Core77

How are technological advancements shaping or informing the design of Soft Goods? Michael DiTullo, our Jury Captain for this field and Creative Director at frog in San Francisco, shares his observations and predictions on the paths that soft goods designers and manufacturers are taking plus tells us why he picked his jury.

Core77: Tell us a bit about your jury and why you chose these individuals.

Michael DiTullo: All four of us, Greg McNamara, M. Coleman Horn, Chris Gadway and myself, are very experienced in bringing a variety of soft goods, footwear and accessories to production for large corporate brands as well as start-up lifestyle brands. I looked for partners on my jury who are excellent designers, have a firm understanding of brand, a deep passion for craft and experience in factory development.

What qualities will you be considering when evaluating each entry?

We will be looking for products that really represent the full package. Winning entries will have a desirable and unique brand position. They will be meticulously crafted and executed. They will be striking and iconic in their own right. On top of all of that, they will have brought an innovative twist to the industry. One of the amazing things about working in soft goods is that you are building on literally centuries of craft. To be able to pioneer a new technique or put a twist on an old one is an achievement. We are going to be looking for that twist.

What are you most excited about discovering while judging the entries?

There are a couple of global trends occurring right now in soft goods, which, on their surface, seem very disparate. The first is a return to old world craft. We are seeing products made again in the old world traditions with painstakingly hand tanned and tooled leathers, cut and stitched by hand. In some cases, these products are being made in places like the United States. It is exciting to see a broader acceptance of this type of work again!

On the flip side, we continue to see the mass implementation of high tech innovations like laser cutting, stitch less seam welding, and the integration of molded hard and semi-rigid components within soft goods. It is exciting that both of these trends exist at the same time, and are both at their core rooted in craftsmanship. I'm looking forward to see where the bulk of this year's entries land, and if a few of them even blend those trends.

Where do you see the future of the Soft Goods field heading?

An exciting future lies ahead. Some of the most exciting possible innovations have to do with advances outside of the soft good industry. Just-in-time manufacturing technologies and order management are leading to more and more factory side customization that is initiated and determined by the end user. The ever-cheapening and dispersal of processing power is leading to digital components integrating into soft-goods. A digital component in a shoe was almost unimaginable a decade ago, and now every Nike running shoe is compatible with Nike+. The opportunity to integrate technologies that relate to quantifying our actions the way the Philips fitBit does or acting like an input to our other devices, such as some of the Burton coats that have stitched in smartphone controls is amazing.

The challenge for designers in this category will be coming up to speed with all of these new technologies while remaining versed in the techniques of the industry to create soft goods that are innovative and desirable.

Learn more about the Soft Goods category and jury. The deadline for entries is Tuesday April 10.

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Hopson Kinetic Jewelry founders, husband and wife team Ben and Emma Hopson, have unveiled their first collection of their kinetic accessories. Aptly called "Scissor," the pieces are as riveting to watch as to wear. Composed of tiny moving parts that glide together in effortless unison, HKJ's collection of rings, necklaces and bracelets are as remarkable as the delicate innards of an antique clock.

Thin silver bands expand and collapse, held together by tiny golden rivets, changing shape dependent on the mood and styling of the wearer. Situated on narrow chains, the jewelry is the perfect marriage of form and function: utterly delicate and mechanically impeccable. The same, of course, could be said of industrial designer Ben Hopson and his photographer and jewelry aficionado wife, Emma. While Ben's design and mechanical know-how inspired kinetics it was Emma's appreciation for bling that provided the pair with their medium. See their stop-motion demonstration of the "Scissor" earrings!

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This DIY Halloween costume has been making blog rounds since Tyler posted it a couple days ago, but it's too good not to share here. The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based designer—a photographer by trade—has designed exactly what it sounds like: a fully functional Nikon camera costume.

Tyler would also like to thank the "awesome beard behind the sign" Card, Adam Barr, who documented the project in a similarly DIY making-of video:

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A beautiful trailer for the upcoming NOISIA VISION film, dedicated to the sport of Wakeskating. Although there are a small handful of options on the market, it'd be great to think about footwear/material innovations for the athletes.

We also noticed that the film was partially shot using GoPro—another cool application for this tiny, rugged camera. Check out our overview here or the Skateboard-view of Manhattan footage.

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Carrier pigeons haven't been considered as a practical, efficient mode of communication since World War II, yet eco-conscious shoe company Jojo has found a way to use them for deliveries, physically and digitally. Based on the video below, the Brussels-based brand's flock is meant to deliver at least as much web traffic as they do shoes.

Quote of the day at 2:23...

The bit about having customers submit images of their neighborhoods (for the pigeons' benefit) is pretty neat, though I'm curious as to how reliably the pigeons can find their destinations based on Google Streetview...

Still, the strange thing about the video is that they don't mention the project—half of the proceeds go towards one of two "actions": providing clean water or planting trees in Africa—at any point during the clip. Thankfully, it's a straightforward metaphor:

...this shoe (or should we say this ribbon) conforms to the shape of the foot, just like a bandage meant to heal it, [which has] become the distinctive sign of our brand, directly linked to our eco-responsible philosophy...

For what it's worth, the design ain't bad... though I'm not seeing the "pigeon" option under shipping (for U.S. or Belgian addresses).

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