Introduction to Refashion
It’s hard to keep up with the ever-changing trends of the fashion world. What’s “in” one minute is often out of style the next season, potentially causing you to re-evaluate your wardrobe. Staying current with the latest fashion styles can be wasteful and expensive, though. Roughly 92 million tons of textile waste are produced annually, including the clothes we discard when they go out of style or no longer fit.
The Problem with Fast Fashion
But what if we could simply reassemble our clothes into whatever outfits we wanted, adapting to trends and the ways our bodies change? This is the goal of a team of researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Adobe, who are attempting to bring eco-friendly, versatile garments to life.
What is Refashion?
Their new “Refashion” software system breaks down fashion design into modules — essentially, smaller building blocks — by allowing users to draw, plan, and visualize each element of a clothing item. The tool turns fashion ideas into a blueprint that outlines how to assemble each component into reconfigurable clothing, such as a pair of pants that can be transformed into a dress.
How Refashion Works
With Refashion, users simply 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. One could also 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.
Modules à la Mode
The researchers conducted a preliminary user study where both designers and novices explored Refashion and were able to create garment prototypes. Participants assembled pieces such as an asymmetric top that could be extended into a jumpsuit, or remade into a formal dress, often within 30 minutes. These results suggest that Refashion has the potential to make prototyping garments more approachable and efficient.
Designing with Refashion
The interface first presents a simple grid in its “Pattern Editor” mode, where users can connect dots to outline the boundaries of a clothing item. It’s essentially drawing rectangular panels and specifying how different modules will connect to each other. Users can customize the shape of each component, create a straight design for garments (which might be useful for less form-fitting items, like chinos) or perhaps tinkering with one of Refashion’s templates.
Benefits of Refashion
Refashion enables users to connect garments through more flexible, efficient means. Edges can be seamed together via double-sided connectors such as metal snaps (like the buttons used to close a denim jacket) or Velcro dots. A user could also fasten them in pins called brads, which have a pointed side that they stick through a hole and split into two “legs” to attach to another surface; it’s a handy way to secure, say, a picture on a poster board. Both connective methods make it easy to reconfigure modules, should they be damaged or a “fit check” calls for a new look.
Conclusion
Refashion presents a greener vision for the future of fashion, where instead of buying new clothes every time we want a new outfit, we can simply reconfigure existing ones. Yesterday’s scarf could be today’s hat, and today’s T-shirt could be tomorrow’s jacket. As the researchers continue to improve the system, we can expect to see even more innovative and sustainable fashion designs.
FAQs
- What is Refashion?: Refashion is a software system that allows users to design and create reconfigurable clothing.
- How does Refashion work?: Refashion breaks down fashion design into modules, allowing users to draw, plan, and visualize each element of a clothing item.
- What are the benefits of Refashion?: Refashion enables users to create sustainable, versatile garments that can be easily resized, repaired, or restyled into different outfits.
- Is Refashion available to the public?: Currently, Refashion is a research project, but the team plans to continue developing and improving the system for potential future release.
- Can I use Refashion to design my own clothes?: Yes, Refashion is designed to be user-friendly and accessible to both designers and novices.
