Carlings—The Scandinavian Fashion Retailer —Launches Its Last Statement T-Shirt—The World's First Augmented Reality Statement T-Shirt.

Image Courtesy of Carlings

Last year, Scandinavian fashion retailer Carlings launched the first ever-digital clothing collection, NEO-EX, to critical acclaim.

Carlings is back again, propelling fashion into the future once again by launching 'The Last Statement’ t-shirt, the world's first augmented reality statement t-shirt.

Ever since the beginnings of youth culture, fashion has been a way to make a statement. Today's youth, a generation with the climate crisis looming over their imminent future, have shown the world time and again that they are not afraid of speaking up and making a stand.

With the launch of The Last Statement T-shirt (developed by creative agency VIRTUE), Carlings has taken a classic pillar of youth rebellion and reinvented it for the digital age to provide maximum social traction, but minimal environmental impact.

"A statement T-Shirt is a way for the voiceless to get their message out there and today, social media allows people to amplify that a thousand times.

But social media also makes statement T-shirts even more of a one-off purchase.

So we worked on how to extend the environmental impact of a single t-shirt through digital innovation," said Ronny Mikalsen, CEO Carlings.

The Last Statement T-shirt features a graphical logo designed to serve as a tracking point for a smartphone.

Using Spark AR, the technology behind Instagram's face filters and stickers, the phone can then digitally superimpose new designs on to the T-shirt.

It can even adjust the image to align with the movement and drapes of the shirt.

Customers can choose between a selection of animated statements, continuously updated to reflect daily news and current topics.

So every day, the t-shirt can display a new statement and design to get the message out there on Instagram — without ever having to buy another physical t-shirt.

The first instalment of the project will feature 4 designs, with 16 new ones added by mid January.

"The Last Statement T-shirt is just the first example of how digital augmentation and alteration will shape tomorrow's fashion industry.

Customization and personalization are two of today's biggest trends.

We are curious about how this technology could allow us to invite our customers into the design process, giving items a digital afterlife post-purchase”, said Ronny Mikalsen, CEO Carlings.