Fashion with shock appeal

ASEE Prism, Nov 2001

Electronically-enabled clothing has been speculated about in the technology and fashion media ever since comic spymeister Maxwell Smart chatted into his shoe-phone. But so-called wearware has been rare-rare on store shelves. A year ago, jeansmaker Levi Strauss joined forces with Phillips, the Dutch consumer-electronics company, and released a few expensive togs with stitched-in GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) network cellphones and MP3 music players in some European capitals. But it was a small pilot program that wasn't deemed too successful.

Now comes Finnish company Clothing , which released the first of several lines of wearable technology this fall. Selling for about $700, under the brand Reima, is the Smart Shout parka. It's being marketed to skiers, climbers, and hikers across Europe. It has a detachable body belt that has a built-in loudspeaker, microphone, and GSM mobile phone that can be activated using tags, so hands can be kept free. In the coming year, Clothing will release other jackets that incorporate a wireless Web browser and Bluetooth wireless technology, which allows electronic gadgets to "communicate" with one another.

Eventually, the company expects to sell fashionable outerwear that could help save a skier's or climber's life in case of an accident. The coat's software would monitor the wearer's vital signs and send SOS messages through a GSM network to emergency patrols. Pentti Hurmerinta, Clothing managing director, says the company wants to avoid having its products seen as novelty items-and risk a short shelf life-by focusing on practical clothes that have a serious function. For the time being, Hurmerinta admits, the consumer market for this apparel will remain a "niche one," but hopes that Nordic companies may help build demand by buying the coats in bulk for their mobile sales forces. Clothing expects to sell a few thousand parkas this year, and around 30,000 next year. It's selling the jackets through sportswear outlets, as well as electronic goods shops. And, sorry about that, Agent Smart, it has no plans to make a shoe-phone.