Designer Adam Selman is teaming up with MasterCard. At the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, Selman revealed exclusive designs that work with a small chip that contains your credit card information. The chip—which is part of MasterCard’s new program—connects via Bluetooth to an app on your phone and is embedded in the clothing, enabling purchases with a simple swipe of, say, a sleeve. This is possibly a permanent (and stylish) solution to the age old question, “Where is my wallet?”
“Technology is vital to the fashion industry, from textiles, printing techniques, and innovations in garments, it keeps fashion changing and evolving,” said Selman. “Usually technology’s role in fashion is behind the scenes. What sets the MasterCard program apart is that it features the technology, while still remaining invisible, yet interactive and totally functional with the wearer. It’s exciting to be part of a project that is creating something new and fresh. At the end of the day, that’s what fashion is all about.”
Selman’s designs join a handful of other items that work with the chip technology, including “rings, fitness and smart bands, car key fobs…and whatever comes along next,” said Ed McLaughlin, chief emerging payments officer at MasterCard. More designers may follow suit, if the future looks anything like what Cisco predicts: 50 billion connected devices by 2020.
