Rusty, an apparel brand in the space of fashion forward clothing centered around surf, snow, skate, and the wake culture has launched the Wired Series of Hoodies with integrated headphones.

After we have seen the HoodieBuddie™ a few weeks ago this is the second brand that used the draw cord of a hoodie to act as headphone cable system with ear-buds at the ends of the cord.

The cable is routed inside the hoodie to a media pocket with an 3.5mm audio plug to connect to almost anything the portable music player world has to offer, the iPod and iPhone, cellphones and MP3 player of all flavors.

The headphone draw-cords are completely machine washable, no need to take out the wire when you throw it in the wash.

I fell in love the first time I have seen such combination of drawstring turned headphones and this one will be on the top spot of my Christmas wish list. No dangling of headphones wires , no need to do a cable management myself by stuffing the cable inside a hoodie, sweater or jacket and it looks cool.

Available in different styles and colors for men and women with prices starting at $49.50 like via this online store.

Adding a bit of technology, even if the technology is very basic, to clothing is a fascinating field that has been triggered by the wearable technology movement.

Point in case, the HoodieBuddie™, a hoodie which uses the drawstring as carrier, as concealment for in-ear headphones. Why should one do that you may ask.

As user of these little ear-bud headphones know, having the cords freely tangling down ones chest interferes not only with hand movement at times, it also catches other objects while we go our daily ways.

People started to be very inventive in fixing these headphone cords on the body, putting it inside a jacket or clipping it down to the outside of clothing to keep the cord close to the body.

Using clothing like t-Shirts, sweaters, hoodies for headphone cable management is a smart idea as there is no need to dress up with the headphone cord before moving on.

The HoodieBuddie™ has in the front right pocket a 3.5mm jack to connect to almost any personal audio device and runs inside the hoodie up to the drawstring with integrated ear-buds.

Remarkable is the statement of the product page which says the drawstring earphones are machine-washable.

Available in different colors with different prints, the HoodieBuddie™ retails for $42.- at this and other online and off-line stores.

A simple design concept but insightful from usage perspective and as I might think encouraged by the spirit of wearable technology as such design could have been made already many years ago at times when portable, personal electronic devices came into existence in form of the Walkman.

[via: CrunchGear]

Canadian fashion brand KILLA is opening the 2010 interactive fashion season with the launch of the Spring collection which once again demonstrates the dedication and leadership of KILLA and their brand ARCHITECT in technology enabled street wear.

A selection of gorgeous looking sweater and hoodies make use of the eTextile based keypads of QIO Systems which connect to a range of different function modules from PANiQ.

The PANiQ system includes modules for iPod and iPhone or Bluetooth, making it easy to have basic control via a touch on the textile sensor area on the sleeve.

As trivial as a remote control function might seem, as small as our pocket devices might be, having a quick access to some of the most used functions of these devices with a touch on the arm not only offers a unique twist to clothing but also a little luxury feeling we all deserve.

The interactive spring collection from KILLA is available via their online shop and the ARCHITECT shop in Vancouver, BC, Canada, retailing between $120.- and $160.-

Sessions added to their technology enabled clothing range a soft-shell hoodie with a Skullcandy custom made soft keypad not as usually placed on the sleeve but on the waist line.

That’s a nice and refreshing twist in placing the soft touch iPod controls to some other place than the sleeve which is used in 99% of iPod controlling jackets.

This jacket offers two unique features: the Soft-shell technology, mostly used for outdoor jackets seals out wind and moisture while the the hoodie style gives it a laid-back appearance.

Next to the unique location of the iPod controls, a circular keypad design with the volume up/down and previous/next song touch areas arranged on the outer ring and the play/pause/stop button in the center of the ring.

The iPod connects on the inside of the front pocket. A audio port near the collar keeps the headphone wires inside the jacket to avoid wire tangling around on the outside. A truly music optimized jacket for the cold season.

The soft-shell Sessions jacket with Skullcandy control retails for $179.95 as seen on this online store.

Let’s hope we will see more variations on textile keypad designs and the way it is integrated into the overall style of clothing next year to cater for the individuality fashion shoppers expect.

LimbGear® joined the interactive apparel market with the introduction of their InterActive™ Hoodio, a screen-printed hoodie which allows you to control an iPod from the sleeve.

Using hidden channels within the garment, the earbuds cable runs from the player which is placed in a pocket inside the hoodie and connected to the PANiQ eTextile control pad.

Functions like play, skip, pause, and more can be simply activated with a touch on the sleeve.

Currently two fan styles of the Hoodio are available, one for LimbGear fans and another one for Virginia Tech fans.

Each Hoodio retails for $84.99 at Campus Emporium and include the iPod control module from PANiQ. Just hook up your iPod to rock away. Want to hook up other personal devices like Bluetooth phones? check out the available modules from PANiQ, any of them will work with the Hoodio’s.

Your college doesn’t have an interactive hoodie yet? Check out LimbGears College range. If yours college is on the list, you will get a PANiQ enabled college hoodio soon. Just check back with us, we will keep you updated.

PANiQ, the wearable electronic brand from QIO Systems is offering a good looking, promotional hoodie at their online store for a reasonable low price of just $69.99 excluding a PANiQ module which can be picked up in another store section starting at $19.99 for the iPod/iPod touch but there is a range of other modules for various devices available as well.

The hoodie supports PANiQ’s 6-button PANiQmode interactive system, providing full support for Play/Pause, track changes, volume changes and phone controls.

The PANiQ hoodie as available for men in the color black and for women in grey both with red PANiQ print.

Sure, PANiQ is not a fashion power house but the hoodies look good and present a low cost entry into the world of technology enabled fashion.

New York urban brand, Ecko Unlimited, has joined the growing fashion segment technology enabled clothing by introducing to their fall/winter 09 clothing range the Audio Hoodie.

The Audio Hoodie uses Fibretronic‘s CONNECTEDwear keypad controller integrated in the sleeve and comes with the iPod control module but it is compatible with the full range of CONNECTEDwear electronic modules.

With apparel brands coming out more frequently with electronic device interaction capability, the choices are growing enormously. I remember having discussions just a few short years ago where people told me technology enabled clothing will never become reality because nobody wants to wear the same shirt, jacket, hoodie – because the assumption at that time was only very few apparel brands will have only very limited collection on technology enhanced clothing.

A few years later with more experience of technology integration into garments and the cost of this technology coming down, this type of clothing is becoming fast another, widely available option for the fashion shopper.

Canada’s innovative fashion label KILLA launched their latest and hippest interactive fashion collection, the SWITCH hoodies.

KILLA interactive clothing uses QIO Systems e-textile controls in soft, lightweight hoodies to bring iPod ready clothing into the city life style.

Until now interactive jackets have been mostly introduced in the winter outdoor segment for snow boarding, skiing and similar clothing lines.

Lightweight, thin clothing require very soft, flexible, textile like wearable technology components to allow a seamless integration into clothing.

QIO Systems e-textile solution combined with great looking clothing design by KILLA made it possible to launch the SWITCH hoodie range made for a colorful range of streets style, interactive clothing.

The PANiQ controllers provide the connection between iPod, Bluetooth or audio device and the hoodies’ sleeve control come in a variation of candy colors to complement the style of these gorgeous looking hoodies.

The SWITCH hoodies come in different color ways retailing for $120.- plus $29.99 for one of the candy colored lightweight PANiQ controller.