6 Ways Fashion Technology Will Change Your Life

Fashion designers are bringing technology into design for our comfort and ease, turning sci-fi fashions into an everyday reality. These all sound like something from the future, but some are available to buy today.

1. 3D printed gowns

Shapeways / Via shapeways.com

This stunning 3D printed gown is assembled from 17 pieces and embellished with over 13,000 Swarovski crystals to create a sensual fluid form. Shapeways 3D printed this elegant creation in Nylon using thousands of unique segments, which are then meshed together to create the perfect form. Designed by Michael Schmidt and 3D modelled by architect Francis Bitonti to fit Dita Von Teese’s measurements precisely.

2. Shoes made to fit using 3D scanning

Solely Original / Via solelyoriginal.com

Technology has finally cracked the secret to comfy heels with these custom-made shoes. It all starts with a 3D scan of your foot. Founded by Iris Anson, Solely Original uses high-tech digital software to create perfectly fitting shoes. You can design your very own fairytale shoes using their huge array of styles, colours, textures and fabrics, without even leaving the sofa. When the shoes arrive they'll fit perfectly; moulding to your feet. And what's more, they're affordable.

3. Fabric that "peels back" when you sweat

MIT Media Lab / Via tangible.media.mit.edu

MIT Media Lab and the Royal College of Art have created an intelligent BioLogic fabric that peels back when it reacts to sweat and humidity, using bacteria. The bacteria expands and contracts causing the fabric to 'open' so it keeps you ventilated and cool whilst exercising. This amazing bacteria was apparently discovered 1,000 years ago by a Japanese samurai.

4. Fabric that tightens to keep us warm

MIT / Via dezeen.com

Those clever folk at MIT have done it again by creating a fabric that responds to the temperature around us. The heat-active auxetic material responds by expanding and contracting according to temperature, enabling us to warm up or cool down. The structured fabric will tighten in cold weather and relax in the heat to let the air in.

5. Aromatherapy clothes to de-stress us

Jenny Tillotson / Via ecouterre.com

Perfume-emitting clothes can sense when you're stressed and emit a delicate aroma to help you find your inner calm. This clothing idea created by Jenny Tillotson incorporates tiny tubes throughout the lining of the fabric. Tillotson says “It increases creativity, expressions and visions, sparks little reminders, expands colour, texture, sounds and taste, pushing the boundaries of the senses that we didn’t know we had.”

6. Handbags that charge your phone

The Mighty Purse / Via us.hbutler.co

Never again will your phone run out of battery with this cute affordable clutch bag. The Mighty Purse has an internal 4-LED indicator so you can always tell how much charge you have left, and the concealed cable charges pretty much any mobile phone on the go. The clutch comes in a massive range of colours and different leathers and fabrics, so you'll almost certainly be able to match up one of these with your new silver leather ankle boots from Solely Original.