Technology ruled the ramp at the recent IBM Cloud ( NYSE: IBM) and 360FashionNetwork (www.360fashion.net) “Startup Runway & Innovation Awards” 2015, on Nov 3rd at the City View at Metreon in San Francisco. The event was a visionary display of technology infused clothing & accessories.
Anina Net, founder and CEO of 360Fashion Network and Sandy Carter, General Manager, IBM Ecosystems and Social Business Evangelism at IBM were the main event hosts for “Building a Bridge Between Fashion & Technology”.
The layout. Mannequins decked in futuristic clothing, with flashing bulbs, delicate wires, and gizmos at the entrance. The runway was at the far-end, with a large display screen and surround seating. Compact tables were set up mid-way, to serve food and drinks from the makeshift bars. Hors d’oeuvre’s were served intermittently and lively techno-music accompanied the runway show.
The opportunity. A networking event for fashion startups, international apparel designers, early adopters, media, fashion enthusiasts, and investors.
Social Network. The #IBM360F event utilized NewzSocial, an innovative Silicon Valley based social media influencer platform. A handful of social media ambassadors were recruited to be part and parcel of the platform. The goal was to amplify social reach- before, during, and post-event via promotional content, live tweets, and recaps.
Fifteen technology keywords were utilized to create a garment or product line and the resulting “Visionary Design” worn by the models on the runway. Eye-catching fashions included:
- Motion detector “fashion kit” called 360Fash and a dress designed by RFactory
- Particle print dress with LED’s linked to a heart monitor that changes with heart rate by Shenova
- 3D printed dress. Iris van Herpen dress piece designed by Niccolo Casas. Printed by 3D Systems
- Holographic and Glow in the Dark Lace dresses by designer Rami Kadi
- Seven illuminated dresses by MOON Berlin
Flash talks were given throughout the event by: Sandy Carter, General Manager, IBM Ecosystems and Social Business Evangelism at IBM, Lisa Lang, Founder, Anouk Wipprecht, Fashion Tech Designer, Howard Rheingold, Futurist, and Sanita Laivina, Blackbox.
The judges for the awards were: Anouk Wipprecht: Fashion Tech Designer, Eliane Fiolet: UBERGIZMO, Rumiko McCarthy: Global Gratitude Project, Gail Baugh: PeopleWearSF, Jeanne Allen: FISF, and Mika Uehara: SF FASHTECH.
IBM promoted Bluemix, their latest cloud offering, at the show. Bluemix is an open standards, cloud platform as a Service (PaaS) for building, running, and managing apps and services. IBM encouraged entrepreneurs to sign up for the “Global Entrepreneurship Program” and try Bluemix for free.
