Future of Fashion 24 hour ‘hack’ at Westfield London
By Retail Technology | Monday September 15 2014
The shopping centre is hosting the first public 24 hour ‘Fashion Hackaton’
To celebrate the launch of Westfield Autumn Winter 2014, Westfield London and Decoded Fashion have announced their first consumer facing hackathon, which will take place on the weekend of Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 September.
Shoppers will not only be able to watch but interact and influence teams of European tech pioneers, all competing to create a new way of enhancing the consumer experience for fashion and retail brands in Westfield.
Technology to help shoppers
The teams will be briefed to answer one of Autumn/Winter 2014 key fashion ‘talking points’ of the season, exploring how to use technology to help shoppers find the perfect item, to make people feel happy while shopping or make the right beauty choices.
The teams, who will work through the night, will be mentored by industry influencers from the likes of ASOS, MyFlashTrash, Twitter and Google. Teams will then present their solutions to a panel of judges at the intersection of fashion, retail and innovation including British Fashion Council’s Caroline Rush and Samsung’s Lee Epting.
The winning team will then be flown to San Francisco, where they will meet with Westfield Labs’ Global Chief Officer Kevin McKenzie to present their innovation.
Appetite for technology
“The way consumers are using technology when shopping is focused on having control and efficiency, with click and collect, self-service tills, reading online reviews and checking prices the most valued technologies,” explained Myf Ryan, marketing director of UK and Europe at Westfield.
“However, recent research carried out by Westfield shows there is also a growing appetite from consumers for technology that inspires and enhances the shopper journey, whether that’s avoiding the need to try things on by using virtual mirrors or making their purchases through e-wallets.”
Technology on show will include Google Glass, the yet to be launched NEXBand wristband that takes virtual, mobile experiences to the real world and back again and the Leap Motion 3D controller that allows users to use their Mac or PC with a wave of a hand.
Visitors will also experience the Displair screen creating scented images and augmented reality fitting room technology by Fashion 3D.
