WO2002032244A1

WO2002032244A1 - Modular clothing system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2002032244A1
Application number: PCT/IT2001/000529
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stefano Rabolli Pansera
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-10-18
Filing date: 2001-10-18
Publication date: 2002-04-25
Anticipated expiration: 2003-04-18
Also published as: IT1317918B1; ITRM20000553A1; ITRM20000553A0; AU2002215188A1

Abstract

A suite is made up by assembling modular pieces interchangeable with one another which are different in shape, size and material by diverse quick coupling/release tie means also interchangeable with one another so as to allow anyone to create one"s suit daily by making up and personalizing the same according to infinite couplings of colours and/or shapes by a number of operations without any difficulty.

Description

MODULAR CLOTHING SYSTEM AND METHOD

The present invention relates to the manner of dressing and more particularly a new system of making up articles of clothing based on the assembling of a plurality of modules with different shapes and materials, thus allowing the user to dress freely according to his own liking and the trend of fashion.

At the present state of art, the clothing trade has a certain rigidity since both the Haute Couture and the Pret-a-porter, on one hand, express the personal choices of the stylists and direct to a great extent the taste of people and, on the other hand, are not able to fully meet the requirements above all of young people that like to personalize and renew continuously their cloths .

In fact, it should be appreciated from a better examination of the two drawing sectors of the fashion that : I) As for Haute Couture a) tailor-made clothes cannot be fashioned on the ever changing needs of the nowadays life, and, in their collection of models, are out-of-date expressions of a fashion that ignores deliberately the crisis of figurativeness; b) clothes cannot be a mass product, therefore, only the unique product is significant for the market; c) clothes are marketable only within certain limits; d) stylist-user .relationship is personal, then not extendible .

II) As for Pret-a-porter a) tailored clothes take advantage of a wider model collection, however, they have a fixed and unchangeable form so that they are not able to meet the ever . changing requirements. In other words, they also become out-of-date just because of their figurativeness; b) the product is industrial and based on the mass production of a discrete number of sizes; c) market is wide and the advertising is all- important . The fashion show is a manifestation which is peculiar and strictly bound to Prit-a-porter. Internet is a reinforcing means of the commercial system; d) stylist-user relationship is faded and only persists under the form of a taste sharing (I follow stylist X because I like X) .

The present invention seeks to solve the above problems by changing completely the manner of tailoring clothes by providing the assembling of interchangeable modules tied by a system of also interchangeable tie means allowing the users to create their personalized clothes daily by making up them according to an infinite combining of colours and/or shapes through several. operations without any difficulty. The utility of such a solution proposed by the present invention is self-evident: • a) there is proposed a structure of clothes capable of assimilate any variation and not a shape thereof; b) size is denied: modules of tubular shape consisting of simple opened pieces can be used to dress arms, legs, bodice, neck, etc.; c) the product is absolutely industrial as it can only be the result of a mass-production (an unique product would be senseless but only the copies are paradoxically plenty of significance; d) the commercial actions as well as the advertising are fundamental; the product has not to be looked for but it will become popular only by a film projection of models wearing ever novel modules and articles of clothings when walking in the city as background; e) consumer-producer relationship is deregulated because the consumer is the producer of his own clothes. Therefore, there is not any contact between producer and consumer because there is not any common denominator of a shared style; said relationship is qualitatively non-existent and then quantitatively extendible to all consumers .

Further features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings that show some preferred embodiments thereof only by way of a not limiting example. In the drawings : Figs . 1 to 8 show different known types of connection means that can be used in the modular making up system of the invention,-

Fig. 9 shows the making up of a first modular suit made of modular pieces of different materials and provided with a hat;

Figs. 10 to 18 show the single modules used in Fig. 9;

Fig. 19 shows the making up of a second suit made of several other modules;

Figs. 20 to 27 show the modules used for making up the suit of Fig. 19;

Fig. 28 shows a third example of suit made by the modular composition of the present invention;

Figs. 29 to 38 show the single modules used for making up the suit of Fig. 28;

Fig. 39 shows a fourth example of suit made by the modular composition of the present invention;

Figs. 40 to 42d show the single modules used for making up the suit of Fig. 39;

Fig. 43 shows a fifth example of suit made by the modular composition of the present invention; Figs. 44 to 46 show the single modules used for making up the suit of Fig. 43;

With reference to the figures, the modular making up system of this invention includes essentially a plurality of different modules that can be combined to one another and used for making up garments by connecting them by fastening means as those shown in Figs. 1 to 8. As can be seen in those figures, such fastening means known per se includes by way of example safety-pins

(Fig. 1), buckles (Fig. 7), laces or strings _.(Fig. 3), zip fasteners (Fig. 5) , buttons (Fig. 4) , clips (Fig.

