Designed to be comfortably worn while a pregnant mother carries their child, the ‘Retractable Garment’ by IU+ Design features a unique fabric construction that expands aesthetically as the wearer’s body does. A winner of the Red Dot Design Concept Award, the garment relies on a series of uniquely positioned fabric cutouts that grow to form a pattern that is revealed the bigger the baby bump gets!
“Using pattern variations, the retractable garment meets the functional demands of pregnant women throughout the entire process”, say lead designers Shen Jiye and Chen Yujie. “In other words, the garment witnesses the entire pregnancy.”
Designer: ShenZhen IU+ Design Co., Ltd.
“The abdomen area of the garment is made to be flexible and adjustable to accommodate the various stages of pregnancy. It is made with a certain tension that allows the fabric to stretch over the baby bump, and the patterns expand to fit the shape of the stomach, creating a one-of-a-kind look”, the designers mention. Moreover, the garment can even be worn after a child is born, thereby reducing unnecessary fashion waste.
This concept, while unique, builds on an underlying idea that clothes should be designed to last as long as possible while accommodating growth and developmental factors. A similar project, titled Petit Pli, used pleated fabric that allowed the clothes to expand as a child grew, enabling them to wear the same clothes for years instead of mere months.
The Retractable Garment is a winner of the Red Dot Design Concept Award for the year 2022.
