Accelerating the Future of Fashion

The Future of Fashion is Currently Being Disrupted by Students at London College of Fashion, UAL, Powered by Microsoft

Unlocking Innovations Across Microsoft Mixed Reality, AI, and IoT While Empowering Today’s Talent to Transform the Industry of Tomorrow

London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London is continuing its collaboration with Microsoft to inspire the next generation to rethink, redesign and revolutionize the future of the fashion industry. Leveraging Microsoft’s cutting-edge Mixed Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and IoT technologies and LCF’s industry-defining mentors, selected students were invited to participate in a semester-long intensive course that culminates in a final showcase of their prototypes this June.

Following the success of the inaugural Future of Fashion Incubator program in 2018, LCF is running a new program to explore the role of emerging technology in fashion innovation. This year’s initiative, Accelerating the Future of Fashion, takes a more focused approach, challenging students to develop actionable businesses built on Microsoft’s most forward-thinking products. Students were invited to pitch their proposal to a panel of technology and fashion experts for potential inclusion in the mentorship and development program, from which six student teams were selected to participate and develop functional prototypes under the guidance of LCF and Microsoft mentorship. Off the back of the final presentations at the showcase this June, one team will be given the unique opportunity to continue refining their project with a Research and Development trip to the Microsoft campus in the United States.

“Last year we put Microsoft’s cutting-edge technologies into the hands of our students and the results created such extraordinary interest across the fashion industry, we felt compelled to deepen the collaboration”, says Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Fashion Innovation Agency, London College of Fashion, UAL. “This year, by building scalable ideas across Artificial Intelligence, Mixed Reality, and the IoT, Microsoft and London College of Fashion will showcase a road map towards truly digital fashion and retail businesses. We are incredibly excited to be working with Microsoft again on a project that is clearly demonstrating the impact that emerging technologies will have on the future of fashion education, the future of retail experience, and the future of fashion design.”

The prototypes within Accelerating the Future of Fashion pose ambitious new solutions for the fashion industry through the intelligent application of Microsoft technologies like Mixed Reality, IoT, and Artificial Intelligence. From responsive activewear that pairs Microsoft HoloLens with wearable sensor technology to aid athlete rehabilitation, to zero-waste patternmaking that applies Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services to eliminate waste in clothing production, the students at London College of Fashion, UAL, are once again redesigning traditional creation and application methods for a more functional fashion industry of tomorrow.

“For the second year in a row, we are blown away by the creativity and invention of the students at London College of Fashion' says Maruschka Loubser, Director of Brand Partnerships and Campaigns, Microsoft. With the fashion industry evolving at an incredible pace, the ambition of the relationship with London College of Fashion and the Fashion Innovation Agency is to empower students with the tools necessary to innovate and disrupt the fashion industry, and create lasting impact across design, retail or sustainability using technology.”

Students will unveil their final works during a special presentation on June 4 at Old Spitalfields Market, open to the public from 8:30am with an invitational media event commencing at 6:30pm.

For more information, please contact VOCAL or visit www.microsoft.com/inculture/london-college-fashion.

Future of Fashion Incubator

The Future of Fashion is Currently Enrolled at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London

Empowering Tomorrow’s Talent To Transform The Industry With Cutting-Edge Tech

Through a unique partnership with London College of Fashion, UAL featuring custom co-curriculum, Microsoft is empowering the next generation of talent to transform the fashion industry. LCF’s Future of Fashion Incubator uses cutting-edge Microsoft technology and influential mentorships to create truly collaborative educational environments. The program seeks to spark creativity and meaningful innovation, allowing this select group of students to bring their vision of the future of fashion to life.

Microsoft co-created a custom curriculum for a semester-long incubator with LCF’s Fashion Innovation Agency and Digital Learning Lab. Students across multiple majors in both the bachelor’s and master’s programs applied to participate in this advanced course that challenged them to use cutting-edge technology like mixed reality, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence to disrupt the fashion industry.

“Collaborating with Microsoft to empower our students with emerging technologies across courses through this project is incredibly exciting.” says Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion. “Fusing business ideas with mixed reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning, ultimately, will allow a pathway to creating the digital designer business of the future.”

The Incubator is a short-term intensive program, where top students from LCF's Fashion Business School, School of Design & Technology, and School of Media & Communication, collaborate in six multi-disciplinary groups. Over the course of the semester, students attend workshops and explore various Microsoft technologies and their impact on the fashion industry – including Mixed Reality/3D, the Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence – before selecting one concentration of study.

"It has been amazing to partner with London College of Fashion and their Fashion Innovation Agency, to push the boundaries of how technology can really drive impact and foster alternative creative thinking in fashion. The future of the industry is enrolled here, and we want to empower them to make a purposeful difference — not just now, but also when they enter the industry." - Maruschka Loubser, Senior Global Marketing Manager, Microsoft.

Once their concepts have been established, the teams consult with Incubator Ambassadors Charli Cohen, Hayley Elsaesser, Sofia Barattieri, Natasha Franck and Bia Bezamat, from a range of fashion perspectives to develop ideas into prototypes that will drive digital transformation and forge new frontiers within the industry. The program culminates with an unveiling event alongside the LCF BA18 exhibition in June.

For more information, please contact VOCAL or visit www.microsoft.com/inculture/london-college-fashion.

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