Tech

12 smart clothing options that will do everything from charge your phone to monitor your workout

Danielle Muoio

2016-03-10T19:41:21Z

We have yet to see smart clothing integrated into our daily lives, but fashion brands are developing unique ways to combine fashion with technology.

Whether it's tracking your workout or charging your phone, these clothing options show how fashion is moving in a technologically-focused direction.

Here's a look at the most innovative smart clothing options out there right now:

Designer Pauline van Dongen creates clothing capable of capturing solar energy so you can charge your phone on your person. Her latest is a wearable solar shirt, which is embedded with 120 solar cells. It captures enough energy in bright sunlight to charge your phone in a couple of hours.

There you go! Solar Shirt is now available for men! You're welcome ✌😎

A photo posted by Pauline Van Dongen (@paulinevandongen) on Jun 5, 2015 at 7:47am PDTJun 5, 2015 at 7:47am PDT

There's also a solar parka that comes with one thin, waterproof solar panel attached to the coat's front pocket. "When in full sun, the solar panel generates enough energy to fully charge a smartphone battery within two hours," the website reads. Those interested in the designs can sign up for emails about future sales.

Launch day! Proud to present our newest design the 'solar parka' to the public for the first time today! Special thanks to #waddenvereniging and #bluelooporiginals for the collaboration!

A photo posted by Pauline Van Dongen (@paulinevandongen) on Sep 4, 2015 at 5:57am PDTSep 4, 2015 at 5:57am PDT

Ralph Lauren created a biotech shirt that will collect data about your workout, such as your heart rate and the number of calories burned, and send them to an app on your smartphone.

The metrics are also sent in real-time to a Bluetooth-enabled black box that can be attached to the shirt. The box will make you aware of your metrics, like if you're under your target heart rate, by talking to you. The shirt costs $295.

The makers of the Ralph Lauren smart shirt made a smart bra that uses the same black box to track your workout.

Like the shirt, the bra also has flexible sensors embedded into it to aid in tracking your workout.

The bra can measure heart rate, breathing rate, and stamina. Those metrics are delivered to your phone wirelessly.

The bra will be available some time this Spring for $150.

For more information on how the smart bra works, read our breakdown.

Fashion brand Joe's Jeans created a line of jeans that will charge your iPhone while it's in your pocket.

Say #Hello to new holiday styles - where fashion meets function. Visit the link in our bio to shop & #RethinkYourDenim

A photo posted by @joesjeans on Nov 3, 2015 at 6:39pm PSTNov 3, 2015 at 6:39pm PST

The pocket comes with a built-in sleek battery and cord to top your phone up when you're running low. The jeans run between $179 to $229. You can also buy the slip battery to put in another pair of jeans for $49.

"Your denim is about to get real tech-savvy!..." - via @whowhatwear #RethinkYourDenim #Regram || Click #linkinbio to shop and read the full story!

A photo posted by @joesjeans on Aug 20, 2015 at 8:12pm PDTAug 20, 2015 at 8:12pm PDT

Mimo's high-tech onesie uses sensor technology to monitor your baby's breathing, temperature, and activity while sleeping. The sensor comes in the form of an adorable turtle decoration attached to the onesie.

The onesie will send alerts and a nightly report about your baby's sleep to an app on your smartphone. It costs $195.

Everpurse teamed up with Kate Spade to make a line of handbags that will charge your iPhone on the go — no wires necessary. A "smart pocket" charging dock is included in the bag and can charge an iPhone of any size. The wristlet shown here costs $198.

The bag itself comes with its own thin charging doc that it can rest on to re-up its charge.

MIT's Tangible Media Group created sportswear that will ventilate itself as you sweat. Ancient bacteria is bio-printed on the clothing, which expands and contracts based on the bacteria's exposure to moisture.

The flaps are placed around heat zones and open up as the wearer sweats. The flaps are activated by the ancient bacteria, which respond to the change in moisture. MIT teamed up with New Balance to release the clothing line, but it's unclear when we'll see it on the market.

UK airline easyJet teamed up with clothing company CuteCircuit to create uniforms embedded with sensors and LED lights. The LEDs are embedded on jacket lapels for crew members and relay information like the flight number and destination.

The uniforms for engineers come with a built-in camera and microphone to aid in repairs. Crew members can be seen testing the uniforms in early 2016.

Athos sells smart clothing options that will analyze your muscle effort in real-time using electromyography (EMG) sensors, which are embedded in the clothing and read the your muscles' electrical activity when they are activated.

The sensors can evaluate things like how hard you're working your muscles and whether you're building muscle symmetrically on both sides. The clothes are also embedded with heart rate sensors.

The entire men's full body package — which includes one shirt, one pair of shorts, and one core sensor reader — costs $547. The women's lower body package includes capris and a core reader and costs $348.

A new clothing line called Nadi developed yoga pants that will vibrate to guide you to the correct pose.

There are three motors placed around the hips, two behind the knees, and one on the ankle. The pants will vibrate in the different locations to indicate how to correct your desired pose.

So if your pigeon pose, pictured above, would benefit from moving your hips more center, then the pants will vibrate only in that area to relay that message.

The pants won't vibrate the entire time. Users put in what poses they want help with in a corresponding app, and the pants will detect when you're trying to get in that pose and start the haptic vibrations.

The pants will be available for purchase in April or May, but the cost hasn't been released yet. For more info on how they work, check out our breakdown.

Samsung showed of its smart belt prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show in January and it's loaded with sensors that can detect when you've overeaten.

It can also relay information like the amount of steps you've taken and how long you've been sitting down. All of the data is sent to your smartphone automatically. The belt, called WELT, is still in development.