The 10 Biggest Fashion and Tech Collaborations in NYFW History

Google Glass still not working for you? Now that it’s a staple accessory at NYFW, it’ll only be a matter of time before we all start putting them on. When the influence of the fashion industry meets the innovation of the tech industry, the results are usually products we can’t wait to try, from clothes manufactured through 3-D printers to using tweets as currency at Marc Jacobs’ latest pop-up shop. Click through to check out some of the biggest collaborations we’ve seen so far (and what we have to look forward to this season).

To celebrate their 10th year collaborating with designer Yohji Yamamoto, the adidas Y-3 Spring/Summer 2013 runway show was transformed into an interactive live streaming experience for online audiences by ACNE Production. Multiple cameras provided 360-degree views of each look as it walked, plus a camera was setup backstage to view all of the craziness happening right behind the curtain. Viewers could watch the feeds from all cameras simultaneously while pinning away their favorite looks as soon as they appeared.

For the past couple of seasons at NYFW, Google has been hard at work getting Glass on the faces of everyone from Nina Garcia to Diane von Furstenberg’s models. Last season, Garcia (Marie Claire’s creative director) shot photos and videos from the glasses that were then pushed out to various social media outlets, allowing anyone to live a day in the life via “#BeNina.” And, now that the Glass has just been retooled into a more fashionable, dark-framed version, we’re betting that a lot more showgoers will be sporting them this season.

Before this site came along, NYFW went something like this: see clothes, ogle clothes, buy in 6-8 months (if the pieces even made it on to the racks). Moda Operandi brought us one-step closer to buying off the runway with one simple idea—pre-order as soon as you see that product walk. As of right now, you still have to wait until the product is in season before it arrives at your doorstep, but hey, at least you know you will be getting it.

Founded by a former KCD PR tech consultant, Fashion GPS was the first attempt at digitizing the backend work associated with putting on a runway show, from compiling guest lists to sorting invites and managing seating charts. Surprisingly, the company is barely six years old (before Fashion GPS, the system was basically just pen and paper) but now its client list includes nearly all of the industry heavyweights; Dior, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, Chanel, and more rely on its services every season.

While 3-D printing has been around for decades, it has only recently started to catch on in the fashion industry. Effectively cutting out the need for a sewing machine, 3-D printing technology could be the next direction for plenty of designers, especially younger ones who can’t afford the costs of working with massive garment factories. Its biggest issue right now is wearability—when Lady Gaga is the biggest proponent of the movement, you know it’s going to take awhile before the regular buyer gets onboard.

Way back in 2009 Alexander McQueen live streamed his Spring/Summer 2010 show, the first mainstream designer to attempt to do so. Although the brand hasn’t live streamed a show since, the concept has caught on in a huge way—and the industry was ripe for a company to offer expertise in this area. One of the biggest players that popped up was Rightster, a global video streaming service founded in 2011 that counts IMG, Condé Nast, and the British Fashion Council among its clients. And it’s continually getting better. Look out for updates to the way shows are live streamed this season, including more social media integration from Rightster-backed videos.

Love it or hate it, Tumblr has been cultivating an ongoing relationship with NYFW for quite a while now. Semi-annually, we can count on Tumblr to send select bloggers over to Lincoln Center to document the happenings and get the results fed directly to our dashboards. While it hasn’t always been an easy relationship, the Tumblr team is continually changing up the formula and the platform is one of the more prominent supporters of bloggers in the fashion realm.

Crowd-sourced fashion stepped out from the fringes of the industry and got a much needed boost from Cut On Your Bias, a startup that is letting customers in on the design process of high-profile brands including Timo Weiland, Number:Lab, and Carlos Campos. The designers put up product options to include in their collections for the season, and Cut On Your Bias members vote on the designs that they want to see go down the runway.

If you’ve ever sat through a Marc Jacobs show on your laptop, you’ve experienced Bumebox. The California-based company is all about turning tweets into money. It champions an integrated viewing platform that allows viewers to keep a steady watch on the social commentary while the show is live streaming without ever leaving the tab, aiming to improve social sharing across the board. And, when the show is done, you can hop right over to the e-commerce section of the site and get down to business.

Speaking of turning tweets into money, Marc Jacobs is taking things a step farther this season with a pop-up shop in New York that is literally accepting social media posts instead of money in exchange for product. Granted, it’s only small product, but still. Hopefully other designers will start jumping on this train soon.