Adidas Test Uses Machines To Knit Buyers A Custom Sweater

Clothing looks and feels best when it is tailored, but few people use tailoring services with any sort of regularity. The reasons for that are numerous, and likely involve inconvenience as much (or more so) than the cost factor. The future may hold the solution, though, and that solution may come in the form of machine-produced custom-fitted clothing items made to a buyer's exact body shape and measurements.

Helping usher in that future is, perhaps, Adidas, which has launched a test in a Berlin store that uses body scanning to determine a customer's measurements, then has a machine knit a sweater that will fit that customer. Customers are able to design the sweater, which is made from merino wool, and pick them up ready to wear within a few hours.

The sweaters cost a little over $200, and are made possible thanks to a variety of technology, including cameras, sensors, and touchscreens. The customer is introduced into a private booth where they get mostly naked, allowing the machine to scan their body to make fit determinations. The touchscreen is a protal through which customers can choose their own preferences about the sweater.

Such technology holds many possibilities, not the least of which is making it possible for consumers to get clothing that meets their exact specifications — both size and style. As well, it'll help brands more quickly introduce new fashion trends, and help stores reduce the amount of time it takes between production and store rollouts. Whether the technology will ever become a store-staple is anyone's guess, however.

SOURCE: Reuters

Note: The image above doesn't show an Adidas sweater