New US software designs resizable, repairable, restylable garments

US researchers have developed a software called ‘Refashion’ that breaks down fashion design into modules by allowing users to draw, plan and visualise each element of a clothing item.

The tool, developed by a team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Adobe, turns fashion ideas into a blueprint that outlines how to assemble each component into reconfigurable clothing.

Users draw shapes and place them together to develop an outline for adaptable fashion pieces. It’s a visual diagram that shows how to cut garments, providing a straightforward way to design things like a shirt with an attachable hood for rainy days, an MIT release said.

One can, for example, create a skirt that can then be reconfigured into a dress for a formal dinner, or maternity wear that fits during different stages of pregnancy, it said.

Refashion helps design garments that can be easily resized, repaired or restyled into different outfits.

Its interface first presents a simple grid in its ‘Pattern Editor’ mode, where users can connect dots to outline the boundaries of a clothing item.

Users can customise the shape of each component, create a straight design for garments or perhaps tinker with one of Refashion’s templates. A user can edit pre-designed blueprints for garments like a T-shirt, blouse or trousers.

As a user designs a clothing piece, the system automatically creates a simplified diagram of how it can be assembled. The pattern is divided into numbered blocks, which is dragged onto different parts of a 2D mannequin to specify the position of each component. The user can then simulate how their sustainable clothing will look on 3D models of a range of body types. 

Finally, a digital blueprint for sustainable clothing can extend, shorten, or combine with other pieces. Instead of buying new clothes every time, consumers can simply reconfigure existing ones.