3D printing might be an obvious method for fashion designers to embrace, but technologies from all different fields are inspiring designers to rethink the way they see and do things. Take Sensoree's Mood Sweater — it uses sensors to detect a certain kind of sweat in the palms of your hands that varies depending on your emotional state, and then translates it into multicolored light emitted by LEDs. Kristin Neidlinger created the sweater for her MFA design research at the California College of the Arts, but mainly as a practical device. It was developed for people who have conditions like autism or sensory processing disorder as a way to help them see how they are feeling and project those feelings to others around them. While Neidlinger says she thought of it as strictly a therapeutic device, the fashion industry started to notice it for both its technical and stylistic creativity.

While the Mood Sweater is a totally foreign-looking object, fashions like the classic businesswear from the MIT-born Ministry of Supply take a more conservative, utilitarian approach. Inspired by mountain-climbing gear, its dress shirts and pants use fabric with heat-mapping technology that acts like a battery to absorb excess heat from the body and release it when needed in cooler atmospheres. CEO Gihan Amarasiriwardena tells me the company wants to make really comfortable clothing that doesn't just function for an office environment. "Clothing is a very intricate part of our day," Gihan says," and we often overlook how much its performances affects our abilities during the day. People don't just have a day life or a work life — you live one life, and these technologies allow you to interact with the different environments you're constantly moving in and out of every day."