Viral Style: Body Scanners, Smart Heels, And 3D-Printed Sports Bags For World Cup Stars

In the UK, Graduate Fashion Week 2014 wrapped up a few days ago, having showcased a range of fresh graduate collections from students across the country. One interesting feature took place in the GFW Live area, where supermarket specialist fashion brand George installed a large 3D-scanner able to scan a whole human body, 0.1mm at a time.

Allegedly the inventors of the 3D scanner approached George with the aim of offering visitors "a whole new way of buying clothes"—the device allows you to see how individual garments would look on your body without having to try them on ('cos, you know, effort). The scanner was so popular at the event that even designer Gareth Pugh gave it a whirl. 3D Scanners are in the process of applying the idea to shoe design—will this ultimately affect how we shop in the future?

Another GFW highlight emerged in the form of London College of Fashion graduate Silvia Fada Moreno and her innovative high heel designs. Having noticed that the principal functions of footwear are often sacrificed in fashion, Silvia's Kinetic Traces project aimed to reboot a series of shoe styles with wearable sports-inspired elements that interact with the body for a comfortable fit. Constructed to improve impact absorption, footwear is constructed with unusual mechanisms like springs, pneumetic hydraulics, metal rings and rubber balls to create a high-tech, performance-enhanced wearability complete with a slick design aesthetic. If this thing hits the market, you'll never have to hobble home again.

Maaaan, this sportswear bag is (almost) enough to get me wanting to hit the gym again. The new Nike Football Rebento bag (Soccer bag for all of you, States-side) not only looks sick, but also marks a next-gen step ahead in fashion innovation. A luxe leather upper has been combined with a 3D-printed base, along with laser-sintered nylon, creating a lightweight yet durable construction that racks up a whole mess of style credentials. There are only three bags in existence, designed for soccer superstars Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr ahead of the World Cup next week—each one even comes with custom gold hardware revealing the player's name.

Intel recently unveiled a new T-shirt design that can actively track your heart rate—possibly the ultimate garment for gym rats. Recently premiered at California's Code conference, the tee's fabric has been crafted with embedded sensors made from conducive fibers, which are able to gather heart rate data and send it to your smartphone via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for monitoring. Great news for people who train for marathons and such, but maybe not so handy if you're the type of person who spent last weekend in bed on a Netflix binge, eating bread out of the bag. Again.

While big name brands like Apple and Sony continue to smash it out in the ongoing smartwatch war (yeah, that is kind of/almost a thing), Acer has slipped in with a design for those after a more niche accessory. The Taiwanese-American electronics corp has just revealed designs for its debut smartwatch, set to hit stores later this summer. Available in a variety of fun colours, the device incorporates elements from fitness tracker together with capabilities for text messaging and email. You can track your steps and how many calories you burn throughout the day, and the slim rubberized shape means you can style it out with most outfits. Only bummer is, you can only use the watch in conjunction with the Acer Liquid Jade phone, which is pretty limiting.

What else did we miss this week in the fashion game? Please share with us your favorite future fashion in the comments section!