As people grow more conscious of all the products they buy, the fashion industry is no exception and fashion brands are seeking new and innovative ways to meaninfully connect with consumers. If you want to find out how technology can benefit you in the fashion world, keep reading this article.
As explored in our last fashion story, consumers increasingly want to be a part of a community and feel heard and connected to the brand. To succeed in the fashion industry today, fashion brands must engage customers and maintain their loyalty with content and experiences beyond just their products.
Products Become More than Just Products
A ground-breaking innovation for the fashion industry and fashion brands is new technologies that transform products from just products to experiences. Using the product itself as a gateway to a world of experiences and content is a game changer possible through the use of technology! It’s not just about adding a paper tag to a handbag announcing an event that is coming up, it’s about using that product for constant engagement and connection with its owner.
Imagine purchasing, for example, a high fashion handbag from a luxury brand, and that same handbag also serves as the invitation and ticket to a trendy private fashion event? Imagine buying a sneaker and gaining points every time you walked out the door with your bag and it leads to more exclusive content? Imagine wearing a classical suit that is also the key to unlocking more benefits from the brand?
Fashion and Technology in Real Life
Each of these trends is already happening and will continue to grow in popularity as the technology and fashion industry slowly begin to merge. Adding technology to fashion products is the future and allows increased and improved communication between fashion brands and their customers.
Think about it, technology is present everywhere and already taking massive steps in the fashion industry. For example, 3D printing has become a part of fashion in the most recent years as it provides a lot more room to customize products and new ways to be more sustainable and create less waste. On top of this, technology fosters creativity in a whole new way and takes the fashion industry to new concepts of art. So if technology can be integrated into the brand side of fashion, why shouldn’t it also be present on the end-user’s side where people can really make use of it in their daily lives?
Fashion as a Statement
Adding technology to fashion products also leads people to adopt a new mindset that their fashion pieces are more than just something they wear, for example, a sneaker. A physical sneaker with an accessible digital version allows people to wear the sneaker they love so much on their feet and access its digital twin online to create their digital collection, use the sneakers on their avatar, and replicate their Metaverse closet to their real-life closet. A thousand doors open by connecting the physical with the digital dimensions, and together they build something bigger.
Additionally, that same pair of sneakers can tell the story of how and where the pair of shoes were produced. Technology enables the storytelling of that sneaker to be done on a brand’s own terms — when they want it and how they want it. The digital twin also allows fashion brands to be more open about sustainable materials, their supply chain processes, and their partners.
Your Daily ‘News’
Brands can use technology in a variety of ways so customers can get something different every time they wear that product. On Monday customers wear their sneakers and get an exclusive video of how it was made but then on Thursday, they can access an event with its creator as the main speaker. What do customers get on Sunday when they wear their sneakers again? No one knows, or better, they don’t know yet. The more they wear their sneakers, the more content they can unlock and the more they earn.
Moreover, this technology is then scalable for collections. For example, the more items of a collection customers buy the more benefits they unlock and the more experiences they get to live. What if you were the first person to own all physical and digital products of a brand’s collection so they give you the opportunity to meet its designer in person? Or attend that brand’s fashion event in the first row? Or to spend a day in the fashion house of that brand living all the behind-the-scenes in real-time? The sky is the limit!
Growing Closer to Fashion Enthusiasts
Technology has the power to strengthen the connections within the fashion community, allowing users to discuss fashion trends and topics and attend events together. Imagine a new exclusive collection is launched with only 50 items of a specific piece. How engaging would it be to talk to other fashion enthusiasts and create a competition to see who can get that unique piece first?!
These experiences are at brands’ fingertips and are becoming a reality in the industry as they contribute to something bigger than just the purchase of a product. They build an unpaired and unseen connection between brands and their most loyal customers and that is something money can’t buy.
The more fashion brands understand who their customers are and their purchasing decisions, the more they can use that information in a thousand different ways such as creating new collections and unique and exclusive experiences. It’s all about bridging the gap between the physical and the digital dimension in an easy and intuitive way. The real question is, which brands will take the opportunity to be in the front row of this industry game-changer, and on top of that, how will they do it?!
