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Similarly with digital television most things are just talked about at the moment but it’s a very key part of our strategy
Similarly with digital television, most things are just talked about at the moment, but it’s a very key part of our strategy.”More immediately he has plans to launch a sister brand through Boxman for classical and jazz music, and in the future, a children’s site. At the moment he is fund-raising and preparing for a floatation. In April, he took the decision to pull back from a flotation “It seemed a smart move not to do it. At the moment it’s hard to find investors who are not having knee-jerk reactions and who are looking more carefully These days you have to kiss a few more frogs.
But as more confidence comes back into the market, I don’t expect it to get ridiculously frothy again.”Boxman will become “the avenue of choice”, Salter hopes. “The internet is going to change everything about our lives, but it doesn’t mean that everything has to be hidden under techie obscurity We sell music to people It’s no different to when someone walks into a shop.”. So is the ICD+ jacket the mobile workplace of the future – or just the ultimate anorak’s anorak?
So is the ICD+ jacket the mobile workplace of the future – or just the ultimate anorak’s anorak?
I am walking down the street listening to my MP3 player when, suddenly, my mobile phone rings. The MP3 player slows automatically to a polite stop, allowing me to take the call. I listen to my friend through the same earphones that, just a second ago, were bringing eardrum-busting tunes to my head I have to call the office. I speak into the microphone that’s built into my jacket and the phone, with the aid of fancy voice-recognition technology, dials the number for me I don’t have to press a single button. Well, sort of.This natty fashion and technology combo is one of the first commercial triumphs of a collaboration between Levi’s and the electronics firm Philips.
Together the duo are launching an initial range of four jackets under the ICD+ label (ICD stands for Industrial Clothing Division), which attempt to cater for the needs of what they term urban nomads: people who live their lives on the move, who need to be a walking office.Both partners are nothing short of evangelical in their belief that they are entering uncharted territory, changing forever the world of fashion, mapping out our futures. You see the people at Philips claim that the digital revolution has resulted in consumers “increasingly demanding total mobility and total connectivity and more freedom and comfort. People are carrying around more and more electronic products – mobile phones, palm-top computers, personal CD players, and MP3 players – and more are on their way.” The solution to coping with all this gadgetry isn’t just more pockets, but getting all of these boxes of tricks working together, while leaving your hands as free as possible.Levi’s, a company that prides itself on creating workwear that works, makes the ideal partner. In its mission statement for ICD+, it talks about creating clothes that meet the needs of the “millennium worker”. What’s more, to make sure the clothes actually cut the mustard in the style stakes, Levi’s has brought on board the designer Massimo Osti, the Italian who created labels such as Stone Island, and who is known for his subtle and skilful use of hi-tech fabrics. But does the anorak for anoraks work?A week ago Levi’s let us road test the CS106/Mooring jacket which provides an “adaptable solution for a typical nomadic character found working in modern cities”. The Philips phone and MP3 player are tucked into the see-through pockets of a gilet and the wiring that connects the two runs through the material It’s all very neat.

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