New Generation Clothing: Mens & Ladies Fashion Branded

Programmable Clothes Are Going Commercial

Electronic clothing is the next frontier in sustainable fashion, as it removes the need to amass a large wardrobe. But will people buy it?

Clothes speak volumes about us, conveying messages about wealth, taste, and personal beliefs. So in this age of ubiquitous screens and social sharing, it's no surprise that textiles have become another platform for electronic communication.

Yet up to now, price and material limitations have restricted these garments to couture and concept—red-carpet spectacles like Nicole Scherzinger’s Twitter dress, which spelled out in microLEDs fan tweets, scrolling the across "The X Factor" judge’s lap in real time. But two new efforts are commercializing the technology, creating consumer fashions that allow the wearer to project any electronic text or image she desires.

CuteCircuit—the London-based makers of Scherzinger’s dress—have been leading the charge. Founded in 2004 by designers Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz, the company recently introduced InfiniTshirt, a programmable top that features a 1,024-pixel screen of full-color LEDs.