- Levi’s and Google are introducing a second version of their Jacquard smart jacket first introduced in 2017.
- Thanks to a small tab that slips inside the sleeve, the jacket allows you to leave your phone in your pocket and use the sleeve almost like a touch pad.
- You’ll be able to answer calls, control your music, and get directions by using hand gestures.
- The jacket starts at $198 and launches this fall.
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Levi’s is revamping two of its most iconic jackets, and now they’re “smart.”
The San Francisco-based denim brand has teamed up with Google’s Jacquard platform to create a tech-enabled jacket. Levi’s will integrate Google’s technology in its classic trucker jacket and its Sherpa trucker jacket, which are two of the brand’s more recognizable styles.
Jacquard, which is part of Google’s experimental ATAP group, works with designers to create connected apparel and products. Most recently, Jacquard teamed up with couture house Saint Laurent to make a connected backpack.
This isn’t the first time Levi’s and Google’s Jacquard platform have worked together – the duo created its first denim jacket together in 2017. What’s different now is that the technology is significantly slimmer and smaller, making it almost impossible to tell that the jacket is “smart.”
The jackets, which come in men's and women's sizes, will cost $198 for the regular trucker jacket and $248 for the Sherpa version.
Here's a closer look at the jackets and how the technology will work.
This is the Levi’s Trucker Jacket with Jacquard by Google. Looks like a regular denim jacket, right?
It is a regular jacket, except for one key feature: it's tech-enabled. That little electronic tab, called the Jacquard Tag, slips into the cuff of the jacket and pairs with your phone.
The tag is smaller than a stick of gum, but it allows you to use the cuff of the jacket almost like a touchpad. The point of the Jacquard jacket is to leave your phone in your pocket, but remain connected.
Different hand gestures, like tapping on your sleeve or covering it fully with your hand, will allow you to control different mechanisms.
You'll be able to get directions or your ETA while commuting somewhere, or hear a traffic report ...
... control your music or answer phone calls ...
... and even get notifications when your jacket gets separated from your phone. Plus, you can use it like a remote for your phone's camera, using a gesture like tapping to take the photo. And Google plans to keep adding features over time, so the jacket should keep getting "smarter."
While this is the second iteration of the jacket, it already appears much improved from the first version. The fits and styles of the jacket itself are better and trendier, it's cheaper overall, and most importantly, it looks less "tech-enabled" than the first one.
Read more: Google's smart jacket proves it's the only tech company that truly understands wearables
That has a lot to do with the tag, which is significantly smaller than the first version, which was thick and bulky.
The Levi’s Trucker Jacket with Jacquard by Google starts at $198 and costs up to $248. It will be available sometime this fall in the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
