The rise of fashion tech in Southeast Asia should not surprise anyone as the region continues its digital transformation efforts. The new segment is an evolution of the leading categories in eCommerce—a high-growth industry—whereby dressing styles are combined with technology to create fashion wearables and tech-infused accessories that consumers find trendy and practical.
As such, designers are developing wearables and accessories with in-built technology, such as smartwatches and smart rings. These fashionable devices can connect to a mobile application to perform tasks like fitness tracking or heart rate monitoring.
Tech is improving, making it possible to fit miniature innovations into wearable items. Thus, fashion experts are enhancing the look or aesthetics of the final product, boosting adoption among tech-savvy Southeast Asians. Design aesthetics influence human beings to desire a wearable product based on their personalities, style, and shape preferences.
Furthermore, depending on one's needs, the type of clothes they wear must match the function expected. For example, technology now enables designers to create fitness clothes infused with tech trackers to measure heart rates, combat sweat, and more.
Challenges faced in combining technology and fashion
While digital solutions bring much value to the fashion world, they still create new challenges for the industry. Firstly, most tech requires sensors to collect personally identifiable data. This information monitoring creates privacy issues at a time when cybersecurity is a critical problem in Southeast Asia and globally.
Even though collecting data can improve customer service and the consumer experience, it can expose users to fraud and identity theft or additional costs for data storage. Online fashion marketplaces and platforms may have poor user experiences or expose customers to spam messages from other users when connecting through social media.
Finally, both the tech and fashion industries generate a lot of waste, which is not good for the environment. Designers have been slow to adopt the use of sustainable materials for their clothes, such as using lab-grown leather instead of rearing animals to make leather wear.
Types of tech-infused accessories
Here are several examples of accessories integrated with technology:
Smartwatches and fitness bands
The COVID-19 pandemic made Southeast Asians more aware of their lifestyle and health choices. As such, smartwatches and fitness bands became very common, with many brand options available, such as Samsung, Huawei, Honor, and Apple.
The watches and bands come in different sizes, shapes, and colours, enabling users to customise them according to their tastes, making them fashion statements and practical devices.
Smart jewellery
Modern-day jewellery like rings, bracelets, or earrings can be fitted with the latest tech to achieve specific goals. For example, smart rings can track sleep patterns; smart bracelets can act as silent alarms for users who are in danger; and smart earrings can measure heart rates.
Companies like Closr enable couples to foster closeness and intimacy through its innovative jewellery and apps.
Smart glasses and headgear
Google significantly impacted the market many years ago with its Glass Enterprise smart glasses. Such glasses can offer augmented reality (AR) experiences, voice-controlled operation, motion control, and more features.
Companies like Facebook provide virtual reality (VR) headsets with various designs that can attract users.
Smart textile
Fashion experts are using technology to create smart textiles or to manufacture fabrics from recycled materials. For example, smart clothes may contain sensors to adjust body temperature and keep the wearer cool.
The future of wearables in Southeast Asian fashion
According to McKinsey & Co., fashion companies will invest about 3 to 3.5% of their revenues in technology this year. Some top trends influencing the growth of fashion tech in Southeast Asia include the rise of personalisation, social commerce, and omnichannel experiences.
Regarding product customisation, shoppers are constantly searching for fashion wearables that fit their personalities, style preferences, and tech solution needs. Thus, the industry will continue to conduct surveys, innovate fashionable tech, and provide tech-inspired services, such as virtual fitting rooms.
Social commerce involves networking platforms or online marketplaces allowing community interactions to discover, review, rate, recommend, and trade products. This trend makes building trust and loyalty between buyers and sellers easier because they constantly communicate with each other. The downsides are that it takes time to engage consumers, and any negative reviews can make it challenging to sell tech-infused products.
Omnichannel experiences are about brands connecting with customers on various channels—websites, mobile apps, physical stores, networking platforms, and emails. They enhance customer experiences, provide marketing opportunities, are more efficient, boost sales conversions, and enable fashion tech companies to manage seasonal product demand fluctuations.
In the future, tech-infused accessories and wearables will be more comfortable, have even more advanced features, provide longer battery life or fast-charge capabilities, handle privacy concerns better, and be more cost-friendly. Furthermore, the industry will seek eco-friendly fashion made from sustainable materials, recycled plastics, or refurbished parts, which will help Southeast Asia meet its sustainability goals.
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