How CES Fashion and Beauty Should Be – WWD

Like fashion week, CES, the consumer electronics technology show in Las Vegas enjoys highlighting the newest products and trends that will fascinate people in the weeks and months ahead.

However, the show has never been a regular stop on the fashion and beauty circuit – except perhaps for the most tech-driven brands and platforms. Look carefully at companies like L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble, Fossil, Perfect Corp. and others who are eager to tell their innovation stories, identify intriguing new partnerships, or showcase their newest advancements, products, and projects.

L’Oréal Group’s fascination with beauty hardware and intelligence led the company to introduce two new makeup application devices at the show called Hapta and Brow Magic. Guive Balooch, global vice president of L’Oréal’s technology incubator, told WWD that they are fueled by a broader goal of using technology to ensure that “our fingers and hands will no longer be obstacles to achieving our results desired”.

Unlike previous years, Procter & Gamble did not unveil new products or organize an exhibition this time. But it made its presence known by sending Kelly Anderson, director of research and development for data science and artificial intelligence, to talk about the company’s approach to data science and partnering with startups to keep ideas and fresh innovations.

“AI and data – high-quality, proprietary data – are part of our digital transformation strategy to disrupt the way we innovate, bringing products to market faster, better and cheaper,” said Anderson in exclusive comments to WWD. “It’s helping to really understand consumer behavior very deeply, what they aspire to achieve, and helping us design the best possible products to achieve that for them.

“We are in strategic partnership from abroad, both with academics, obviously, to understand the basic sciences, [and] with startups, especially since, in the world of AI, technology moves very, very quickly from academia to start-ups to large businesses.”

Perfect Corp., the AI ​​and augmented reality platform for beauty and accessories increasingly, has become a regular at CES as well. Shortly before the show, the company announced a virtual eyewear trial solution, with a “simplified automated 3D modeling process introducing an easy-to-adopt self-service platform for brands to digitize their product range in part of the time,” according to the company.

Basically, the virtual 3D glasses creation process he invented was designed to replace complicated and multidimensional scanning processes with automatic 3D rendering “using only three flat images of the product to create a unique live camera preview “.

Adam Gant, chief marketing officer of Perfect Corp., was also seen on a CES panel about solving retail’s biggest challenges. The conversation focused on six specific technology trends the company identified, including sustainability, the return of physical retail, AI-based skin technology, the rise of AI and AR for fashion accessories, personalization intelligence and virtual commerce via Web 3.0 and other immersive experiences.

Of course, the larger show makes some of those points, especially the latter, as dozens of exhibitors covered mixed reality, NFT and blockchain, the metaverse, Web 3.0 and related trends.

WWD caught up with a tech company whose wearable technology aims to connect fashion and a virtual experience similar to augmented reality, but in a more practical way. Vuzix announced a new Ultralite reference device that expands smartphone notifications in a visual way to the eye, but without the large and annoying battery life.

As Paul Travers, president, CEO and founder of Vuzix explained to WWD, the company’s approach to wave technology allows for a thinner form factor without skimping on resolution and quality. “It’s all about skinny and sex.” [and] fashion forward,” he said. “Screens can be super small, up in corners hidden in bezels. And the lenses are 0.6 millimeters thin. So you have this form factor that you can put in glasses.”

The premise seems particularly interesting, given the hype around Apple being said to be on the verge of releasing its own smart glasses or mixed reality headset. So it’s no surprise that top tech and fashion brands showed interest in Ultralite. Travers didn’t name specific companies, but hinted at the possibility of the Ultralite reference design arriving under the banner of a globally recognized consumer brand as early as this fall.

Clothing technology and fashion have become so irresistible, even celebrities like Paula Abdul are getting in on the act. The dancer/singer saw fit to bring her Audio IdolEyes Fashion Glasses to CES, while plenty of wrist gizmos were also spotted, including Fossil’s latest sixth-generation health-oriented hybrid watch.

Apparently fashion-focused technology has moved from the face and hands to the feet. Indeed, luxury shoe designer Enrico Cuini worked with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Taryn Rose, to create a line of high-end shoes for men and women that promise ultimate fit and comfort, thanks to their ALIA, or Active Lift in Alignment, development. support technology.

The system uses computer vision and intelligence for a personalized, made-to-measure fit. The shoes “distribute pressure over a larger area of ​​the foot to dynamically allow for pressure relief, stability and energy return, making even the tallest, sexiest stilettos extremely comfortable,” their announcement said.

For the attendees who turned out for this year’s CES — which, at some 112,000 or so at final count, make up a little more than half of the usual crowd — they were treated to gonzo spectacles at an array of eye-catching technologies. . Most obvious to casual viewers were futuristic, bendable screens on TVs and automotive innovation for self-driving cars, electric vehicles, infotainment systems and more. If that didn’t grab your attention, the transportation options certainly did. After all, how often does one shoot through the colorfully lit underground tunnels under the Las Vegas Convention Center in a Tesla with a free driver?

But there was more going on beneath the surface of the spectacle, and for fashion and beauty, it’s clear that innovation will continue to light the way this year and beyond.