MY TECH CHRISTIAN COWAN
THE DESIGNER, 26, ON BEING A 1990s BABY, POLITICS AND SOCIAL MEDIA AND HOW TECH WILL CHANGE FASHION. BY Basil Kronfli
anything about the fashion and tech worlds colliding that excites you?
I think we’re going to see tech truly get integrated into fabrics – actual functions such as heart-rate tracking and temperature checking with nanotechnology. I’m fascinated by more practical fashion. I just love stuff like fabric that cools itself down, changes colour etc. Whereas I kind of don’t care about a dress that tweets or lights up right now.
if you could make a fashion tech dream a reality, what would it be?
Self-fitting fabric. The best advice I got was from [fashion doyenne] Diane von Furstenberg – stretch fabrics will make your business. Also an instant shopping printer. Like a 3D-printer but prints the real thing, so I order something and have it instantly. are there any products at the moment that are making you really go ‘ooh’?
The new Razr 5G. I’ve been using the phone for a while. I love how it’s championing nostalgia and folding screens in such a useful way. The original was iconic.
You’re stranded on an island with one self-powering gadget – what would it be?
An island-wide Sonos-type speaker system with unlimited songs on it. I’d fashion a disco ball out of washed-up bits of glass, plastic and shells – it’d be a blast.
You’re a 1990s baby. What piece of tech symbolises the decade?
Definitely the Tamagotchi. Actually, dial-up internet. No one else could be on the phone while you were online and it made that screeching dialling sound. That just seems like such a distant dream compared with how connected we are now.
What wearable techech do you use?
I go through AirPods Pro like disposables. It’s really bad but I just use them and lose them all the time.
speakers or headphones?
Both. My neighbours will tell you I’m a big speaker person. I wake up and pretty much listen to music from morning to night. Anything from K-pop to My Chemical Romance to Kylie. I also love my Beats Studio 3 Wireless Violet Grey edition.
Back to fashion, what tech do you use to get ideas out of your head?
The Apple Pencil and the Procreate app. I love how you can colourmatch skin tones and actually draw clothes on to models.
You love animals. Have you dabbled in any pet tech?
I had a Furbo pet cam. It was amazing. Sadly, my dog Miss Mango passed away last month, but Furbo gave me a peek into her world when I wasn’t there. I did have to retire it, though, after about 1,000 bark alert notifications.
amazon alexa or Google assistant?
Alexa, but I’ve changed the keyword to Echo because I know people called Alexa. I’m constantly barking orders at it to play music and tell me the weather. I wish I could lower the volume with my thoughts. Saying, ‘Echo, lower volume’ feels clunky.
You’re quite politically active on social media. is it making or breaking politics?
We’ve got the most political young generation ever because of social media. I partnered with Lil Nas X and a lot of that activity was a success because of social. He’s so important because he fuses two musical genres that have historically been quite phobic with queer energy and minority groups need that kind of visibility. All of the profits from the work we did benefit black trans youths in Atlanta.
What was the inspiration for the bags you designed in partnership with the new Motorola rarazr 5G?
I really w wanted to convey what I saw as its standout featu features. It’s portable, it flips open and it’s sleek and minimal. I feel like we nailed it. And of co course, it had to be luxe!
The Christian Cowan X Razr belt bag and purse collection starts at £150, christiancowan.com