The Weekly Wrap | Early August
Pants that Walk for you, Fashion on the Apple Vision Pro, and the Trad Wife Controversy 🧐
It has been an exciting week in the world of fashion + technology. Here’s what you may have missed:
🥽 Spatial Computing 🥽
SYKY launches an immersive experience on the Apple Vision Pro
Digital fashion house SYKY (pronounced “psyche”) has collaborated with Tokyo-based brand Anrealage to launch an immersive digital fashion experience on the Apple Vision Pro. The experience brings viewers inside the creative process of luxury designer Kunihiko Morinaga and presents an entirely new way to get up close with fashion.
🛍️ Retail Tech 🛍️
Snap Inc. Launches Augmented Reality Locker Room at Selfridges
Just in time for the summer of sports, Snap Inc. has launched an augmented reality locker room at London’s Selfridges store on Oxford Street. The AR pop-up offers a digital try-on experience that lets users try on sports jerseys from their favourite team.
🕹️Gaming🕹️
Coach Collaborates with Two Virtual Worlds
Coach is delving into gaming. The American fashion house has launched experiences on Roblox and Zepeto. The activations include styling experiences where players can buy and wear Coach items as well as participate in fashion-focused scavenger hunts.
♻️ Sustainability ♻️
Lululemon Accused of Greenwashing
Stand.Earth is filing legal action against multinational athletic clothing giant Lululemon. The environmental advocacy organization is accusing the company of using misleading slogans, including “Be Planet,” when, in fact, Lululemon’s own Impact Report, released in 2023, revealed another year of staggering growth in emissions—a 100% increase in climate pollution since deploying the slogan.
🟰 Diversity & Inclusivity 🟰
Mattel Introduces Blind Barbie
In an effort to be more inclusive, Mattel just launched Blind Barbie. Blind Barbie includes a cane, additional eye protection, and clothing with fasteners that help kids with sight loss dress the doll. In Canada, the launch is in collaboration with Aille Design (pronounced “Eye”) — an organization that creates fashion-forward clothing and accessories in fully legible braille in the form of beadwork.
♿️ Accessibility ♿️
Startup Collaborates with Arc’teryx on Soft Exoskeleton
Skip, a startup out of Alphabet, has announced a partnership with outdoor company Arc’teryx to design a pair of “powered pants” that utilize a soft exoskeleton. The pants provide 40% energy assistance to the quadricep and hamstring while offloading work from the knees.
📱Social Media📱
Ballerina Farm and the Trad Wife Controversy
The internet is abuzz over an article in the Times of London covering Hannah Neeleman, who goes by the handle Ballerina Farm online. The profile details how Neeleman gave up her dreams of being a ballerina in New York to become a wife and mother of eight on a hog farm. Trad wives (short for traditional wives) is a trend coming under the microscope as many ask if it’s female liberation or a blow to feminism.