A “bespoke” 4D one-piece customisable, sustainable knit dress can be reinvented and changed as per changing lifestyle and promises to reduce the amount of waste in both production and inventory.
DESIGNING IT: Researchers from the MIT Self-Assembly Lab have developed the 4D-knit dress that uses heat-activated yarn that allows its shape and fit to be altered in an instant.
- The dress combines several technologies to create a personalised fit and style. Heat-activated yarns, computerised knitting, and robotic activation around each garment generates a sculpted fit.
- Sasha MicKinlay, a textile designer and researcher at the Self-Assembly Lab designed the 4D dress with Ministry of Supply, a fashion company specialising in high-tech apparel.
- Late last year, the team debuted the 4D Knit Dress at the Ministry of Supply’s flagship store in Boston, complete with a robotic arm working its way around a dress as customers watched.
- MicKinlay helped produce the active yarns, created the concept design, developed the knitting technique, and programmed the lab’s industrial knitting machine.
- Danny Griffin, a current graduate student in architectural design, with no background in garment making or the fashion industry, translated the heat activation process into a programmable robotic procedure that would precisely control its application.
- Griffin was inducted into the team by Prof Skylar Tibbits, Associate Professor, MIT, Department of Architecture and Founder of Self-Assembly Lab due to his experience with robotics projects in construction.
- It took a while to determine how the robot could reach all areas of the dress. A commercial heat gun, which is like a handheld hair dryer, could not be used as it was too large. Once the compact design was figured out, “it was a lot of fun to write the script for the robot to follow.”
THE PROCESS: When heat is applied, the fibres shorten, causing the textile to bunch up in a specific zone, effectively tightening the shape as if the garment is being tailored.
- There was a lot of trial and error to figure out how to orient the robot and the heat gun.
- The heat needs to be applied in precise locations to activate the fibres on each garment. Another challenge was setting the temperature and the timing for the heat to be applied.
- It took a while to determine how the robot couldreach all areas of the dress.
- Students at the Self-Assembly Lab have been working with dynamic textiles for several years. The yarns they create can change shape, change property, change insulation, or become breathable. Previous applications to tailor garments include making sweaters and face masks.
- The Self-Assembly Lab has collaborated with Ministry of Supply on projects with active textiles for several years. A team at Ministry of Supply led the decisions on the stable yarns, colour, original size, and overall design.
THE DRESS: A dress can begin with one design—pintucks across the chest, for example—and be worn for months before having heat re-applied to alter its look. Subsequent applications of heat can tailor the dress further.
- Once the garment design is programmed into the machine, it can quickly produce multiple dresses.
- Where the active yarns are placed in the design allows for the dress to take on a variety of styles such as pintucks, pleats, an empire waist, or a cinched waist.
- The dress can be tailored to adapt to changes in styles and tastes.
- It may also be able to absorb some of the size variations that retailers need to stock. Instead of extra-small, small, medium, large, and extra-large sizes, retailers may be able to have one dress for the smaller sizes and one for the larger sizes.
WHAT THEY SAID
The 4D Knit Dress is a culmination of everything the students have learned from working with active textiles. The opposite of fast fashion, unlike the traditional “cut-and-sew” process in the fashion industry, the 4D Knit Dress is made entirely in one piece, which virtually eliminates waste. This one dress can be customized for fit and style, can be perfectly tailored to the individual while being more sustainable and adaptable to changes in season, style or inventory.
— Prof. Skylar Tibbits
Associate Professor, Department of Architecture / Founder
MIT / Self-Assembly Lab
I like the idea of customising clothes in a sustainable way. This dress promises to be more sustainable than traditional fashion to both the consumer and the producer.
— Sasha MicKinlay
Textile designer / Researcher
Self-Assembly Lab, MIT Department of Architecture
