Internet of Things & Wearable Technology Insights

Fashion designers like to look ahead, predicting the colors, prints, and silhouettes that will be in demand a year or two later. Becca McCharen aims much farther into the future, conceiving of designs that question how apparel can do more than simply "clothe" a person. She calls her fashion brand Chromat "structural experiments for the body."

"Coming from an architectural background, I see clothing as doing work for the body—an additional tool to enhance performance," she says.

For her AW16 collection—dubbed Lumina—the self-described "mad scientist" used Intel's Curie module (a button-sized wearable) and StretchSense's flexible sensors—which she likens to "rubber bands as Bluetooth"—to create a tech-infused collection that glows in response to movement....