Petit Pli creator Ryan Mario Yasin (a design engineer with a degree in aeronautical engineering) has scooped this years UK James Dyson Award with his expandable clothing.
Ryan was inspired to create the clothing after he bought some new clothes for his young nephew and found they already too small when he gifted them.
Children grow seven sizes in their first two years on Earth and this equates to a lot of wasted clothing … Petit Pli’s versatile waterproof shells are pleated in such a way that they can grow bi-directionally to custom fit a large range of sizes.Ryan Mario Yasin
Petit Pli clothing is designed to be tough, washable, rain proof, and wind proof but crucially can fit kids aged four to 36 months.
How Petit Pli expanding clothing work
Ryans secret is that all his clothing is created from expandable fabrics. “An auxetic structure has been embedded in Petit Pli fabrics, giving the clothing a negative Poisson’s ratio”; in layman’s terms, the synthetic material the company uses becomes thicker as it’s pulled apart, rather than thinner (similar to how body armour works).
What next for Petit Pli ?
Having scooped this years UK James Dyson Award Ryan moves forward into the competition’s international round. Regardless of the awards outcome, Ryan intends to bring the Petit Pli to market and is currently conducting durability testing as well as sourcing suitable manufacturers.
Further styles are now being planned beyond the prototypes pictured.
