It won't be long before the globe's biggest fashionistas are back in town to hit the catwalks of London Fashion Week. With over 5,000 industry press and buyers likely to attend, and hundreds of luxury labels showing their wares, it's a major event not only for industry insiders, but for shoppers and fashion lovers alike. Orders placed during the week alone often exceed £100 million as consumers get inspired to experiment with fresh new looks which emerge during the shows. This offers a massive opportunity for both luxury and fast-fashion retailers when it comes to increasing sales. But making the most of it demands a carefully executed strategy which combines the best of both technological innovation and creative control.

Many will be flocking to the UK capital this week – all in the name of fashion. London Fashion Week is making a return on Friday, with fashionistas from all around the world gathering in celebration of fashion, community, diversity and creativity. In light of this, I wanted to take a look at the evolution of the fashion industry and how technology is transforming the sector at a pace faster than ever before. Wearable tech has been on the market for some time now, from the earliest days of the Fitbit to the latest iterations of the Apple Watch and Google Glass. Today, fashion leaders are merging form and function to make wearables more stylish and, well, wearable.

Between the notion of clothing for clothing's sake and seasonal fashion exists style. A subjective and at times anxiety-inducing concept, style defines what your outfit and how it was'put together' says about you. Whether you prefer to put your own outfits together or be told what'looks good/is right for you' by a personal stylist, style is a language all of its own. Artificial Intelligence is emerging as a powerful tool in fashion retail to shape personalized product suggestions and refine the way customers are targeted to drive purchasing. 'Style' has largely sat outside of this data remit, perhaps hampered by attitudes towards AI that place it as a tool for emotionless decision-making, rather than a tool that can decode something as ephemeral and nuanced as style.

A rolling robot will model couture designs at London Fashion Week for the first time ever. Silicon Valley robotics company Ohmni is partnering with Los Angeles-based designer Honee to send one of its telepresence robots down the runway in September. It's the latest example of how hi-tech devices are being outfitted for everyday use, from wearables to 3D-printed clothing. The robot is slated to walk the catwalk alongside human models on September 15th and 16th at an event presented by House of iKons at the Millennium Gloucester London Hotel. It will be wearing a Honee design, but the exact specifics of the ensemble are being kept under wraps until the event.