2) , magnets (Fig. 6) , hooks (Fig. 8) . It is moreover evident that all quick coupling/release fastening means such as Velcro^® for a tear opening, elastic cords, clamps, etc. able to guarantee the interchangeability provided by the making up system can be used. Anyone can make up a personalized suit by assembling a plurality of available modules with different shapes and materials so as to modify both the shape and the body of the suit following one ' s fancy without prejudice of the next use of the single modules that can be used again for another different suit after having disassembled the previous one.

As can be seen in the shown examples, a first embodiment of a suit shown in Fig. 9 is formed, starting from the above, of a hat consisting of a tubular cotton remnant 1L which is closed at the upper side by several pins If and a tubular wool piece 1C that surrounds the neck and is connected by strings lb to a pair of cotton remnants IE forming Lhe front and back portions of a jacket, the left and right sleeves of which are formed by one tubular piece of leather ID and a succession of a tubular extendible piece of rubber IB and a tubular piece of bamboo 1A, respectively. The tubular piece of leather is connected to the jacket by buckles la, while the two pieces of rubber and bamboo are connected to each other by magnet joint means Ig.

One leg is covered by a tubular piece IG of synthetic fabric connected by "a row of buttons Id to a tubular piece of artificial fur 1H and the other leg is covered by a pair of tubular piece of jeans fabric IF both connected from opposite sides by a row of clips le to another modular piece of extendible rubber IB acting as knee-band. With reference to Fig. 19, the second embodiment shows another suit in which a cotton pullover 2B with only one sleeve is connected through felt edges 2e to a modular opened piece 2G consisting of a corset surrounding the user's body and closed by buckles 2b. A modular cotton piece 2C covering the right leg and a tubular silk piece 2D covering the left leg till just above the knee are connected by buttons 2a to that corset at its lower side. The right modular piece 2C ends below the knee and is trimmed with a ring-like cord piece 2E. The same ring trims the end of a sleeve of pullover 2B, whose other sleeve consists of a bent paperboard remnant 2F and an aluminium piece 2H. A hat formed of a kind of balaclava 2A of rubber latex supplements the suit at the upper side and is fixed to pullover 2B by a zip. The three following examples of Figs. 28, 39 and 43 show other embodiments that point out how the disclosed making up system is able to provide a miscellaneous heap of pieces for the personalized requirements of the young of today. In fact, it is possible to make up jackets, trousers and skirts partially or totally by modules with different shape and size as well as with diverse tie means, thus meeting the creative effort of each user. Particularly in the embodiment of Figs. 28 to 38 a pullover made of interlaced metal members surrounding the bodice is indicated at 3A, a tubular Plexiglas^® piece at 3B, a close-fitting latex piece at 3C, a tubular plastic piece at 3D, an elastic knee-band at 3E, a tubular chenille piece at 3F, a tubular silicone piece at 2G, and a tubular paper piece at 3H. Buckles 3a, a felt piece 3b, clamps 3, elastic cords 3d, a cord ring 3e, and clips 3f are used as tie means. In the example shown in Figs. 39-42d, cotton cuffs are indicated at 4A, tubular cotton pieces at 4B, a cotton collar at 4C, a shirt bodice at 4D, and tubular denim pieces at 4E. Magnets 4a located at the inside and buttons 4b are used as tie means.

At last, the embodiment of Figs. 43 to 46 shows a wool pullover piece 5A, a cashmere skirt 5B adjustable in height, and a leather remnant 5C to be dressed around the arms and behind one's back. The tie means consists of bands 5a and buckles 5b.

It is self-evident from the foregoing that a number of modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art to the present invention without departing from the scope of this industrial invention as claimed in the appended claims .

Claims

1. A suit characterized in that it consists of a plurality of pre-tailored modular pieces interchangeable with one another and having different shapes, weight, and size, and made of diverse materials which can be assembled to one another by the user by quick coupling/release tie means so as to allow anyone to make up one's personalized suit by coupling' colours and/or shapes and/or materials chosen for the occasion.

2. The suit of claim 1, characterized in that said modular pieces have a tubular shape able to dress arms, legs, bodice and neck.

3. The suit of claim 1, characterized in that said modular pieces- consist of open elements that can be wound upon themselves or combined with one another.

4. The suit of claim 1, characterized in that the tie means is safety-pins, buckles, laces or strings, zip fasteners, buttons and buttonhole, magnets, hooks, elastic cords, and clips that are interchangeable with one another.

5. The suit of claim 1, characterized in that the open or tubular pieces are of textile or plastic material.

6. The suit of claim 1, characterized in that the open or tubular pieces are made of fur, rubber, or other natural or synthetic material.

7. The suit of claim 1, characterized in that each modular piece is provided with interchangeable means to tie the same to another modular piece.

8. The suit of claim 1, characterized in that the tie means is separated by the module to be tied so that it is interchangeable with another tie means .

9. Making up of garments characterized in that there is provided an assembling of pre-tailored modular pieces having different shape and size and made of diverse materials by quick coupling/release means .