Barneys, CFDA, Intel and Opening Ceremony team up for wearable technology project

The partnership aims to “increase dialogue and cooperation between the fashion and technology industries,” but there will also be exciting new products. Opening Ceremony’s Carol Lim and Humberto Leon (also creative directors at Parisian brand Kenzo) will design a connected piece of wearable technology incorporating Intel’s latest know-how. The accessories will then be sold at Barneys New York.  

“Through these initiatives we will combine Intel’s leading technologies with Opening Ceremony’s design prowess, Barneys New York’s track record to identify the next consumer trends, and CFDA’s commitment to advance innovation within the fashion industry. Our shared vision is to accelerate wearable technology innovation and create products that both enhance peoples’ lives and are desirable to wear,” explained Intel’s Ayse Ildeniz. 

“This is an incredibly exciting and unique opportunity with Intel to bring our design vision to a wearable accessory that collides with Intel’s state of the art innovation with fashion,” explained Carol Lim.

Intel will also work with the CFDA to create a network linking together technology developers and 400 leading US fashion designers. The project is designed to help foster innovation and problem solving, share creative ideas and spawn new wearable technology projects and products. 

Meanwhile tech giant Apple has also been working in-house to achieve the same sort of ends, cherry-picking top talent from the luxury industry for their own teams. Last year they recruited former Yves Saint Laurent chief executive officer Paul Deneve and Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts.