FASHION FORWARD: Henry Holland’s designs incorporating NFC payment receiver tags

VIP guests attending fashion designer Henry Holland’s show at this week’s London Fashion Week were able to make purchases from the catwalk by tapping NFC rings against payment receiver tags attached to clothes and accessories.

The payment receiver tags then used Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to communicate with a virtualized terminal in order to process the payment, explains Visa Europe Collab, which teamed with the designer in July 2015 to integrate NFC and BLE technologies into its clothing designs.

“We worked with Henry to create a series of beautiful bug-shaped rings that were part of Henry’s unique design vision for the show and integrated NFC into each,” Visa Europe Collab says. “We gave these to VIPs from the front row and encouraged them to choose their favourite items from the current collection by interacting with a beautifully designed payment receiver tag attached to the clothes and accessories.

“Linked via Bluetooth Smart technology to a virtualised terminal, the power of Visa’s payment network allowed our VIP guests to make purchases direct from the catwalk.”

The following video shows the clothing range being showcased at the event this week:

“Working closely with Henry and his team, our goal was to produce something very desirable, yet also with a very practical and functional purpose, to try out in a spectacular setting that challenged some of the friction that can be experienced in the current retail journey,” says Jon Downing, innovation partner of emerging payments at Visa Europe Collab. “Our collaboration with Henry Holland is just the latest in our ongoing mission to explore creative new ways to pay.”