Day 2: Fashion Don’t live at Wearable Tech Show

Written by Mano ten Napel | @mano10napel & Muchaneta Kapfunde | @FashNerdEditor

Excel, New Home of the WearableTechnology Show 2015
Excel, New Home of the WearableTechnology Show 2015

Day 2 of The Wearable Technology show was a beautiful sunny day in the London. Day 1 of the event was a great success and we were happy to be there to witness its growth in comparison to last year’s attendance. The shows exhibitors had had a chance to marinate for two days on the Apple Event an perfect their sales pitch of why their smart watch was a better catch than the much talked about Apple Watch.

When it comes to wearables it is no secret that the industry is aware of the importance of the superficial side of making wearables successful and I was looking forward to seeing the improvements made in this field, I mean what a better place to witness this then at a wearable tradeshow.

Burg 27 The 3G SmartWatch Phone from BURGWearables
Burg 27 The 3G SmartWatch Phone from BURGWearables

As much as we know about tech, there were moments when we felt like a fish out of water. Meeting so many tech enthusiasts alike but there was still something missing. I really feel, fashion, or rather the lack of fashion, in wearable technology should make really wearable developers and designers blush with shame, because this is an issue that has been revisted so much that it has become boringly repetitive.

There is a struggle within the wearable community to get their devices widely adopted by consumers, and it is this returning issue that was visible with some brands at the show in London again this year. Although many endeavors were impressive I wasn’t impressed with the improvements made with regards to making the devices fashionably appealing to the mass market. I guess our expectation levels for feminine and fashionable where high, that being said they did successfully cater to the masculine visitors, something that FashNerd’s Contributing Editor Mano ten Napel noted. He was particularly impressed by several of the smart watches on show. The one that caught his eye was the Burg 27. It is a smart watch that means that if you accidently leave your mobile at home you will not break out in sweat. By just sliding your sim card in your watch, you will have 48 hour battery life and 2 – 3 hours talk time. CEO Leo Elenbaas from Burg Wearables told us that they were teaming up in the US with Telco providers like T-Mobile who would include the watch in a plan.

Martian Smartwatch

Another Wearable Tech smart watch that we visited was Martian Watches. Nowadays companies are quick to claim they understand the customer and its need when it comes to making smart jewelry more fashionable. The thing is that you simply cannot claim that unless you are willing to put it to the test. At the show Martian Watches presented their new line of classical watches. We personally experienced the Martian Electra with white silicon band. It works with iOS and Android apps, from their Nylon Composite collection. It was unfortunate that there actually wasn’t anyone available at the show to go through its voice command features . With it’s 7 day stand-by time battery and the beautiful look of the watch they are the closest to the best we have seen so far.

By the end of Day 2 of The Wearable Tech Show we left with two main talking points, ‘Fashion still does not yet live at Wearable Tech Shows’ and ‘With the launch of Apple Watch, when will a fashionably feminine smart watch show up and by that we do not mean something pink, pink does not mean female’

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