Celebrities in Tech

Source: U2 jackets, www.cutecircuit.com

Biswas and Das (2006) observation shows that for high technology-oriented products there would be more stronger effects of expert than celebrity endorsers in reducing consumer risk perceptions. In addition, for high technology-oriented products, there is likely to be an interaction effect between endorser type and consumer knowledge, so in this case, fashion technologies are transferred better by celebrity endorsement (Journal of Advertising).

Moreover, Apex (2014) also indicated that the integration of wearable technology into a wave of new designs offers everyday consumers the opportunity to interact with fashion. The industry continues to innovate and influence consumer desires and buying habits, and now the worlds of technology and fashion design have begun to merge. Smart textiles and wearable technology are becoming widely used and recognised by the fashion industry. A number of clothing companies have been established exclusively to exploit these developments and create increasingly innovative designs. As a result, the lines between fashion and technology have been vanishing for some time and examples have aroused into popular culture too: from Rihanna’s LED costume, to Nicole Scherzinger's Twitter dress, which received and showed tweets in a real time. Scherzinger's dress was created by wearable technology professionals CuteCircuit and commissioned by mobile service provider EE, demonstrating the potential of a successful fusion of fashion, technology and celebrity. (http://www.electronicsnews.com.au)

Source: Twitter dress, www.cutecircuit.com 

Therefore, fashion house CuteCircuit is the global leader in interactive fashion, which has introduced many ideas to the fashion world by integrating new beauty and functionality through the use of smart textiles and micro-electronics (video available on http://vimeo.com/87045093). CuteCircuit come with a host of internationally fashionable and fabulous celebrity fans. Most recently, Nicole Scherzinger debuted in the world’s first haute couture dress to feature Tweets and "little black dress" filled with LED lights - the iconic classic piece from the year 1920 that made the history of fashion was innovated by the creativity of CuteCircuit’s designers.

Source: Little black dress, www.cutecircuit.com

It is also the high end fashion designer of choice for Katy Perry, who has worn their creations at a number of her stage shows and red carpet appearances. The designers Ryan and Francesca always wanted to create something resonant, fashionable and special, visually and emotionally attractive, that is why CuteCircuit’s work is frequently featured in international magazines, books on design, fashion and innovation, such as Fashioning the Future, Textile Visionaries, WWD, Time Magazine, Surface, WIRED, ELLE, Vogue, etc. CuteCircuit’s designs and innovations have been written about extensively in the press and included in numerous book publications and articles by representing these creations through celebrity endorsement (http://cutecircuit.com). CuteCircuit created a couture dress for Katy Perry with flowing silk chiffon and over 3000 full colour lights, creating a rainbow of colours shimmering around Katy as she entered the ball. The New York Magazine said that “The most exciting part of the evening, sartorially speaking, was Katy Perry’s light-up dress”!

Source: The K-dress, www.cutecircuit.com

Furthermore, CuteCircuit’s Black Diamond Haute Couture Dress came to life in a special blue and black edition for Sarah Brightman’s Dreamchaser Tour. The dress colours and glowing patterns were inspired by the stars and cosmos and merge seamlessly with the fantastic set design that highlights constellations and shimmering space landscapes. CuteCircuit has designed four spectacular jackets for the Worldwide 360º Tour of the legendary rock band U2. White and black leather jackets hand embedded with over 5000 pixels each. Lights were individually synchronised and capable to recreate any number of dynamic displays, patterns and even video in real time. 

Source: Sarah Brightman's dress, www.cutecircuit.com

Source: U2 jackets, www.cutecircuit.com

In addition to celebrities in tech, Silva-Jelly (2013) reported for Abc News that Lady Gaga was named as the creative director for Polaroid. She helped to design some products with the company, including the small Polaroid Grey Label GL10 wireless printer, which was released in 2010. In February 2013, Alicia Keys joined BlackBerry as its creative director to help BlackBerry with marketing and product plans (http://abcnews.go.com/).

Source: Polaroid Grey Label GL10 printer designed by Lady Gaga, www.cutecircuit.com

Sonny (2013) noted in Business Insider that Will.i.am has become the latest celebrity to release his own brand of technology products, with a range of iPhone accessories. His consumer electronics and app venture i.am+ includes the foto.sosho range that transforms the iPhone into a 14 megapixel camera. Moreover, Dr Dre's Beats by Dre headphones have been a huge hit around the globe too. The hip hop celebrity has included more famous singers into endorsing headphone sets (One Direction, 50 Cent and much more, http://www.businessinsider.com/celebrity-tech-investments-2012-12?op=1#ixzz2zkQpLVn7). Therefore, celebrities can become a huge part not only in their businesses, but in fashion and technology too, that means an influential force in terms of advertising and awareness.

Source: www.businessinsider.com 

More interesting information related to this post: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/fashion-technology--the-new-frontier-20130513-2jhwe.html; http://elitedaily.com/money/rich-and-savvy-the-15-celebrities-who-invested-in-tech-startups/; http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/channel-programs/240163380/hollywood-meets-it-8-notable-celebrities-who-braved-technology.htm. 

Sources: Journal of Advertising, CuteCircuit, Business Insider, Abc News, Electronics News.