Fashion industry opens its arms to augmented reality

The fashion world is beginning to welcome augmented reality with open arms. The popular fashion retail store Hugo Boss in Britain has erected a 26-foot media wall that acts as a virtual dressing room. The store, which is only a month old, has also launched a website that will serve the same purpose. The move is inspired by a fashion show that was held in Beijing in April, which featured models accompanied by virtual counterparts as they trekked the catwalk.

While Hugo Boss amazes shoppers with its new virtual dressing room, fashion label Cassette Playa has produced a new series of T-shirts that make use of the technology. When the shirts are viewed from a webcam or a mobile device, they display digital images, such as horns erupting from the head of the shirt’s wearer. The shirts are designed by Carri Munden, Cassette Playa’s head designer. Munden believes that augmented reality will add a new layer of fantasy to the world of fashion.

With augmented reality beginning to play a bigger role in the fashion world, fashion designers may be the ones that end up testing the boundaries of the technology. The fashion industry is well known for being on the absolute cutting edge of design and, in some cases, technology. If the true capabilities of augmented reality are ever to be tested, the fashion industry may be the best place.