Wearable technology has been around for years, but recently they have been evolving aesthetically. They have gone beyond the bulky sports watches, and now we have sleek accessories to choose from, crafted by high-end fashion designers like Tory Burch, Tag Heuer, and Swarovski.
The wearable technology market is projected to be worth $31.27 billion by 2020. With such growth potential, it’s only natural that the fashion industry is learning new ways to integrate technology throughout their clothing lines and businesses as a whole.
A good example of this is Lunya, a sleepwear company that has staked high in terms of technological innovation. They integrate tech development methodologies with fashion product design: short sprint cycles, constant feedback loops, demand-oriented collections, and fashion-tech enabled sleepwear.
As the light begins to shine on the true cost of fast fashion, many companies are differentiating by focusing their product offer and making fewer but better products. The goal is to better serve the customers by being more responsive to their needs.
Here, some other interesting tools, such as big data analysis, customer feedback, and responsive production methods, are being applied. They allow fashion companies to provide better consumer value and reduce waste and improve profitability. Ashley Merrill, CEO of Lunya, provides more insights on this topic:
“Traditional fashion is oriented around a themed moodboard and a compilation of sketches around that concept. Fashion companies produce deep collections with the hope of telling a specific story that is different than the one before it to spur continual sales. This emphasis on newness is predicated on overconsumption and deemphasizes quality and the true needs of the consumer. At Lunya we turn that on its head by taking a problem solving approach to product creation – we always ask ourselves what the consumer needs and how do we exceed that expectation with clever design and innovative fabrication.”
As consumers continue to connect with each other via social media, fashion blogs and media, e-commerce is becoming more common as they look through the myriad of online retailers to find pieces that are virtually custom made for them – so much that, last year, retail e-commerce revenues from apparel and accessories sales amounted to $63.5 billion. This is also something that Lunya aims to cover, as Merrill states:
“We are evolving quickly and systematizing our approach. We call it ‘Demand Oriented Production’ because we collect feedback on pieces prior to making production via a customer voting process. Not every style is a winner and we love the idea of eliminating mediocre pieces before they ever hit production. We also want our pieces to serve a purpose – why shouldn’t your sleepwear, something we spend at least one third of our lives in, have a performance story?”
Meneya, their first performance sleepwear fabric represents years of teamwork between Lunya and Celliant, who developed a fiber with the same name, that harnesses infrared energy to stimulate cell performance and increase circulation. Lunya has blended it with natural fibers for a breathable fabric perfect for sleep.
Through 4 double blind placebo controlled clinical studies, Celliant was found to increase oxygen levels in the body by 10 percent, and up to 24 percent in a healthy population. Higher oxygen levels help cells grow stronger, injuries heal quicker, increase endurance, and minimize areas of pain.
Fashion is a space ripe for disruption and Lunya is a flagship example of that. Taking a page from tech companies, Lunya is integrating agile technology development philosophies and technical product advancements to fashion, with the hopes of raising the bar on innovation, quality and value for the consumer.
