Tech companies are unveiling smart watches and bracelets at a rapid-fire pace, but for many designers, that’s already last season. Get ready for solar dresses, 3D-printed bras and GPS-enabled blazers. Until now, the marriage between tech companies and fashion designers has been largely informal and under the radar, but new partnerships could lead to the mass adoption of ‘smart’ clothes. “Anything that you wear on your body is going to need designing and a clear understanding of aesthetics,” said Nick Spencer, senior practice director at ABI Research. “Expertise in user interfaces and connectivity comes from the consumer electronic world, and style and materials from the fashion world.” Wearable Experiments is one of the firms popping up to offer a one-stop shop of fashion and tech expertise to brands. Founders Billie Whitehouse and Ben Moir created Fundawear (vibrating underwear controlled by an app) for Durex and Alert Shirts for Foxtel, an Australian TV company. The jerseys — which were given to 4,500 Foxtel viewers — integrated with Bluetooth and touch sensors so wearers felt sensations (like pressure and impact) that corresponded to what was happening in live games. Their latest project is a GPS-enabled blazer that they hope will solve the problem of people looking down at their phone. Directions can be uploaded to the jacket via an app; vibrations and LED lights integrated into the jacket sleeves provide directional advice.