London Fashion Week trials contactless comms

This year's London Fashion Week will host the first industry pilot of near field communication (NFC) technology on mobile phones.

The trial will allow buyers equipped with the necessary NFC-compatible handset to send text message-based feedback on collections as they go down the catwalk.

In partnership with technology providers O2 and Nokia, the first designer and fashion buyer to sign up to the technology are designer, Emilio de la Morena and Covent Garden boutique, Two See.

As buyers like Two See leave de la Morena's show, being held at the Science Museum, they can use the Nokia 6131 NFC handset to give feedback and register interest in specific designs from the autumn/winter 2008-9 collection.

Participants then touch their handset to specially designed smart posters featuring the different designs from the collection to activate NFC tags embedded within the smart posters and send the message back to the designer.

Anthony Stephinson, fashion buyer for Two See said: "This is a really interesting project to be a part of. As the event gathers momentum and becomes a dominant feature in the global fashion calendar, this kind of technology will only serve to make life easier for everyone. It could be as simple as turning up to the sales appointment the next morning and having your pre-selection on a rail ready for you to work from."

Emilio de la Morena added that it had traditionally been hard to get instant feedback on what buyers think of the collection presented in London before the complete collection is then presented to buyers in Paris.

With Paris's fashion event, as the main selling event after London's, taking place only two weeks later, the NFC trial is hoped to prove valuable by allowing designers to more quickly tailor collections according to the buyers' feedback.

"For the first time we have a way of immediately capturing essential feedback, providing us with the time to understand what the buyers are thinking and make any changes straight away," said Morena.

O2 said that, although this is the first fashion industry pilot, the contactless functionality of NFC is also at the heart of its work with partners like Transport for London and Barclaycard on the O2 Wallet.

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