Saturday 19 May 2012

Fashion in the eyes of the beholder

As a sensible human I feel drawn to specific topics, that fascinate me, human evolution and it's future as a society being one of them. I cannot seem to get enough of what's to come on emerging technologies and our response to it. It is crucial to me the reaction we have towards technology as a generation. Being married to a Software Arquitect, I have the chance to learn (in my own way of course) what is going on in tech land, and most importantly what are the projections to the near future. The future predicts the evolution of the mobile phone as a 'life assistance' device,  at this point, we all live with our smart phones practically attached to our hand. We seem to have digested the idea and processed it to built up new ideas; more apps, gadgets and features are added as the tech market grows stronger and bigger.   

The experience of each device promises to be unique, even in a personal level; you should be able to create your own little world in your mobile. This takes me to the point of today's post, the impact on the public with technology has been huge (as it has always been), but I believe this specific new approach has a tsunami effect on the users. Here is why I consider it so, as I mentioned before on other posts, technology has transformed, from being something you had to adapt yourself to, into something that adapts to you in the most natural manner: gestures. Besides having a dynamic experience every time you use your mobile, companies have decided that the best way to fully charm and win you to the their side, is to make that experience a personalised one.

The idea of personalising any article feeds the concept of individualism, by having control of your digital information you not only create your own universe but can freely share it with your mates. The power of the individual is determine by a different criteria, from an abstract foundation into the digital world. People are able to alter perceptions, images and content to their best standard. The fashion community has been no exemption to the new regiment, movements like the New Aesthetics in London have laid down their manifesto, sort of a facelift to fashion. We are being exposed to elements of the digital world that somehow are installed in our memories and we rapidly recognise them, take the use of pixels as prints for instance.

The movement has to do a lot with the location being Shoreditch and Brooklyn NYC the main points of blooming, moving far from the obvious, well known fashion sources and districts, promoting the impulse to discover new references and talents. Manipulation of images, facial recognition  and real time global maps seem to mark the pace for this new generations of designers. Events like Cut and Paste helped me put things into perspective regarding this topic, I learned there the real implications  on this matter. And even if the source of inspiration is not absolutely new, the way is being develop is new and by consequence the final products happens to be new and refreshing to the public.

The world changes and so it's percepts, although the most recognised names in fashion are part of huge corporations, sometimes we feel that there hasn't been a new approach in years; I often think of it as literal application of Smith's ideas on production, labour and profit, as a inalterable formula for success. On the other side these technologic approches are somehow democratised by the same companies that sell the devices and services to us, opening a new tag, inviting us to view the world digital devices as technologist James Bridle indicated in his last conference. If our viewing is defined by technology and its applications, our final outcome should be pretty different from what has been shown before. Exciting times to us as designers. 
        

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