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)
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.
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”!
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 360ยบ 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.
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/).
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.
Sources: Journal of Advertising, CuteCircuit, Business Insider, Abc News,
Electronics News.
