Banana Flame's Webcam Social Shopper

AR is the wave of fashion’s future, adding another layer of interactivity and just plain awesomeness to the shopping experience. Adidas introduced sneakers last year, the Originals Augmented Reality Pack, featuring AR codes on its tongues that when scanned would lead to interactive games online. T-shirts by London’s Cassette Playa have AR codes that reveal horns and other weird shit on its wearer’s heads.

And in April, Burberry had an Augmented Reality fashion show in Beijing with hologrphic models catwalking side-by-side with their real life counterparts.

Fashion mags are also getting into the AR groove, with Dazed & Confused having implemented AR codes in its March 2010 issue that, when scanned with a webcam, made “the pages come alive on your screen, as a fashion film is superimposed on the magazine image,” explains the pub’s editor Rod Stanley.

As the idea of a virtual closet has tantalized me since the sartorial heyday of Cher Horowitz – everything inevitably comes back to Clueless — Augmented Reality offers a viable, though not completely perfected approximation. Though one can get the general idea of what a prospective purchase may look like via Banana Flame, the touch, the feel (of cotton) and the actual fit of the garment isn’t replicable…yet.

For now, Augmented Reality is this cool gimmick used to entice and intrigue — much like the current craze over 3-D — but unlike that gimmick, AR has the potential to completely change the way we shop — and you don’t need those funky glasses, either. [NYT]

But wait, there’s more! Dr.Romanelli collaborated with Cassette Playa on these Fraggle Rock Slapaids.

If you having a serious case of nostalgia, you can find out more about Slapaids here.

LINK LOVE: Slamxhype

Random cool photo from VOGUE HOMMES JAPAN shot by Hedi Slimane. I think the designer featured is Cassette Playa.

LINKAGE: Frillr

Carri Munden, the designer behind Cassette Playa, recently sat down to talk a bit more about the collaboration she did with Nike. The shoes come out on Saturday, so go get in line with the other one million kids who want a chance to snag these custom kicks.

Thanks Highsnobiety

The UK brand Cassette Playa recently created four limited edition t-shirts for Seven New York. The shirts are retailing for $495, which I think is totally worth it, because these are some of the coolest t-shirts I have ever seen. The concept was “Utube Utopia”, and each shirt is a combination of images from Youtube. I don’t know about you, but I think this is a really cool concept. The shirts are cool and colorful, and would be the perfect fit for any hipsters wardrobe.

Thanks Highsnobiety