Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

For all the posturing that’s gone on surrounding wearable technology in recent years, there’s an unlikely front runner: Ralph Lauren is about to put its sexy black PoloTech on sale for $295, ready to transmit your every workout move straight to your iPhone.

While other companies, including Adidas, Athos and Victoria’s Secret, already market products using similar technology, the PoloTech is the first luxury fashion brand to enter the space, proving that technology doesn’t have to look dorky.

For more than a decade, tech and athletic companies have been tinkering with wearables that target “elite, and even professional, athletes,” says Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner, who follows wearables and connected apparel. “What I get excited about is fashion-forward companies like Lauren even acknowledging that smart garments can move away from the more serious fitness buff to everybody, and into mainstream fashion.”...