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One Part Geek, One Part Chic: XR Fashion with Electric Runway CEO Amanda Cosco
The technology we talk about on this
show is pretty cool, but what's function without form, right?
Thankfully, there's plenty of both to go around, as Electric Runway's
founder Amanda Cosco drops by to talk about. TL;DR -- there's a lot
of cool ways to use XR to stay in-fashion, from virtual try-ons, to
AR-enabled hair colour-changing mirrors.
Alan: Today's guest is a great
friend of mine; Amanda Cosco, CEO of Electric Runway. One part geek,
the other part chic; Amanda Cosco is a leading voice in the
intersection of fashion and technology. Through her work with
Electric Runway, Amanda is committed to bridging the gap between
these two seemingly opposite industries, to help humanize technology,
and help push the fashion industry into the future. In addition to
contributing to notable publications such as WWD, Toronto Star, and
Wearable, Amanda shares her insights through talks given on both
local and international stages. She's made several radio and TV
appearances, including CBC's The Goods and TVO’s The Agenda. She's
been recognized as a top woman in wearable technology, as well as a
key thinker on the future of fashion. As a consultant, Amanda shares
her expertise in the innovation economy to help future-proof business
models and save her clients time and money. Amanda earned a master's
degree of arts from Ryerson in Toronto, and prior to that she
graduated from York University. She holds a certificate of digital
media skills from OCAD University. And she's the chair of the Fashion
and Business Management Professional Advisory Committee at Centennial
College, as well as the Board of Champions at the Bata Shoe Museum.
If you want to learn more about Amanda and her company, Electric
Runway, visit electricrunway.com. Amanda, welcome to the show.
Amanda: Thanks so much for
having me, Alan, and thanks for that kind introduction.
Alan: It's my absolute pleasure.
I'm so excited. You are a leader in this industry. You've been in the
wearable space forever. Tell us how you got started in this.
Amanda: Well, Electric Runway
actually began with a future fashion runway show that I curated for
the Maker Festival in Toronto. So the brand very much has its roots
in performance and the actual runway, but it's evolved over the
years. And I had been a part of the burgeoning wearable technology
scene in Toronto. And it wasn't until I covered a technology festival
in Toronto and had the opportunity to interview a cyborg -- a
self-identified cyborg -- for the Globe and Mail and did a story on
him. It wasn't until then that I realized that wearable computing is
absolutely going to change us, as humans. And that's when I decided
to focus my career as a journalist and entrepreneur on technology on
the body. And that's also the time that Electric Runway began. And it
quickly became the umbrella under which I do lots of speaking and
events and curation, in order to just bring everything together,
that's going on in this exciting industry. And what's really great
about it, is that being focused on fashion and beauty gives me a
really specific lens, through which I can view technological
innovations like augmented reality and virtual reality. So, rather
than trying to cover everything that's happening in technology --
which is impossible these days, because technology is disrupting
every industry -- I'm allowed to sit in this niche of fashion,
beauty, retail, consumer experiences and really just talk about how
emerging technologies are brushing elbows with these innovations.
Alan: Incredible. So you've seen
a lot of technologies in the fashion space. With respect to
virtual/augmented/mixed reality, I know you hosted an event -- about
a year ago -- I was at, and all of the mannequins had VR headsets on
them.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah. [laughs]
Alan: It's i
View all episodes
By Alan Smithson from MetaVRse
4.5
1212 ratings
The technology we talk about on this
show is pretty cool, but what's function without form, right?
Thankfully, there's plenty of both to go around, as Electric Runway's
founder Amanda Cosco drops by to talk about. TL;DR -- there's a lot
of cool ways to use XR to stay in-fashion, from virtual try-ons, to
AR-enabled hair colour-changing mirrors.
Alan: Today's guest is a great
friend of mine; Amanda Cosco, CEO of Electric Runway. One part geek,
the other part chic; Amanda Cosco is a leading voice in the
intersection of fashion and technology. Through her work with
Electric Runway, Amanda is committed to bridging the gap between
these two seemingly opposite industries, to help humanize technology,
and help push the fashion industry into the future. In addition to
contributing to notable publications such as WWD, Toronto Star, and
Wearable, Amanda shares her insights through talks given on both
local and international stages. She's made several radio and TV
appearances, including CBC's The Goods and TVO’s The Agenda. She's
been recognized as a top woman in wearable technology, as well as a
key thinker on the future of fashion. As a consultant, Amanda shares
her expertise in the innovation economy to help future-proof business
models and save her clients time and money. Amanda earned a master's
degree of arts from Ryerson in Toronto, and prior to that she
graduated from York University. She holds a certificate of digital
media skills from OCAD University. And she's the chair of the Fashion
and Business Management Professional Advisory Committee at Centennial
College, as well as the Board of Champions at the Bata Shoe Museum.
If you want to learn more about Amanda and her company, Electric
Runway, visit electricrunway.com. Amanda, welcome to the show.
Amanda: Thanks so much for
having me, Alan, and thanks for that kind introduction.
Alan: It's my absolute pleasure.
I'm so excited. You are a leader in this industry. You've been in the
wearable space forever. Tell us how you got started in this.
Amanda: Well, Electric Runway
actually began with a future fashion runway show that I curated for
the Maker Festival in Toronto. So the brand very much has its roots
in performance and the actual runway, but it's evolved over the
years. And I had been a part of the burgeoning wearable technology
scene in Toronto. And it wasn't until I covered a technology festival
in Toronto and had the opportunity to interview a cyborg -- a
self-identified cyborg -- for the Globe and Mail and did a story on
him. It wasn't until then that I realized that wearable computing is
absolutely going to change us, as humans. And that's when I decided
to focus my career as a journalist and entrepreneur on technology on
the body. And that's also the time that Electric Runway began. And it
quickly became the umbrella under which I do lots of speaking and
events and curation, in order to just bring everything together,
that's going on in this exciting industry. And what's really great
about it, is that being focused on fashion and beauty gives me a
really specific lens, through which I can view technological
innovations like augmented reality and virtual reality. So, rather
than trying to cover everything that's happening in technology --
which is impossible these days, because technology is disrupting
every industry -- I'm allowed to sit in this niche of fashion,
beauty, retail, consumer experiences and really just talk about how
emerging technologies are brushing elbows with these innovations.
Alan: Incredible. So you've seen
a lot of technologies in the fashion space. With respect to
virtual/augmented/mixed reality, I know you hosted an event -- about
a year ago -- I was at, and all of the mannequins had VR headsets on
them.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah. [laughs]
Alan: It's i