Microsoft Store visitors can customise, print and take home their own tote bag as part of a partnership with the London College of Fashion (LCF), University of the Arts London.
The company will also host interactive workshops and panel discussions at the flagship location, focused on how technology is shaping the future of fashion.
A panel discussion on September 14 will kick off a weekend of free workshops and events. Participants will hear from industry experts including Linda Roberts, Director of Business and Innovation at LCF, and Irene-Marie Seelig, Global Sustainability Lead for Swarovski, on the role technology is playing across the industry, from disrupting old business models to empowering visionary new ones.
Microsoft Store will combine fashion and technology by offering bespoke interactive workshops, each led by industry-leading tutors and alumni from the prestigious London College of Fashion, UAL. A sustainability workshop will provide insights from luxury fashion designer and researcher Gabrielle Miller and fashion futures student Aniela Fidler.
Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Fashion Innovation Agency at LCF, said: “We want to inspire people to think differently about the fashion industry. By creating a unique workshop programme, Microsoft Store and London College of Fashion is bringing people closer to the fashion industry and showcasing how cutting-edge technology such as Microsoft HoloLens can disrupt the industry as we know it. It’s an exciting opportunity to experience the future of fashion on our doorstep.”
Other workshops will look at the digital technology making fashion design more accessible and explore the challenges and opportunities in the modern fashion industry, before challenging attendees to develop their own business opportunity.
An innovation workshop, hosted by LCF’s Head of Fashion Innovation, will give the audience an insight into how artificial intelligence is used in the fashion industry and how technology can drive sustainable pattern cutting. Ashwini Desphande, an LCF Design and Development student, will support the session, after winning the Microsoft x LCF “Accelerating the Future of Fashion” programme for Art-Z, her AI pattern-cutting project that she is now developing into a business.
As well as Ashwini’s material-saving software, other students found ways to put customers into clothing adverts and to create interactive fitting rooms.
John Carter, Microsoft Senior Store Manager, said: “Through unique retail experiences, Microsoft Store aims to bring people closer to a range of technologies, and the Microsoft Store x London College of Fashion Curriculum is just one example of how the flagship is the best place to experience all that’s possible with Microsoft.”
Register here to attend a workshop or panel discussion.
