These shape-shifting mannequins might just be the future of fashion
Technology and fashion have always intersected, but not quite like this. Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s intimidatingly-named Institute of Textiles and Clothing may have changed the game forever with shape-shifting mannequins, which are best explained in action.
The iDummies, as they’ve been named, look like something straight out of a sci-fi plot: Actually, similar movements and mechanisms can be seen in films like I, Robot and Ex Machina. Made up of inter-locking plates, the iDummies can contort their forms to fit and fill out different sizes and shapes, allowing designers to test their ideas on a multitude of models, versus only creating their looks off of a limiting standard.
Seriously, just look at this morphing dress form go:
Institute professor and iDummies inventor Allan Chan explained that “companies get rid of dummies every few years,” so not only are the iDummies smart from a design perspective, they’re also economical. And, they’re useful not just as display products for designers and physical retailers — think about what iDummies can do for tailors or for online boutiques. Imagine buying a pair of pants or a bra not based on your measurements, but filled out with your exact dimensions.
Though the iDummies only exist in a female-coded form right now, Chan is working on a male-coded version, as well as one specifically for bra fittings. Sure, we already have awesome apps that can measure our bra sizes and help us test lipstick shades. But, these shape-shifting mannequins are next-level, and might just revolutionize the fashion industry forever.
