Refashion: Reconfigurable Garments via Modular Design

2025-10-13

AI Summary

Off-the-rack garments feature fixed dimensions, limiting adaptability to anthropometric variation and evolving fashion trends; conventional alteration methods (e.g., cutting and sewing) are irreversible and offer only limited adjustability. This paper proposes a modular, reconfigurable garment design framework: it employs integer linear programming to perform topological decomposition of garment structures, enabling the design of standardized, detachable components and mechanically interlocking connectors that support lossless, reversible resizing and restyling. Concurrently, we develop an interactive design tool integrating parametric digital modeling with physics-based fabric simulation. Experimental evaluation demonstrates efficient generation and reconfiguration across diverse garment categories, substantially enhancing in-lifecycle adaptability and sustainability. The core contribution lies in the first systematic integration of formal modular decomposition with reversible physical connection mechanisms into apparel design—establishing a foundational paradigm for adaptive, sustainable fashion engineering.

Technology Category

• Search and Optimization: Sampling/Simulation-based Search
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Adaptive Behavior
• Humans and AI: Game Design — Virtual Humans, NPCs and Autonomous Characters

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User modeling and simulation for interactive and conversational systems
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Economic ramifications for generative AI infrastructure and applications

Abstract

While bodies change over time and trends vary, most store-bought clothing comes in fixed sizes and styles and fails to adapt to these changes. Alterations can enable small changes to otherwise static garments, but these changes often require sewing and are non-reversible. We propose a modular approach to garment design that considers resizing, restyling, and reuse earlier in the design process. Our contributions include a compact set of modules and connectors that form the building blocks of modular garments, a method to decompose a garment into modules via integer linear programming, and a digital design tool that supports modular garment design and simulation. Our user evaluation suggests that our approach to modular design can support the creation of a wide range of garments and can help users transform them across sizes and styles while reusing the same building blocks.

Problem

• Developing modular garments for resizing and restyling flexibility
• Creating reusable building blocks to replace static clothing designs
• Enabling garment transformation across sizes and styles via decomposition

Innovation

• Modular design approach for reconfigurable garments
• Compact modules and connectors as building blocks
• Digital tool for modular garment design and simulation