cash for the designer. There are plenty of quirky features, too--if you submit a photo of yourself wearing a Threadless T-shirt, for example, you earn a discount on your next one.
Threadless' in-house artist works on the store's 'mashup window paintings.'
(Credit: Threadless)The company, which was started in 2000, has received more than 60,000 submissions and boasts more than 300,000 members.
"Sneak peeks" of the new Threadless store have been appearing on the company's news blog throughout the summer. They're clearly going for the same kind of tactics that made their Web site famous: in lieu of shopping bags, the store will use recycled cloth bags that can be returned to the store in exchange for a $5 discount; the store will also feature frequently changing artwork to match its current T-shirt designs.
Walking into an upscale boutique, one is bombarded with all things designer--clothes, shoes, handbags, and even makeup. As if all those objects of temptation weren't enough, Armani has reportedly teamed up with Samsung to design a cell phone that will appeal to label fiends everywhere.
Samsung, which is reportedly teaming up with Armani, also worked with Bang & Olufsen on this Serene showpiece cell phone.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Armani has not released an official statement on the phone. But The Korea Herald, citing an unnamed Samsung representative, is reporting that plans are in the works and the phone will likely be released in Europe this October. However, "the two companies have not signed a contract yet," the story said.
Armani's phone is expected to feature "exclusive content" and, presumably, a sleek design. But, if the price is anything like Prada's $650-some phone, why not opt for an iPhone for either $500 or $600?
Regardless, Armani's plan to team up with Samsung, which worked with Bang & Olufsen in the past, may prove to be a smart strategy for the company. Rumor has it, according to the story, that Armani and Samsung also plan to create a line of TVs, another way to marry designer chic with tech geek.
He's cute, but the phone's a little clunky-looking
(Credit: Levi's)Not to be outdone by its higher-end fashion brethren like Prada, denim mainstay Levi's will be selling a mobile phone and marketing it to young, label-conscious technosexuals, the company announced in Paris this week. The original partnership was announced in October.
The steel-encased phone, manufactured by the French company ModeLabs, comes with a detachable chain that's reminiscent of vintage pocket watches. Buyers will be able to choose between metallic silver, brown copper, and black color schemes; for those with more feminine inclinations, "shiny silver" and "shiny sand" models will also be introduced, featuring "mirror" screens. (No word on whether those will cost more.)
Blogs have reported that the phone will come with Bluetooth and MP3 player capabilities as well as a two-megapixel camera, but none of those details were included in the official release from Levi's.
The new handset hits European stores in September.
Forget Roy G. Biv--the rainbow according to Sony includes such colors as sangria, cosmopolitan, dove, and indigo. At least, those are the shades the company offers for its new Vaio CR series laptops. (City-dwellers, take heart: they're also available in black.)
Warning: this laptop may induce toothaches.
(Credit: Sony)Sony has long led the laptop-as-fashion-accessory movement (see previous C series models and the FJ series that started it all), offering laptops in wild colors when other manufacturers were just starting to experiment with hues beyond black and gray. The CR series is no different, featuring a case that is saturated with color, right down to the touch pad. Sony's press release also touts that each CR series laptop comes with "funky Vaio branded wallpaper" as well as the option to purchase a matching carrying bag and mouse. And proving that flashing LEDs aren't just for gamers, the Vaio CR series includes a pulsating LED beneath the laptop's trim.
Those of you who still believe that it's what's inside that counts can rest assured: the 5.5-pound thin-and-light laptops will include Intel's latest Centrino Duo platform, with Core 2 Duo processors, integrated graphics, and an 802.11n wireless card. The 14.1-inch wide-screen display includes a fairly standard 1,280x800 native resolution, and the display bezel has room for a built-in Webcam and microphone.
The six new CR series models start at $1,350 and will start shipping at the end of June.
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