This Jacket Doubles as a Music Streaming Station

Today's smartphones often feature NFC technology, built-in mechanics that allows users to tap the device against a machine and make a purchase or transfer information. But one British musician has taken that concept to the next level by adding fashion to the mix. TechCrunch recently sat down with singer-songwriter Beatie Wolfe to talk about her innovative gold jacket, which incorporates NFC technology. When a phone is tapped against the clothing, the device pulls up a site where fans can listen to her music.

The jacket is the result of a collaboration between textiles label BeatWoven and famous tailor Mr Fish of the legendary 34 Montagu Square residence and recording studio, who once made clothes for iconic musicians including Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Jimi Hendrix. The design features a pattern, woven into the silk and cashmere fabric, that was inspired by the space where Wolfe worked to write and record some of the music.

"I just loved the idea of almost capturing the history and the resonance and the story of that room and turning it into a fabric," she explains in the video above.

Why did the artist make her jacket and her album (which is available as a deck of NFC-enabled cards) into a tech experience? Wolfe told TechCrunch, “I just wanted to bring back—or sort of revive—the best of that tangibility, that storytelling and that sense of ceremony that I experienced as a kid." 

[h/t TechCrunch]