Geography is one of the main reasons why the runway fashion show format has lost favor in recent years. The traditional runway presents limited opportunities to tap global audiences unless technology is leveraged to share it beyond its physical bounds. Enter social media, providing access to shows via the Instagram accounts of fashion insiders. But what if we could view the runway show from our own perspective in our own physical location? What if we could bring the show to us, making it our own personal experience? In a world of technology providing new experiences that elevate the goings-on in our physical world, adding a layer of ‘virtuality’ is bringing a new spin to fashion week.
Leading this charge is London College of Fashion’s Innovation Agency, FIA, who partnered with augmented reality pioneers HoloMe to present selected collections of London College of Fashion MA graduates. Viewers in multiple locations around the world were able to watch the show via smartphones, in real-time, the day before the launch of London Fashion Week.
Streaming the London College of Fashion MA show globally via HoloMeFIA
Traditionally, AR experiences rely on pre-recorded content being superimposed onto real-world settings. The pioneering element of this collaboration was that users around the globe were able to view the AR runway experience live, as the show was actually taking place - superimposed onto their immediate surroundings. This was achieved by filming the models passing in front of a “green screen” backdrop prior to stepping out on the runway. This footage was streamed in real-time via the HoloMe mobile app to a number of specially selected global viewers while the show took place at the Queen Elizabeth II building in Westminster, London.
The outcome of this project, which took place behind closed doors as a proof-of-concept, could soon allow designers and brands to share their collections with a far wider audience than just those attending their shows or tuning in to a live video stream. It has the potential to allow fashion brands to transmit catwalk models into the viewers’ immediate environment so that the collections can be viewed as though they were right in front of you - the ultimate democratization of what was once the preserve of the fashion elite. While openly granting access to fashion shows has met with displeasure from stalwart editors who once enjoyed exclusivity, this tool could actually work in their favor too. Editors could view shows regardless of their location, saving time spent in fashion week traffic jams and carbon-footprint expanding international flights. It is more cost-effective, too.
Viewing the LCF MA show using HoloMe outside Westminster Abbey LondonFIA
As the purpose of fashion shows moves towards brand awareness and creating a buzz with consumers directly and less about editors' critical reviews and fashion buyers getting a ‘first look’, this kind of technology shows great promise. HoloMe is able to provide a real-time streaming experience to fashion brands with their existing hardware kit and mobile platform, which they say can currently accommodate up to 1 million users simultaneously on a live-stream. The experience has the potential to be viewed on any mixed, virtual or augmented reality headset in addition to the current smartphone viewable format.
Where pioneers lead, large brands will inevitably follow. Widespread reservations about augmented reality experiences have tended to permeate discussions at the ‘high-end’ of the fashion industry, where notions of luxurious and desirable experiences have traditionally been linked to heritage, craft, and in-store pampering. A new generation of customers has a vastly different view of what constitutes a memorable experience- a view more closely linked to their lifestyle values and desire for personalization, rather than being beholden to the confines of what a brand deems to be luxurious or ‘experiential’.
It is, therefore, no surprise that such experimental projects are happening between emerging designers and technology companies, catalyzed by forward-thinking agencies, rather than within global fashion brands. Head of the FIA, Matthew Drinkwater, said “we are just at the beginning of what will be a transformative process for the way that people consume and experience fashion. We are thrilled that London College of Fashion is at the forefront of this new era.”
Technology heavyweights including Microsoft and Magic Leap are investing vast sums in hardware, including the Hololens and Magic Leap One headsets, to deliver immersive augmented reality experiences like the one in this proof-of-concept. While these headsets are still relatively expensive, the worldwide adoption of smartphones makes the barrier to this kind of experience solely down to network connectivity. With the imminent roll-out of the 5G network, which will further support HoloMe's streaming capability, even better quality experiences will soon be an (augmented) reality.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brookerobertsislam/2019/03/05/groundbreaking-augmented-reality-fashion-show-streamed-to-global-audience/
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