The designs in this new line use wearable technology to bring style and function into the same place.

Engineers and designers have gathered around the world for the MakeFashion event that uses wearables in a way that is meant to be “augmenting the human experience” through a combination of form and function, according to the event’s co-founder.

The event took place in Calgary, Canada and brought runway fashions together with wearable technology.

This isn’t the first time MakeFashion has hit the runway. In fact, it was first launched in June 2012 by a team of three people from the Canadian city. For the fourth year, the gala has now been held at Telus Spark. Among the features that hit the runway were a range of different scientific wearables as well as stunning responsive runway clothing. Each was required to incorporate style and some form of practical application.

The wearables could cause the clothing to do everything to alter their colors to even changing shape.

The various options from the wearable technology allowed wearers to change the appearance of their clothing based on what they wanted or could even allow the clothing to respond to their mood by reading their brainwaves and offering a reflection of that mood through fashion expression.

Co-founder of the event, Shannon Hoover, explained that “You end up with a piece that looks amazing, looks beautiful, but has the technology that you would expect to see in wearable technology.” He also pointed out that the designs featured in this event had a focus on enhancing the “human experience” while making it possible for people to interact with their fashions and with each other with greater meaning.

Hoover pointed out that “Your FitBit, it tracks your motion and your activity, but it doesn’t do a lot about telling human stories.” The hope is that the pieces that were displayed on the runway would offer a greater ability for expression by the individual wearing the various pieces. The goal is to have the clothes tell the story of the person wearing them through wearables that are able to detect it.

More consumers are opting to shop via mobile devices

Mobile commerce is beginning to see aggressive growth in Southeast Asia. The Asia Pacific region has become one of the most attractive and fastest growing mobile payments markets in the world, with companies from all over the world flocking to the region to take advantage of this fact. A new report from Criteo shows that Southeast Asia, in particular, is seeing significant growth in terms of mobile shopping and the availability of mobile payment services. This is partly due to consumers becoming more comfortable with the basic concept of mobile commerce.

Report shows that mobile shopping is growing in many Southeast Asian countries

The report from Criteo shows that mobile payments account for approximately 40% of all transactions made among digital retailers. In the fourth quarter of 2015, mobile transactions accounted for 25% of all payments being made in the digital space, with countries like India, Singapore, and Thailand experiencing the strongest growth in mobile payments. Among mobile shoppers, smartphones where the favored purchasing platform.

Smartphones have become the favored shopping platform among consumers

Smartphone purchases accounted for approximately 73% of all mobile commerce sales in Southeast Asia. Tablets accounted for only 27% of these transactions. Consumers had favored tablet devices in the past because of the larger screens that these devices feature. The shopping experience was also relatively more enjoyable than what consumers experienced with smartphones, as retailers had developed services that performed better on tablets. Now, however, consumers are favoring smartphones because of their small size and how much more convenient they are when compared to tablet devices.

Security remains one of the greatest concerns that mobile shoppers have

While mobile commerce is growing quickly in Southeast Asia, many consumers remain concerned about the security of their financial information when making mobile purchases. As mobile shopping becomes more popular, hackers are beginning to target this sector in order to gain access to consumer financial information. Retailers and companies responsible for mobile payment services have been addressing security issues in order to secure the continued growth of the mobile commerce space.